Does Santa diminish Christ from Christmas?


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I think there are ways to keep Santa in the picture as well as focusing on the religious aspect of Christ' birth.

While your co-worker has every right to do what she wants with her kids and I can respect it, it kind of reminds me of the movie Miracle on 34th Street.

I mean, doesn't Santa deliver presents and bring joy to all the children on Christmas Eve? Plus I will never regret the opportunites I had to bake cookies for Santa with my kids at Christmas time. And to make sure we had a carrot set out for the reindeer.

Yet when they were younger, Christmas Eve we focused totally on the Savior and His birth. They knew what Christmas was really about.

While the world seems to focus on the commercial aspect, I think we can still keep a balance on both. I still believe in letting children have their little childhood fantasies.

Edited by pam
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Santa adds to the spirit of Christmas, the notion giving and sharing and encouraging of 'good' behaviour.

I believe it is up to individual families where they place their Christmas focus, and in our house there has always been room for both Christ and Santa (with a heavier focus on Christ)

I do not believe Santa alone brings about the commercial side of Christmas, that is excess shopping and the need to make every Christmas more material than the last. As children we had very modest Christmases, with a present from our parents and siblings and then a small token from Santa i.e. a book/video for us all to share.

Children should be allowed to believe in Santa, and learn in their own time that he is not 'real' but that the spirit he represents mimics that of Christ.

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I think Santa tends to be a distraction, and I also think asking kids to accept on faith the existence of something one knows not to be real, sets a bad precedent for when your kids start questioning their religious principles down the road.

That said: Just_A_Girl is very big into Santa. We've reached an understanding where she tells the kids what she wants, and I just refer any questions from the kids back to Mommy.

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Santa is only a distraction if you were never taught about who Santa is.

I grew up Catholic. Saint Nikolaus, the Bishop of Myra (the real person behind the Santa tradition) is an important saint in the Catholic faith.

Read up about him and let me know if you still believe Santa is a distraction.

For those who saw Rise of the Guardians - they showed Santa's core as Wonder. There is a reason for that. Saint Nikolaus is also called in Catholic tradition as Nikolaus the Wonderworker.

So yeah - Santa without knowing WHY we do the Santa-thing is a distraction. You need to teach your children the Why of it.

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Frankly, Anatess, I'm not convinced that Nikolaus of Myra would be terribly pleased with the modern incarnation of "Santa Claus", either. The fact that a modern practice originated as a memorial of something true - and even, noble and holy - does not justify the continuation of the ritual, anymore than (to use extreme examples) a drunken revel on Times Square is justified by the life and ministry of St. Patrick, or a Mardi Gras orgy constitutes a legitimate preparation for Holy Week.

My family has been trying to establish some good traditions on Christmas Eve in remembrance of the Savior, and I hope we're succeeding to some degree. But even so, the Lord was not the addressee of the letter my six-year-old snuck into our mailbox this week asking for munificence while promising to be good. And neither myself nor my wife have any delusions about our kids thinking of Jesus as they tear into their gifts on Christmas morning.

Edited by Just_A_Guy
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The holidays were always elaborate for me growing up. While Santa bringing gifts was a big part of what made Christmas special as a child, my siblings and I were also immersed in the spiritual aspect of it. In the month of December, we would read one scripture about the birth of Christ, every night after dinner. We'd all take turns, so each night it was a different person reading but we all shared our thoughts on it, too. Christmas has always been a magical time for me, then and now.

As an adult and parent, I wasn't sure if I wanted to incorporate Santa into Christmas. I was really torn over it, actually. I discussed my concerns with my husband and we decided not to overthink it. We will do the magic of Santa, and when that time comes when she asks questions about whether he's real or not, we'll answer her.

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Whether it's Santa or the parents who give the gifts, children aren't necessarily going to care. And it can be just as commercialized without Santa. The gift giving can be just as hectic whether it's from Mom and Dad or Santa. Even without Santa, if Christmas is celebrated with gift giving, the stores will commercialize it. IMO, Santa is just being the scapegoat here.

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Whether it's Santa or the parents who give the gifts, children aren't necessarily going to care. And it can be just as commercialized without Santa. The gift giving can be just as hectic whether it's from Mom and Dad or Santa. Even without Santa, if Christmas is celebrated with gift giving, the stores will commercialize it. IMO, Santa is just being the scapegoat here.

Well said.

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The fact that a modern practice originated as a memorial of something true - and even, noble and holy - does not justify the continuation of the ritual, anymore than (to use extreme examples) a drunken revel on Times Square is justified by the life and ministry of St. Patrick, or a Mardi Gras orgy constitutes a legitimate preparation for Holy Week.

Bummer. Guess I should go re-plan my Spring.

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Personally, I do not like the idea of santa at all. Santa focuses on the commercial aspect of christmas instead of the religoius aspect. It distracts from the true meaning of Christmas.

One of my co-workers chose to not do the santa thing with her kids. I actually really liked that idea. In addition to solely focusing on the religious aspect, they did not want to lie to their kids. They told their kids presents came from them, not santa. If the kids were ever asked they would reply saying "my parents give me presents".

Any thoughts?

The tradition in the Traveler's household was that each child received one gift at Christmas from Santa - this tradition was to continue as long as that particular child believed in Santa - when they came to us to let us know that they have figured out that their parents were Santa we made it clear that the one gift of Santa would no longer be part of their Christmas. To this day they do not accuse the Traveler and his wife of being Santa.

But there was also a second tradition of Santa in the Traveler's home. Each year our family would save $$$ for Christmas that the entire family would become "Santa" for another family that would otherwise not have Christmas. Each member of the Traveler's family contributed some of their own money and helped select the gifts. The family would take the gifts late at night on Christmas eve - leave them on the door step - ring the door bell many times while knocking and running like crazy.

What is interesting - there was one year when funds were very meager and it was decided by the children that we would forgo our gifts that year and only do the Santa for another needy family. It all went very well but to our surprise when we returned home at our door was a pile of presents from another Santa.

The Traveler

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I'm not a big fan of Santa, either. If Santa did not exist, members of the Church (and Christians in general) would be appalled at the idea that we might put a God-like but decidedly non-divine figure at the center of a Christmas celebration, in replacement of or even in conjunction with Christ's birth.

Having said that, I don't know that Santa is the worst thing ever to happen to Christmas. I think there are ways to incorporate Santa into Christmas that are harmless or perhaps ever somewhat beneficial.

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Frankly, Anatess, I'm not convinced that Nikolaus of Myra would be terribly pleased with the modern incarnation of "Santa Claus", either. The fact that a modern practice originated as a memorial of something true - and even, noble and holy - does not justify the continuation of the ritual, anymore than (to use extreme examples) a drunken revel on Times Square is justified by the life and ministry of St. Patrick, or a Mardi Gras orgy constitutes a legitimate preparation for Holy Week.

My family has been trying to establish some good traditions on Christmas Eve in remembrance of the Savior, and I hope we're succeeding to some degree. But even so, the Lord was not the addressee of the letter my six-year-old snuck into our mailbox this week asking for munificence while promising to be good. And neither myself nor my wife have any delusions about our kids thinking of Jesus as they tear into their gifts on Christmas morning.

The commercialization of Santa in America is not a memorial of something true. It is unrecognizable as such. I mean, you can count with the fingers of one hand the number of people who know who Saint Nikolaus is in your street. That's not Santa's fault, nor the tradition's fault. That's the people's fault for forgetting what Santa is truly all about.

And just because the letter got sent to Santa and not to Jesus for the promise of being good does not detract from Jesus. Well, if we assume that the child knew who this Santa fellow is in the first place and how he relates to Jesus. And if we assume that the child knows who's birthday it is we are celebrating on Christmas.

When my kid promises ME that he will be good, it does not remove Jesus. When my brother who was born on Christmas Day opens his birthday presents it does not detract from Jesus.

It only detracts from Jesus if you don't do ANYTHING to celebrate the Nativity when you celebrate Christmas or if you make something like opening presents so grand that you forget Jesus.

When we open presents at midnight, we open it after we sing our traditional Happy Birthday, Jesus song. And before that we would have just recovered from a whole night of caroling and handing out cookies. Our traditional caroling route is usually 10 houses. All songs about Jesus. All done in charitable service. And before that, we would have just gotten finished with a giant family dinner spending quality time with the whole family. All of which is done in the name of Jesus. So the kids go crazy when they open their presents... I don't see that as detracting from Jesus.

That tradition is handed down from my family's tradition. We have our family dinner (this is the entire clan - a slew of aunts and uncles and cousins, etc.). Then the kids go door-to-door caroling and they have to be home by midnight because every single year growing up in the Philippines, we attend the Christmas mass that is held 3 houses down the road at the village chapel at exactly midnight. Then we walk home at 1AM to the sound of fireworks (it's undescribable - Christmas and New Years is like 4th of July in the US, except the fireworks is not done by the city - instead, every single house is blowing something up). After we run out of fireworks, we open our presents from Santa. We usually don't go to bed until the sun is rising.

Now, the fireworks, the presents - this does not detract from Jesus - it's just all part of the whole shabang. We go door-to-door singing carols every night all the way to the Feast of the Maji in January. All in the name of Jesus Christ, Savior of the World... including the smattering of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Up on the House Top.

Christmas is the awesomest spiritual time of year. Even now that I'm all grown up with kids of my own. The week leading to Easter is very spiritual too, but it's different because it's more somber than joyful. It's a different ambience.

Edited by anatess
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I hear you, Anatess, and given that I am at least an unindicted conspirator in the whole Santa thing at my house, I rather hope you are correct.

But part of me wonders . . . Change the name from Santa to Baal. Keep the rest of the family observances - in my case the the mythology of the hidden kingdom where "Baal" reigns supreme with his consort Mrs Claus (Ishtar?) and innumerable lesser gods (elves), the supernatural powers, the surreptitious appearances and gifts left in return for our children's direct supplication (letters), best behavior and food offerings (milk and cookies - and carrots for Rudolph), the songs praising the being's laudable attributes, the carefully stage-managed (and, of course, fake) "appearances" of the being in order to reinforce belief -- How is that not "worship", at least on the part of my children who think it's all real? And is it really OK to make obeisance to ”Baal" in this manner so long as one also renders due respect to Jehovah?

Edited by Just_A_Guy
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In my eyes, Santa is not at fault for sometimes being the subject of commercializing Christmas. He's the red herring while all sorts of other things are truly working to take Christ out of Christmas.

Santa Claus in his current incarnation may be a fairy tale, but that is just fine with me. He is magic, the unseen, faith, hope, and a way to be part of something bigger.

If kids are forgetting Christ in favor of Santa Claus, something much bigger is going down.

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Personally, I've found that with the advent of internet shopping I complain less about the commerical aspects of Christmas. If I had to endure early-morning Black Fridays, and the parking wars at most mall, I might be talking about doing away with Santa, and with the over-commercialized aspects of Christmas. Really though, at least in my case, I would be engaging in transference--my hatred for crowded parking lots and malls would come across as some high-minded effort to put Christ back at the center of Christmas.

Hey, this is just me though...y'all pray for my cynical soul. :-)

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I don't believe Santa is a distraction if children are taught appropriately the real reason why we as Christians celebrate Christmas.

However, I think it is a huge distraction if a child comes to you, no matter the age, and asks is Santa real? And the answer is "yes," and the child continues to believe in the "ho, ho, ho" story.

When this happens you answer the question honestly. Our 5 year old two days ago just asked us if Santa was really real, and if Elf on the Shelf truly travels to the North pole.

We then reverted the question back to him, "Do reindeers really fly?" His response, "No."

Our next response, "Do you think Santa really lives in the North pole and can ride a sled if reindeers can't fly?" His response, "No."

We then said, "What if we told you Santa and Ms. Santa were real, but they didn't fly, they didn't have any reindeer and they surely didn't live in the North pole? Who is Santa and Ms. Santa for you?"

His response, "Mom and Dad."

I have never had any problem with the two. Our oldest, when in the first grade, his library teacher, approached me in tears, saying "I was so impressed with your son who knew the true meaning of Christmas and in detail."

He had been taught about Santa. It apparently didn't distract him either of the true meaning of Christmas.

However, I am all for mother's and father's who don't want to and that it distracts. I see no harm either way.

Edited by Anddenex
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Have family that didn't do Santa and the kids really resented the parents later for not doing it. Really took away from the magic of Christmas and the thrill of being a little kid. There are ways to do it and still keep the holiday Christ centered. Christmas eve for my family is all about Christ and his birth. I know people (beyond family) who really resented their parents for not doing Santa, but I don't any people who resented their parents for doing Santa. I don't know anyone who thought their parents were dishonest for doing Santa either. Its all about how you handle Christmas. Just bring some balance in and find time to do both. Christmas eve for Christ. Christmas day for Santa.

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I hear you, Anatess, and given that I am at least an unindicted conspirator in the whole Santa thing at my house, I rather hope you are correct.

But part of me wonders . . . Change the name from Santa to Baal. Keep the rest of the family observances - in my case the the mythology of the hidden kingdom where "Baal" reigns supreme with his consort Mrs Claus (Ishtar?) and innumerable lesser gods (elves), the supernatural powers, the surreptitious appearances and gifts left in return for our children's direct supplication (letters), best behavior and food offerings (milk and cookies - and carrots for Rudolph), the songs praising the being's laudable attributes, the carefully stage-managed (and, of course, fake) "appearances" of the being in order to reinforce belief -- How is that not "worship", at least on the part of my children who think it's all real? And is it really OK to make obeisance to ”Baal" in this manner so long as one also renders due respect to Jehovah?

We don't do "obeisance" to Santa, no more so than Catholics do "obeisance" to the Catholic Saints and the Blessed Mary. It's the same argument I've had to engage in as a Catholic to non-Catholics who don't understand these canonizations and such and how we pray for the intercession of our "patron saints" and guardian angels and such. It's really the same thing as asking you to pray for my father who is dying of cancer. Catholics ask their Saints for intercession.

The cookies, the best behavior and food offerings... that's just kid stuff. No different than the kids being on their best behavior and bringing apples to their favorite Math teacher. I guess you can call it worshipping the Math teacher. I don't see that as anywhere close to worshipping our Heavenly Father. And our children know that. Or at least, we should have taught them that.

And sure, my kids thought Santa was alive and well and giving them presents. That's kid stuff. My kids thought the tooth fairy was real too. I grew up believing the same thing. Didn't hurt my testimony any. It's just stuff that we reminisce as grown ups just like the time we singed our eyebrows on the bamboo cannon on Christmas. We have all these fun times now when my siblings get together... "Remember when you thought there was a monster in your closet? How about when you thought Santa was still alive?... And remember when you believed Dad when he said you'll get appendicitis if you don't sit down for meals?"... yeah, I was 21 years old when I learned that the appendicitis thing was made up by my dad so that we will have to stay at the dinner table for my dad's "lecture" after meals. I miss those days. The fun days of youth.

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