Posted on 12/06/2010 11:13:33 AM PST by mlizzy
Having just turned five years old, I was a little young (at least back then) to question the holiday law-of-the-land. Of course five-year-olds believed in Santa Claus! But it was back in the day when several ages of neighborhood kids used to hang around together, and I was running with some seven- and eight-year-olds who were feeding me some pretty good reasons not to believe in that benign big man.
Most of you are at least vaguely familiar with the various Protestant Reformation (and later secular) traditions that transformed Saint Nicholas into Santa Claus, so it is not necessary to go into those now. What Im wondering is why many devout Christians including some Catholics, conclude that, while its absolutely crucial to be truthful to your children, in the case of Santa Claus, its perfectly acceptable to LIE.
Yes, I used the word lie deliberately, rather than some double-speak like story-telling or even half-truth. For to go along with the Santa myth is not harmless fantasy; it is deliberately deceiving your children about the Good News, specifically the Salvation Story. In my case, it was not the time factor (all those houses in one night!) or small chimney, big body arguments that dissuaded me. It was because while many good poor kids got few, if any presents, many bad rich kids received more than their sharecompletely contrary to the basic good kid, bad kid theory of Santa gift distribution. Perhaps few other five-year-olds adopted my line of reasoning, but the fact remained that my devout Catholic parents were the ones who sold me on the Santa Story, and this made the discovery all the more disillusioning. For it was the first (and one of the only times) that my folks had lied to meand once that absolute trust is lost, every parent knows how hard it is to get it back.
Saint Nicholas of Myra, By Ilya Repin
How St. Nicholas Became Santa Claus: One Theory
An Orthodox priest at Bari; the story of St. Nicholas' bones
Turkish Town Exchanges St. Nick for Santa (Former Myra, hometown of St. Nicholas)
The Real St. Nicholas
St. Nicholas belongs in any reclamation of Christmas
Don't forget: St. Nicholas' Day is tomorrow [today] (get your shoes out!)
The Russian legend of St. Nicolas and St. Cassian(Soloviev's Application)
Life of Saint Nicholas the Bishop, from The Golden Legend compiled by Jacobus de Voragine
Yes, There Really is a St. Nicholas !
My parent's did it to me, and I was heart broken. Even so I did it to my own kids. I guess I forgot how much the finding out I'd been lied to hurt.I'm so glad to read your comment; you realize the true meaning of Christmas is "Truth" Himself. Don't beat yourself up about coming late to the faith, the important thing is you are breaking the Santa chain, and opting instead for the story of St. Nick ... and Jesus Christ.
One Christmas in the early 90s, when my daughter was 5 or 6, we were barely keeping the bills paid. She hadn't asked Santa for much, but he didn't/couldn't bring the one thing she really wanted, because I didn't have the money.
You see, she believed the whole story, and she just knew she had been good that year! It wasn't the present, it was the lack of reward for being a good girl. That may have been the year where she decided it didn't matter if she tried to be good.
Santa is a lie we tell children to make them behave. The truth is a much better motivator.
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