Is it bad for a child to believe in Santa Claus?

[JAM2b]

I enjoy the true story of Santa, and I also enjoy the fantasy Santa. However, I didn't want to confuse or frustrate my children. I didn't want to lie to them about Santa, and then expect them to believe me about Jesus. What I did with my own kids was to tell them the truth about Santa, but that it is also fun to pretend. So we watch the shows and talk about "Santa is coming" with them fully knowing the truth. It did cause friction in my family, but no one died over it. It also allowed me to be honest and realistic with my kids when I didn't have money for expensive gifts or a lot of things. They understand it is all based on what I can afford, not on how good they have been or if Santa cares about them or they sent their letter early enough.

 

[MyGivenNameIsKeith]

The truth is, He is real. Its not my fault your not true Catholic
CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: St. Nicholas of Myra
CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: St. Nicholas of Myra

And I quote....
"Bishop of Myra in Lycia; died 6 December, 345 or 352"
So you are telling kids that a dead guy flies in a sleigh, commits breaking and entering, steals cookies, has a sweatshop of elves making toys in arctic conditions, company is not approved by the Better Business Bureau, and an aircraft which is not properly lit up according to FCC Flight regulations? And I wonder, if all the elves work for Santa making toys....do they believe in Christ? Does Santa pray with them? In all Christmas lore, I never notice Santa emphasizing Jesus. It seems that Santa sits on the glorious throne.
So, While the Santa myth may have been derived from a man who apparently followed Christ, it is Christ we should follow. St. Nick is not able to see all the boys and girls, sees you when you're sleeping, knows when you're awake...That implies he's omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent. St. Nick is not God. So while St. Nick was real as a person a long time ago, he died and is not flying around in a sleigh. As I said before, Santa is an elaborate lie that deters people from Christ.
Celebrate Jesus. It's his birthday.

 

[Devin P]

My 7 year old believes in Santa Claus and I was wondering is bad for kids to believe in Santa Claus. I always remind her that the gifts are blessings from God. I thought about telling her the truth but I don't want to break her heart.

Yes it's bad, because it's you lying to the child.

That and how are they gifts from God, if Santa brings them? Wouldn't that make Santa God?

When the child grows up, they have been taught a lie from you - and in a child's mind, Santa is on par worth Jesus, so if Santa was a lie, it just breeds unneeded skepticism between your child and you.

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

]IT is not an accident that satan and santa are spelled with the same letters. [

 

[Cat Loaf You]

Santa is anagram for Satan o______O

But serious , there was guy named Santa who gave presents and he was christian so what is bad about somebody loving children to the point that he is sharing his own wealth with them to make them happy.

It's sad tho that people put more faith in Santa Claus than Jesus Christ tho which we should focus on ...

 

[Smylie]

What makes Christmas significant in the first place? The birth of Jesus. Santa gives gifts, God gives Jesus. It's 100% fine for Children to believe in Santa, but it's always a good idea to make sure the real importance of Christmas is always known.

On Christmas, we were given the greatest gift of all, Jesus. Santa can't deliver gifts as significant as the gift God gave, but he can still deliver the feeling of giving.

 

[LoricaLady]

I probably

I think that by the time children are of the age where they really question the legitimacy of the Santa myth, this is a good tell them that Santa 'Claus is just the nickname of a real person called Saint Nicholas whose claim to saintliness comes from his love of children and his secretly giving gifts for them anonymously, such as leaving gold coins down the chimneys of their parents so that their impoverished parents might be able to redeem them from being taken as slaves for the Sultan, in lieu of the jizya tax.

Saint Nicholas is a very real person, and the gifts under their Christmas tree are real enough too.

And the reason that Santa Nicholas did the things that he did was because he was trying to live his life like Jesus, whose Incarnation into the world is what we are all celebrating by giving gifts on Christmas day.

That is the real story about Santa Claus, and by the time that a child asks his parent for the real story, that is what we can tell them. Of course there are a lot of myths added to the Christmas story too, that enrich our Christmas experience. There is no need for a parent to be a myth-buster. It is enough to say that a lot of what Christmas is, is just for fun and maybe for easy instruction too, such as the names and races of the three wise men are just for instruction that Jesus came to save everybody.
By the time that a child is seven, they can make use of the library card and separate the myths from the reality on their own.

Saint Nicholas was apparently a real person, but he no way put those real presents under the tree. In fact, he doesn't do anything whatsoever. He's dead. Why do you have to wait to tell children the truth? Why do they need to hear an outrageous lie at all?

Frankly if there were a St. Nicholas today giving gifts to other people's children and putting coins down chimneys for them, I'd be real alarmed and be warning the children to stay away form him. If you get my drift.

 

[LoricaLady]

And my last comment makes me wonder... Do we really want to teach our children to accept gifts from some strange guys in bizarre outfits that have an excessive interest in other people's children and want the little kiddies to sit on their laps? And this refers to those guys in the costumes in the Malls too. Why should we hand our kids over to them? I mean, really.

Nowadays it seems more prudent to teach children to be cautious about such characters. Maybe that's always been true, though.

 

[Devin P]

I probably

Saint Nicholas was apparently a real person, but he no way put those real presents under the tree. In fact, he doesn't do anything whatsoever. He's dead. Why do you have to wait to tell children the truth? Why do they need to hear an outrageous lie at all?

Frankly if there were a St. Nicholas today giving gifts to other people's children and putting coins down chimneys for them, I'd be real alarmed and be warning the children to stay away form him. If you get my drift.

He actually wasn't a real person, it's a common misconception but the Catholic records of saints show no such saint. He's said to be a Catholic saint, but it's as I said a myth.

 

[CGL1023]

My 7 year old believes in Santa Claus and I was wondering is bad for kids to believe in Santa Claus. I always remind her that the gifts are blessings from God. I thought about telling her the truth but I don't want to break her heart.

With so much commercialism associated with Christmas, the children are bombarded with Santa at every level. The U. S. government assists in perpetuating the myth in 2 ways: 1. NORAD "tracks the progress of Santa across the world as he makes his stops to deliver gifts Santa's progress is shown on TV news on Christmas Eve. 2. The USPS make it easy for kids to write to Santa using the address -- Santa Claus, North Pole.

 

[LoricaLady]

With so much commercialism associated with Christmas, the children are bombarded with Santa at every level. The U. S. government assists in perpetuating the myth in 2 ways: 1. NORAD "tracks the progress of Santa across the world as he makes his stops to deliver gifts Santa's progress is shown on TV news on Christmas Eve. 2. The USPS make it easy for kids to write to Santa using the address -- Santa Claus, North Pole.

Yeal, and like they'll ever even say a word about the Savior.

 

[LoricaLady]

He actually wasn't a real person, it's a common misconception but the Catholic records of saints show no such saint. He's said to be a Catholic saint, but it's as I said a myth.

This is what I saw on Google:
Born in Patara, a land that is part of present-day Turkey, circa 280, St.Nicholas was a Christian bishop who helped the needy. After his death, the legend of his gift-giving grew. St. Nicholas transformed into the legendary character called Santa Claus, who brings Christmas presents to children around the world.Dec 7, 2017
St. Nicholas - Saint - Biography.com

The Catholic Church does not recognize St. Patrick as a saint either. I know that Irish Catholics built Churches with his name, but he was never canonized by the RCC yet he is a real, historical, person.

 

[GracefulGalPal]

I don't think its BAD but I personally feel its a bit dishonest. When I adopt a daughter I will let her choose whether she believes in Santa. If she says yes then I will tell her the truth when she is ready.

 

[Urban_Legend]

The Devil will create all different kinds of things to take our focus off the most important part of our salvation

 

[Urban_Legend]

Next we have to deal with the bloody rabbit at Passover....

 

[LoricaLady]

Next we have to deal with the bloody rabbit at Passover....

Actually he doesn't come at Passover. The true Resurrection day is indeed associated with Passover. However, just FYI, what we call Easter - which is named after the pagan goddess Ashtar whose symbols were bunnies and eggs - never, ever falls on the true day our Savior rose from the grave. For just one reason, Passover follows a lunar calendar, not a solar calendar such as we use in our culture. That makes it impossible for Passover, and the subsequent Resurrection Day , to ever fall on the same day of the week every year.

 

[thesunisout]

My 7 year old believes in Santa Claus and I was wondering is bad for kids to believe in Santa Claus. I always remind her that the gifts are blessings from God. I thought about telling her the truth but I don't want to break her heart.

Yes, I think it is bad to teach your children that Santa Claus is real. It gives them a reason to doubt Gods existence when they find out it isn't true. Primarily, it is a lie and the scripture tells us not to lie.

 

[RaymondG]

Yes, it is. Think about this. You tell your child about God and Jesus. You tell your child about Santa Claus. She finds out later that Santa Claus isn't real. What is she going to think about God and Jesus?

So you believe that there is no difference is the myth of santa Claus and the story of Jesus, the living God? You can't prove either is real, so if one is found to be make, the other could be as well?

 

[ViaCrucis]

Why does St. Nicholas (who wasn't all he is cracked up to be if you do the research) make anything sacred? Does the Savior need help from him for things to be sacred? What is there about the story of the Lamb that needs support from "Saint" Nicholas? It doesn't support Him, it detracts from Him. It is a bow to our culture that just can't stand to see the Light of the world getting the exclusive credit for what He has done. Don't mix traditions of men leaven in with the Bread of Life.

So you don't believe in telling our children about the lives and stories of God's people? We shouldn't tell them about Abraham, or of Moses and Aaron, or of Elijah, Jeremiah, Ezra, Esther, John the Baptist, of Peter, James, John, Paul?

Or is it okay to tell our children about them because they're mentioned in the Bible, but we don't teach our children about the lives of God's people who lived after c. 100 AD? Of Ignatius, Polycarp, Justin, Hippolytus, Irenaeus, Felicity, Perpetua, Cyprian, Marcellus, Alexander, Athanasius, Ambrose, Nicolas, Basil, Patrick, or Augustine? Gregory, Bernard, Maximos, Isaac, Francis, or Claire? What about the Twenty-Six of Nagasaki? How about Dietrich Bonhoeffer? Martin Luther King, Jr?

Why would we deprive our children of the witness and testimony of the holy saints?

-CryptoLutheran

 

[ViaCrucis]

He actually wasn't a real person, it's a common misconception but the Catholic records of saints show no such saint. He's said to be a Catholic saint, but it's as I said a myth.

No, there was an actual Nicolas of Myra. It's entirely possible that some of the stories surrounding him are apocryphal or exaggerated, but that there was a man named Nicolas who was bishop of Myra isn't in doubt.

Unless you have some something to offer to challenge that position.

-CryptoLutheran