Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

cleanhippie

(19,705 posts)
Tue Dec 20, 2011, 08:20 PM Dec 2011

Santa Claus: The ultimate dry run

IT’S HARD TO even consider the possibility that Santa isn’t real. Everyone seems to believe he is. As a kid, I heard his name in songs and stories and saw him in movies with very high production values. My mom and dad seemed to believe, batted down my doubts, told me he wanted me to be good and that he always knew if I wasn’t. And what wonderful gifts I received! Except when they were crappy, which I always figured was my fault somehow. All in all, despite the multiple incredible improbabilities involved in believing he was real, I believed – until the day I decided I cared enough about the truth to ask serious questions, at which point the whole façade fell to pieces. Fortunately the good things I had credited him with kept coming, but now I knew they came from the people around me, whom I could now properly thank.

Now go back and read that paragraph again, changing the ninth word from Santa to God.

Santa Claus, my secular friends, is the greatest gift a rational worldview ever had. Our culture has constructed a silly and temporary myth parallel to its silly and permanent one. They share a striking number of characteristics, yet the one is cast aside halfway through childhood. And a good thing, too: A middle-aged father looking mournfully up the chimbly along with his sobbing children on yet another giftless Christmas morning would be a sure candidate for a very soft room. This culturally pervasive myth is meant to be figured out, designed with an expiration date, after which consumption is universally frowned upon.

--snip--

By allowing our children to participate in the Santa myth and find their own way out of it through skeptical inquiry, we give them a priceless opportunity to see a mass cultural illusion first from the inside, then from the outside. A very casual line of post-Santa questioning can lead kids to recognize how completely we all can snow ourselves if the enticements are attractive enough. Such a lesson, viewed from the top of the hill after exiting a belief system under their own power, can gird kids against the best efforts of the evangelists – and far better than secondhand knowledge could ever hope to do.

http://parentingbeyondbelief.com/blog/?p=6656

----------------------------------------------------------------

Read the whole story at the link, it's a good read.

I just attended a seminar on secular parenting in a religious world by the author, Dale McGowan. Good stuff.

5 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Santa Claus: The ultimate dry run (Original Post) cleanhippie Dec 2011 OP
I think Santa has evolved into a secular figure. Starboard Tack Dec 2011 #1
No one claimed Santa was a religious figure. cleanhippie Dec 2011 #2
He's right. trotsky Dec 2011 #3
Here is my all-time favorite atheist/Santa essay. PassingFair Dec 2011 #4
God is Santa for grownups. Odin2005 Dec 2011 #5

Starboard Tack

(11,181 posts)
1. I think Santa has evolved into a secular figure.
Tue Dec 20, 2011, 08:37 PM
Dec 2011

I never associated him with religion. Consumerism yes, unfortunately. And why do you think he doesn't exist? I saw him just the other day.

cleanhippie

(19,705 posts)
2. No one claimed Santa was a religious figure.
Wed Dec 21, 2011, 09:59 AM
Dec 2011

It's about Santa being a metaphor for god, and the parallels between the two.

Did you read the article? Are you just being obtuse?

trotsky

(49,533 posts)
3. He's right.
Wed Dec 21, 2011, 10:07 AM
Dec 2011

I have used the Santa myth with great success in describing religion and god belief with my kids. They understand perfectly, and most importantly, they understand why you don't tell little kids Santa isn't real (it upsets them), and therefore understand why they shouldn't tell adults that god isn't real either.

Just keep quiet - it's what even liberal believers seem to want from us.

Latest Discussions»Issue Forums»Religion»Santa Claus: The ultimate...