Santa Claus --> God

[john]

This may end up to be a rather quick discussion, but I'm just really curious about this. I hope you will at least vote in the poll, if not offer your thoughts.

Is there a positive correlation between a childhood belief in Santa Claus and an adult belief in God? In other words, if you believe in God now, did you also believe in Santa as a child, and do you think that one follows the other?

It made me think, because many parents do tend to teach their children that Santa Claus is real. Many parents also teach their children that God exists. You can see evidence of the existence of both of them, are taught how to communicate with each of them, and know they'll both reward you for being good and punish you for being bad.

But, at some point in your childhood, you realize that Santa Claus is not real. What about God? If your parents were making up stories about one, then perhaps the same goes with the other.

What do you think?

PS: Those poll options got a little confusing...I hope I covered everything without being too silly about it.

[Kolbitar]

[moogdroog]

I voted for the first, although my parents didn't bother so much with keeping up the pretence of Santa running around at Christmas. Ah, that magical Christmas Eve at four years old - clock strikes one o'clock in the morning, hushed whispers with my older sisters, waiting eagerly for Santa himself to show up - then hearing my dad shouting 'Bloody hell!' as he trips over our presents in the loft. And thus my illusions were shattered

We practised, as Kolbitar says, the belief in God though - only by my father though, my mother used to be a agnostic, or perhaps atheist (but in the most mild sense of the term - she had no opinion on religion whatsoever, and knew very little about it). I remember - before the Santa incident - asking some really awkward questions. 'Is Santa magic? He must be, to do all those things.' 'Yes, he's magic'. 'Is God magic as well?' '....'

[w4tvq]

Actually, I was taught to believe in Santa, but I do not think I ever did; I suspected from the start that it was a game, and so I played it.

I was also taught to believe in God, but my home was a religion-free zone; as a teenager I decided to visit a church, and became enamored of high-church Anglicanism. That began what I did not know at the time was a lifelong search for God, like a long journey through the Anglican, Luteran, Pentecostal, Roman Catholic and Unity churches. Finally I gave it up, and then He came and revealed Himself to me. Surprisingly, He led me back to the Anglican church, but what matters to me now is not church so much as He Who is the Way, the Truth and the Life.

Santa is a demigod, a "God substitute" for a society devoid of hope in God, a symbol of the societal belief that acquisition of more "stuff" makes for happiness.

Or so it seems to me.

Pax Domini
Art

[Karen]

No God and no Santa (although we did have a Christmas tree - that's how secular our Judaism was!) But now I believe.

I think Santa is a charming idea for small children, although I know many people think it's either a) ridiculous to have children believe in anything mythical or b) that it somehow takes away from belief in God. Scrooges.

With our own children, we absolutely did Santa. Neither of them was traumatized to find out he wasn't real, and both (at age 16 and 20, one Jewish and one Christian) believe in God.

[postodave]

I was taught to believe in Santa and God. But then my parents broke the news there was no Santa - I was devasted at the time though I had been trying to disprove him for myself. I more or less rejected my parents concept of God but then God found me.

I did want think of writing a story about some kids who do a maths/science project on different beliefs about Santa because different families do Santa in different ways. In my family all the presents from relatives were sent to Father Christmas as we called him. For my wife the big presents came from relatives and FC presents were something seperate. Other parents tell their kids that Santa brings the presents but they send him the money. This explains why he gives the best presents to thr richest kids. the idea would be to explore different approaches to truth and rationalisation. I would like to bring in the omega point quantum theory of Santa but that might be a bit advanced for primary kids.

Anyway I like Terry Pratchett's idea that kids have to start with the small lies like Santa and the tooth fairy so they can graduate to the big ones like justice.

[john]

[AllanS]

[Xara]

Well, err, I believe in the historical figure of the priest Fr Nicholas. Inasmuch as he is the basis for Fr Christmas (Saint Nicholas = Santa Claus (cholas -> claus)) then one cannot have one without the other.

This is separate from the allegations of his magical philanthropy.

[Xara]

[AllanS]

[Xara]

[john]

[Xara]

[postodave]

I think and this is hindsight that the mistake my parents made was trying too hard to rationalize Santa; to encourage me not to question and to remain in the magical world of childhood. Actually it was very much the same with God. When I first told my mum I didn't think I was a Christian any more she tried to convince me I was really. My Dad was either an atheist or an agnostic but he sort of wanted us kids to believe in God so he would not let us watch TV programs that might question that. In the same way when my sister was taught that the story of Adam and Eve was not true at 9 my Gran tut tutted and thought she was too young to know that. And it was the same with sex, it was knowledge you had to be protected from.

With my kids I've tried to play Santa more as a game. My youngest daughter took me to one side a couple of years ago, made sure she was outside the earshot of younger children and told me she did not believe in Santa. I said yes, but do you want to carry on pretending and she agreed. I hope she has not forgotten that conversation. I was slightly tempted to tell her that her Grandad believes in Santa so she had better pretend for his sake. Anyway this year we are reading Tolkien's Father Christmas letters and enjoying that very much.