Comments on: Should Christians Play Santa?

By: Tsh

Tsh — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 07:15:56 +0000

LOVE this. It’s exactly how I feel. Thank you for sharing your perspective on good old St. Nick so succinctly.

By: Jan in Colorado

Jan in Colorado — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 00:05:01 +0000

We have three daughters who are now grown with children of their own. Even though we were Baptist we celebrated Advent when they were growing up and they loved the stories and scripture (and of course lighting and quenching the candles!).

We also told them the story of Saint Nicholas and the history of Santa Claus and told them that it was okay to pretend as long as we still remember the real meaning of Christmas. We explained that other children believe that Santa is real and that we shouldn’t try to confuse them by insisting that he is just make believe…that it’s okay to pretend along with them, but that we should share the story of Jesus with them, too.

We had “Santa” presents on Christmas morning that were unwrapped or in stockings (and left out cookies and milk and shook sleigh bells when it was okay to get up and come downstairs). But after breakfast we moved into our Jesus’ birthday celebration and opened one present at a time, focusing on the giver of the gift and the ultimate gift of Jesus.

It was hard to know if it was all getting through, but one Christmas as we were getting ready for dinner my three-year-old daughter stood next to the cake staring at the tiny plastic nativity scene. She turned to me and said, “Mommy, Santa was a good man, but he didn’t die on the cross.”

It doesn’t get any better than that…

By: DR. Paul W. Foltz

DR. Paul W. Foltz — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 21:32:39 +0000

It’s a sad day when Parents can not tell the truth to their children, but not to hurt their feelings go on telling them the lie about Santa.
Who is in control of the home in such cases/ The Children are.

Dr. Spock has no place in a Christian home. It is anti Biblical.

By: jntowers

jntowers — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 19:13:29 +0000

Amen… I’m just glad to hear someone else isn’t able to tell his kids Santa exists. My son is only 13 months, and a daughter on the way in a few weeks, but I’ve thought about this alot, and I just don’t think I’ll be able to do it.

I’m also reminded of the Dana Carvey SNL skit (the Church lady) – Santa being an anagram for Satan… funny stuff.

By: More Santa… « Bernard Shuford

More Santa… « Bernard Shuford — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 18:25:48 +0000

[...] December 11, 2008 @ 1:25 pm } · { Miscellaneous } { } Another highly interesting commentary on Christian perspectives during [...]

By: Dr. Paul W. Foltz

Dr. Paul W. Foltz — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 01:05:11 +0000

As a boy, we had a birthday cake for Jesus, sang Happy
Birthday to him and opened one present on Christmas Eve, the rest on Christmas morning.

We [My Brother and Sister], were told Santa was just a story, a fairy tale. When I got to be about 12 Years old, I was told that Santa was the world’s substitution for Jesus Christ.
”He knows when you are bad or good.”

As to whether one should observe Christmas let each be persuaded in his own mind, since The Bible no where tells us to observe it.

By: Paul from Canada

Paul from Canada — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 00:42:26 +0000

I’ve been reading several Santa debates on various blogs and have even written a post or two on the subject; but now you bring Frosty into the discussion and… whoa!

My kids are in their teens now, but I never gave Frosty any thought, before this. Could Santa be a decoy when Frosty is the real issue? Church people debating the fat guy in the red suit when it’s the roly poly white guy we should be worried about?

And why is Frosty always depicted in three-parts? Is this some quasi trinitarian concept designed to confuse our children?

I know I’m confused right now.

By: minnow

minnow — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 06:10:16 +0000

My mother was horrified when I refused to tell my children Santa was real. I was going to destroy their childhood. We taught them instead about a whole variety of Santas and Santa traditions and they loved hearing what other people in other countries did to celebrate. Christmas can be “magical” without lies. To this day my children love to play Santa’s eleves especially with their youngest sister. They are 20, 19, 16, 13 and 3. They also enjoy making cookies, decorating the tree and GIVING presents.

By: Glenn E. Chatfield

Glenn E. Chatfield — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 16:50:21 +0000

Wayne in Frisco,

One of the reasons we taught our children from the begining that Santa wasn’t real was the desire to not have to lie to them. Lying to children for such a simple thing is still lying. We need to teach honesty and trust from the very beginning. But we found no harm in playing the Santa game as long as we also pointed out the harm of greed and how most kids they knew were so very greedy when it came to Santa.

For those worried about being “separate” from the world, I don’t think this is any different than reading Grimm’s fairy tales or going to the movies.

By: Wayne in Frisco

Wayne in Frisco — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 15:27:14 +0000

I really enjoyed reading this post and the comments and getting a different perspective. At my house, we have had Santa every year and I’ve always been bothered by it. I lost the fig.., er discussion about whether or not we would have Santa when our first child was born. He is now 7 and soon, we will be teaching him how and when to lie to his 3 younger siblings and 5 younger cousins so as not to spoil their fun. When he was 4, he was certain that only Jesus could be everywhere at once and Santa could not be real. He was re-educated and will soon become part of the “system”.

I have no problem with the Christmas fun, gifts, trees, etc. but I am convinced that teaching children to believe in Santa undermines their trust when it comes to teaching them biblical truths. While they don’t need to be taught how to lie, helping them and condoning lying for Santa’s sake is unnerving. I’ve painted myself into a corner.

Am I alone in this? It reminds me of that song, “Jesus got run over by a reindeer . . .”.