RE: Santa Claus
June 25, 2013 at 11:12 am
(This post was last modified: June 25, 2013 at 11:17 am by Bad Writer.)
(June 25, 2013 at 10:26 am)The Germans are coming Wrote: Well Santa is based on a coptic "saint" who lived in Anatolia (when it wasn`t the Ottoman Empire but a Byzantian).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Nicholas
So he aint that fake. "Saint Nikolaus" is actualy a festivity celebrated in wide parts of catholic and eastern orthodox christian Europe, as a feast of remembering the saint and giving presents (as he did).
I think it is also celebrated by the coptic christians (or by what is left of them) in the Islamic Arab world (Mordor).
He was simply invented and copied by coca cola to create a better image for marketing.
True. I had heard that he was based on a Saint, but telling kids that someone who died is alive and well, not to mention delivering gifts on a magical sleigh pulled by flying reindeer, is the same as...well, you know, telling people that Jesus rose on the third day.
What I have to prepare for is when my daughter goes to school where kids believe in Santa Claus. When asked if she believes, she'll have a good answer to that: "In my house, we pretend that he's coming." So she can still have Santa for Christmas, but not have the burden of believing in him and then learning later that a fat man really can't come down a chimney.
Other factors to consider are various. One that comes to mind is the "naughty or nice" list, which many parents use to keep their kids in check. "Viriginia, clean your room or you'll get coal in your stocking for Christmas. Santa only rewards good girls." The pitfalls to this premise, I hope, are self-evident.
(June 25, 2013 at 11:09 am)Rahul Wrote: Let them find out that people make up magical men stories. This is good practice for the whole god thing.
This is a good argument for the good that can come from perpetuating the Santa myth. My only question to you would be why should we use this as a template? Why can't we encourage imagination and freethinking and not hinge on the hope that maybe they'll look back on this part of their childhood with a smile? Statistically there's that 38% that will not be happy about being lied to.
I'm not mad about parents doing this though. My in-laws are doing this with their son, even though they are atheists. They're using the Santa myth as a tool for their son to learn critical thinking early on, and they hope that he'll be proud of himself once he figures out the truth.
Personally, I just don't want to take the gamble.
