What to do with Santa?
December 8th, 2006 by 
soulster
Sorry I haven't posted or been available for comments in a while. I've had a couple of intense days….
I though with the holidays approaching (if you so choose to celebrate), we might take a short break at critiquing each other's deepest held values and claims and aim our intellectual cannons at Jolly Ole' St. Nick.
We've talked a lot in our dialogue so far about fictional beings and the irrationality of belief in them, how they may be used as proofs this way and that, etc. It seems to me that it would be interesting for believers and atheists alike to talk about what you do with a popularly (near universally) promoted fictional character like Santa. Many people know he's fictional (don't tell the kids), but our culture moves in mass as if he is real. Many people tell their kids stories about him and give him credit for acts that they do. There is currently a great market in selling myths about the man, and he seems to be pretty good for the economy.
So is Santa just a harmless myth that embodies some values of family, giving, and celebration? Is he something more noble or supernatural (lets see if anyone takes that position)? Or, perhaps something more sinister?
Just to get things rolling, I'll talk about my intended policy if I ever have children of my own: I will not teach my kids that Santa is a supernatural being who brings them packages while they are sleeping. I plan to explain to them the various stories about the historical figure [wiki] and how he has, over time, come to embody the values of the season. I will request that relatives label presents from themselves to my children, rather than from Santa, and I doubt I will take them to visit him at the North Pole until they understand it is symbolic — so they are not confused and later disappointed, but still can participate in the cultural festivities. Also, I plan to teach them to practice Christmas like St. Nick, who according to some of the oldest legends, provided gifts for orphans — that rather than a festival in consumerism, it should be a celebration of giving.
Alright, fire away. The man in the red suit is fair game, as is my policy.
December 8th, 2006 at 9:30 pm
People who live in the northern hemisphere do not have the same appreciation of how weird, absurd and how much an anarchronism christimas is in the southern hemisphere.
This is what happens when a cultural tradition is translocated to the other end of the globe.
Australians sitting in pools of sweat with daggy T shirts and sweaty shorts, singing “Jingle Bells” whilst wearing furry red santa hats, is not only an anachronism; it should be banned as it frightens not only the tourists, but the wildlife.
December 8th, 2006 at 10:57 pm
Belief in any myth is harmful. My 10-year-old daughter never had one iota of illusion that Santa existed. I told her from the earliest age that he did not exist. This gives me more time to talk to her about Jesus.
December 8th, 2006 at 11:52 pm
beepbeep:
I’m laughing my head off! Ha!
December 9th, 2006 at 2:14 am
RE soulster:
Glad to see you enjoyed it.
RE jim:
It is the defining of what constitutes a myth, that you and I would most probably disagree on.
I am unconvinced as to the historicity of the person called jesus. But even if it could be ascertained to my satisfaction that he actually existed, it would be another massive hurdle to convince me that he was a god.
(Sorry, to rain on your parade here. I am just tellin’ it like it is.)
December 9th, 2006 at 8:45 am
Soulster,
It seems your desire to “take a short break at critiquing each other’s deepest held values and claims and aim our intellectual cannons at Jolly Ole’ St. Nick” only lasted a couple of comments. This may have been wishful thinking anyways since the christian story and St. Nick’s are so emeshed in our cultural convictions around this time of year.
Personally, I’ve decided to jump on the Narrative Reality bandwagon and tell my son that the ’story’ of St. Nick is neat and use it to discuss the values represented by it. Vague refereces to historicity are sprinkled in so that his truth forming faculties will learn early on to connect temporal-spatial concepts as integral, though not exclusive, aspects of truth.
Man, it’s hard not to resist the temptation to dive into a Bultmannian demythologizing of St. Nick and derive comparisons to the christian story, but I’ll refrain. To answer your question more directly about the popularized myth of St. Nick, I think it demonstrates the value of myth when it remains in the arena of mythology. Myth and religion are the poetics of societal valuation. They archetypically express our aspirations and values and can contribute greatly to a poetic dialogue of what characteristics are “good” or benefit society. It seems like the danger and disservice come in when these stories are removed from the realm of myth and put into the realm of scientific reality. I wonder what would happen if we started to take the Lord of the Rings series as scientific reality?
Merry Christmas:)
December 9th, 2006 at 8:17 pm
Why is santa so bad? He isn’t a real character but he is cartoono-ish and kids like that kind of jazz. Myth or not, similar to everything that creates a great imagination, Santa doesn’t bother me in the least nor does he take away from a single religious tradition I know of. Happy Christmas everyone, I hope Santa brings you tonnes of gifts.
December 9th, 2006 at 9:41 pm
I have a lot of spiritual conversations with people, and it amazes me how often finding out the truth about Santa has strong connection to people struggling with faith in God. I definitely don’t think it’s the majority case, but comes up repeatedly.
When I think back, the Santa thing never really had an impact on me, mostly because my parents never hid presents until Christmas eve. With presents under the tree for weeks, I just didn’t understand all the other kids waiting for the big man to come. As far as I could remember, Sanat was just a TV character like the smurfs or G.I. Joe.
December 10th, 2006 at 12:42 am
soulster,
Wait… the Smurfs and G.I. Joe aren’t real?
December 10th, 2006 at 8:31 pm
Soulster, I have always wondered why true Christians (as I consider you to be) are not hopping mad about the insane push by every retail venue to shop til one drops buying the most expensive and outrageous gifts for everyone, even people who are merely acquaintances? Now we have pundits from the FOX News Shows screaming about the “WAR ON CHRISTMAS!!!” because some stores are not telling everyone, including the Jews, to have a ‘Merry Christmas.’ Talk about ancient stories morphing…three wise men with simple, useful gifts to the present day madness where usually ‘normal’ people go so insane over $300 Playstations that they will camp out for days or engage in brutal fighting just to get this year’s “gotta have it!” gift. Even Santa is shocked!
December 11th, 2006 at 8:28 am
Internet Infidel:
Well spoken! Apparently, this consumerized Christmas is relatively new. Previous to WWII, gift giving was a small-time thing. But after America acheived such wealth taking advantage Europe’s crippled economy, marketers hyped the gift giving to new levels. My wife and I decided to subvert this trend in our own way. We always shop for a cause during the season. Last year we bought everyone shares in humanitarian projects among refugees. This year, everything was through a fair-trade group.
I hate to think what those fair-minded and balanced “news” people at FOX would say. I think I detected a hint of approval on the local FOX station when a man was shot over a playstation in NYC (aggressive competition is good for the economy afterall).
December 14th, 2006 at 5:50 am
I did a post recently on my blog on the issue of What to do with Santa? from a Christian point of view.If you’re interested its title is The Effects of Fantasy- Part 3.
Claire