Is it right to lie to your children that Santa Claus is real? Surely it is better to be honest with your kids and avoid disappointment. In the end, surely it just avoids the real point of the holiday?
I read an interesting article by a minister at my church about this problem, reflecting on an article by another pastor called Mark Driscoll. Here it is, have a read.
" I’m not meaning to have a ‘Driscoll-fest’ this week, but I’ve happened upon another really helpful piece from him: What We Tell Our Kids About Santa. This is a subject that has plagued me for the last couple of Christmases. Do we embrace the Santa myth and enjoy watching our kids believe that he delivers their presents down the chimney, having flown in from the North Pole by reindeer, and that he watches them all year round to see if they’ve been good? Or do we reject the myth, tell them that it’s not true and that we shouldn’t believe in it at all, thereby taking the fun out of Santa and probably causing a lot of heartache for their friends!?
Driscoll’s helpful article gives us another option: redeeming Santa. This way we’re being honest with our children about the origins of the Santa story, that Saint Nicholas was a real man who faithfully served Jesus by giving gifts to the poor. It also allows us to embrace the fun of Santa by dressing up and even visiting Santa with our children, all the while being thankful to God for a man who inspired generations of families to be generous at Christmas and to live humble, obedient lives for Jesus.
“Saint Nick was a wonderful man who loved and served Jesus faithfully. So, we gladly include him in our Christmas traditions to remind us of what it looks like for someone to live a life of devotion to Jesus as God. Our kids thank us for being both honest and fun, which we think is what Jesus wants.” Mark Driscoll "
I, personally, don't think I'd like to live the Santa Claus lie with my (future) children, even though it will be hard to let it take control of me. This seems a much nicer way of dealing with things, keeping an honest relationship going.
What do you think?
Is it right to lie to your children that Jesus Christ is real? Surely it is better to be honest with your kids and avoid disappointment. In the end, surely it just avoids the real point of the holiday?
ReplyDeleteThe real point of the holiday is that it was easier to get people to follow christianity if they took over an already existing pagan holiday, its called "transferrence".
Also, christianity is an allegory about the sun and the stars. I don't mean to be rude but if you could read about the stuff i mentioned that'd be good.
Thanks, Anonymous, for your comment.
ReplyDeleteThat is the problem: why would my children believe me about Jesus if I lied to them about Santa? Surely it's honesty or dishonesty all the way. Nevertheless, Santa has never claimed to be real and has no historical evidence as far as I know...
The point of Christmas, as you can see from all of Christmas tradition, is to celebrate God coming to us to save us. Yes it was created (in around 336AD) to counter a pagan festival so that believers would have something else to think about when the pagan rituals were going on. If you think it's easy to follow Christianity, do a bit more research (try 2 Timothy 3:12, Philippians 1:29, 1 John 3:13).
If you're talking about the Zeitgeist video then don't worry, I already have. All of its arguments are flawed, someone has gone through a lot of trouble to try and put people off the good news of Christ. Have a read of http://www.alwaysbeready.com/index.php?id=124&option=com_content&task=viewif you'd like to see some good responses.
I read the link. Very interesting reading. To be clear I wasn't talking about zeitgeist, although I have watched it and I always suspected fabrication on Joseph's part due to the 'conspiracy' feel to it. I was referring to Richard Dawkin's books, mainly 'the blind watchmaker' and more recently 'the god delusion'. I recommend the god delusion and would love to see a blog review with a christian perspective on maybe some of the more poigniant chapters? The many arguments posed struck me as irrefutable, however he was preaching to the choir. The chapter entitled 'Why there almost certaintly is no god' is particularly good. Thanks for the link will keep reading from that website although my only question is, when there professors and respected figures 'refuting' claims how come they are almost always religious themselves? This poses a clear bias and detracts from what they are saying.
ReplyDeleteHi again, Anonymous.
ReplyDeleteI agree that they are 'religious' people but that doesn't make their expert opinion any different to expert does it? Those who try to disprove Christianity are always anti-Christian but it's not such the case in the opposite way...I think when it comes to the history of Christianity, these will be the best to look to for information...
I can't say I have read Dawkin's books but if you are interested, check out Alister McGrath's 'The Dawkins Delusion?' which is an expert critical response to Dawkins. I've been told it's a very good read in response to Dawkins.