When I was around 12 or so, I got into a fight with a kid who said Santa Claus wasn't real. I said he was. Then my mother told me that there was no Santa Claus and it was time for me to grow up. I asked, "So then God isn't real either?" My mother stared at me and said, "No, God's real." I retorted, "But we can't see him either so how is it that God is real but Santa isn't?" Good question younger me. Heaven forbid if I had gotten into a fight with an atheist because then I would have been applauded. I may not believe that there is an actual Santa Claus but I believe in him as an ideal to be a good person.
First off, Santa Claus was actually invented in the late 1890s I think. The red suit, the white beard, and the big belly were added to make Santa more commercial. Way before Christmas became a commercial holiday and Santa Claus became its forerunner, the jolly big elf was based off of a few legends of a gift giving spirit. First there was St. Nicholas who went around leaving gifts in children's shoes. St. Nicholas is a bonafide saint canonized by the Catholic Church. He is a patron saint of children and prostitutes. Funny story behind the prostitute thing. There was a poor man with three daughters. They didn't have enough money to give their prospective husbands as a dowry so they were going to have to turn to prostitution in order to support themselves. Good old Nick heard about this and went to their house and dropped 3 bags of gold down the chimney. St. Nicholas was such a generous person that it's no wonder he morphed into the man who we also call Jolly Old St. Nick.
For people who say that Santa Claus is for little kids and so is just a fairytale, well some could say the same about Jesus Christ. Come on… a Virgin birth, a talking snake, and a man in the sky who throws lightning down with angels who grant wishes? That sounds crazier than the old fat man driving a sleigh pulled by flying reindeer and then basically breaking into your house to leave gifts! It may sound blasphemous but let's think honestly about this. Let me ask you: You can't see God, how do you know He's real? Just because Santa Claus gives gifts to kids doesn't mean he's just for kids. He's basically a god to kids.
About every fairytale such as Rapunzel, Hansel & Gretel, Cinderella, and Snow White is about as fantastical and violent as any Bible story you'll read, except the Bible has more stories about rape. Jonah gets swallowed by a whale or a giant fish? Sounds like Pinnochio. No one can survive inside a fish for three days then be spit out unharmed or undigested. While I'm open-minded about everything, I'm not adverse to pointing out the flaws in logic in a story if someone gets too preachy and tries to belittle someone else's beliefs. Let's just all agree that any story featuring a fairy or a talking burning bush is insane and focus on the message of the story instead like you're supposed to.
Adults from a long time ago, before there was TV or FaceBook, entertained their kids with scary yet magical stories with morals at the end of each tale. The stories are meant to make the children behave so they grow up to be decent people. The idea behind Santa Claus is the same idea behind Jesus Christ and that's to do unto others as you would have done unto you. All gods and goddesses, demons and angels, or fairies and saints are ideas that we created to show us right from wrong. It's meant to teach us something. Getting caught up in the details makes you a tool. So let your kids be kids and if you feel you have to tell them there's no real man who drives a sleigh delivering gifts to billions in one night, just explain to them that the idea is pure. Parents say: "I don't want to lie to my kid." Well that's something we'll never solve because kids will lie regardless. Some lies are better than truths in some cases like Santa Claus.
I have had problems with religious people in the past regarding things about religion being a bunch of fairytales. I don't like to get preachy about it but I try to respect other's opinions even if I don't like them. Sometimes people even post bad things on my pages. Just so you know I don't read them and I often delete them so don't bother. You know that old saying: "You don't have anything nice to say, then shut up nobody cares what you think." Well that's what I say...
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