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No, Virginia, There Isn’t a Santa Claus
Original article in The New York Sun from Wikipedia
Little white lie, fib, half truth, untruth, falsehood, exaggeration … whatever you like to call it, telling children that Santa is delivering presents for Christmas is a lie. Gasp! Yes, I said it.
If someone were to say that God or Jesus did not exist, no one would bat an eyelid. On the other hand, if someone were to even remotely express the mere possibility of not believing in Santa Claus or his existence, they would be ready to swoop in and whisk you off like the KGB in the former communist Russia.
We don’t live in a communist country so EVERYONE is free to believe whatever they like, which includes not believing in Santa.
As part of living in a free society, not only do we have the freedom of beliefs, but we also have the responsibility to be considerate of another’s feelings. The right of individual beliefs is not a license to impose them on other people.
My family does not share in the “tradition” of Santa Claus as part of our Christmas celebration. This can be very problematic considering my children are elementary age. I have taken great care and consideration to protect the beliefs of other children who do choose to believe. The same consideration is not given to my unbelieving children. My children do not go around spouting the fact that they do not believe in Santa. However, children and adults alike should be careful what questions they ask. My children go to great lengths to avoid the question because I have taught them to be considerate of other children’s feelings. However, if one insists on asking my children that question, they will be truthful and a child may get their feelings hurt.
Some parents also believe that hitting a child and calling it “spanking” to justify the means, is wrong. The same should apply to lying. It is just my opinion; but I chose not to teach my children about Santa, Easter Bunny, Toothfairy, etc. I felt that I could not teach the lesson of honesty if I was a liar. I don’t believe in a “good” lie or “acceptable” lie.
Consequently, if a parent chooses to lie about Santa Claus, it should be with the understanding that not all share that belief and one day the truth will come to light. Don’t be angry if your child comes home upset because my child told their truth about Santa.
2 Comments Received
December 18th, 2008 @3:35 pm
I have to agree with you.. It’s one thing to tell your Children
that Santa is a game or pretend but another thing all together
to flat out lie… even if it’s a fun lie.
Once your children find out it was a lie, they feel betrayed,
and make the false assumption that lying or deceiving is
ok for the “right” reasons.
I too, choose not to lie to my son, and I also received a lot
of grief from other parents for not playing along. Of course,
they had no problem lying to my son and trying to convince
him that there was a “real” Santa and a giant bunny that
left colored eggs at Easter.
My son knows he can trust me, because I have never lied to him.
December 18th, 2008 @3:50 pm
I was raised with the image of Santa Claus, but was also
raised as a Christian. As a young child it didn’t occur to me
to question the splinter of Christmas into a religious holiday
and a huge commercial event.
Past age 7 when I learned that there wasn’t a man in a sleigh
that came to our house every Christmas, it became primarily a religious holiday with gift giving a symbol of our love for
one another – family & friends.
I think it is unfortunate that the modern depiction of Santa
Claus has become so commercialized. If society had stayed true
to the original figure of Saint Nicholas Christmas would not
have two faces as it does now.
In 1897 Virginia was told Santa Claus did exist, not as a
jolly man in a red suit, but that “he exists as certainly as
love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that
they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy.”
Would it be so bad to tell children the truth about Santa
Claus? I mean the truth what the icon represents: love,
generosity and joy.
I don’t think the idea of Santa Claus is the problem,
the problem is that people/society has mis-represented
and mis-used the original figure.
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