(September 8, 2015 at 12:26 pm)Losty Wrote: I understand 2 opinions on this matter. The first is the opinion that it's ok to tell kids Santa is real, and the second is that parents shouldn't tell their kids Santa is real. Both opinions make sense to me. Like I already said, I personally don't think it's morally wrong but it's not the kind of relationship I want to have with my kids. Even when it may be "good for them" I don't like lying to my kids, I would rather say "it's not something I think you need to know right now" than lie to them.
This...
(September 7, 2015 at 9:48 pm)Pyrrho Wrote: That is pure bullshit. Children like the holiday just fine without the nonsensical beliefs attached. What you are saying is just the rationalization that the goddamned liars like to give for their goddamned lies. People like tricking children, as it makes them feel superior. It does not benefit the children at all.
however, I do not understand. I think you're being melodramatic and irrational in this post. Regardless of whether you think it's ok or you think it's wrong, parents who tell their children Santa is real are not doing it because they like tricking people to make themselves feel superior. You even suggesting this to be true makes me want to tell you to grow up.
It was a reaction to someone failing to recognize that an exact and perfect example of lying is actually lying. And there was a reluctance to accept it even after it was pointed out that it perfectly fits the definition. There was also an attempt at an excuse for the lying which does not fit the actual facts.
It is a simple and straightforward matter of fact that we are dealing with lying. A failure to recognize that shows that one is messed up in one's thinking about it.
Now, all of that is a separate issue from whether it is right or wrong or indifferent. It is only after one sees what it is that it can be judged good, bad, or indifferent. This is analogous to me coming out of a bank with a bag of money. One cannot properly judge that action without accurate information about what is going on. It could be that I made a large cash withdrawal from my account or from my safe deposit box, or it could be that I robbed the bank. The moral judgement comes only after one has the facts straight. So, too, in this case, one must first get the facts straight before one can reasonably judge the matter to be good, bad, or indifferent. Unfortunately, this is a case where people often fail to get the facts straight, even after they are explained to them. Many people have trouble recognizing that the Santa example is an example of lying. Why do you think that is? If what people were doing was perfectly innocent, why would they have trouble recognizing and acknowledging the obvious facts of the situation? Are they just morons, too stupid to understand the concept of lying? That would be an innocent reason for their failures in this case, but somehow I do not think you are going to tell us that that is what is going on. Nor is it what I would accuse them of. But, since you do not like my explanation, what is the explanation for this situation?
"A wise man ... proportions his belief to the evidence."
— David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Section X, Part I.
