Santa... why do so many Christians lie to their children about Santa?

[cre8id]

I am a Christian now, in fact I am a rather 'fundi' Christian, but I used to be an athiest. I became atheistic and extremely skeptical of the Bible and religion at an early age... mostly because I felt I could not believe my parents nor the Church. I grew up attending a very liberal church, Methodist in denomination. They taught me that the scriptures were really a collection of early myths but taught moral truth.
I was always interested in science... I knew what a paleontologists was before the 2nd grade. Science contradicted the Bible, or at least certainly seemed to. Somewhere around then you learn that Santa is not real... he is a story, a myth... Santa is an impossible being in the real world yet carries a LOT of the same attributes of God... he knows if you (and every other kid in the world) have been bad or good, something that only God knows... we call it the attribute of Omniscience.
So, even a kid can start thinking logically as he gets to be a teenager. if Santa is a fraud, and the Bible is just a bunch of legends, and your own parents lied to you... and the Bible is just a bunch of stories, and you run across Bible skeptics and atheists... you can easily see the logical conclusion.
Getting back to the question, however, is how do so many Christian parents justify lying to their kids about Santa? I personally despise Santa. I can accept a lot of other things which are unbiblical about the way we celebrate Christmas because I don't want to be too legalistic about the date, the decorations, etc. We celebrate Christ's birthday in spirit. I just can't stomach Santa, probably from my own experiences.

 

[Galatea]

Let me guess, you got coal this year?

 

[cre8id]

Let me guess, you got coal this year?

Glad you think this is humerous. I don't.

 

[CodyFaith]

First, I always hear the "lieing to your kids about Santa will make them doubt God's existence too" - in nearly every anti-Santa thread it's brought up, which makes me believe it's more a legend than anything actually happening.

Second, do you lie do your kids about the toothfairy? When your kids draw a picture and it's an awful drawing, do you tell them "eh well you colored outside of the lines, drew his face weird, stick body shows lack of creativity... 2/10" or do you say "Wow! Very nice picture! Good job!" and other encouraging things?

Point is, you lie to your kids. I'm not pro-telling kids about Santa, nor am I against it - probably because I never had kids of my own to judge fully. However all the kids in my extended family and stuff, if they ask me questions about Santa and their really young, I'm simply not going to tell them he isn't real. It's not my place.

 

[Galatea]

Glad you think this is humerous. I don't.

I'm easily amused.

 

[2PhiloVoid]

I am a Christian now, in fact I am a rather 'fundi' Christian, but I used to be an athiest. I became atheistic and extremely skeptical of the Bible and religion at an early age... mostly because I felt I could not believe my parents nor the Church. I grew up attending a very liberal church, Methodist in denomination. They taught me that the scriptures were really a collection of early myths but taught moral truth.
I was always interested in science... I knew what a paleontologists was before the 2nd grade. Science contradicted the Bible, or at least certainly seemed to. Somewhere around then you learn that Santa is not real... he is a story, a myth... Santa is an impossible being in the real world yet carries a LOT of the same attributes of God... he knows if you (and every other kid in the world) have been bad or good, something that only God knows... we call it the attribute of Omniscience.
So, even a kid can start thinking logically as he gets to be a teenager. if Santa is a fraud, and the Bible is just a bunch of legends, and your own parents lied to you... and the Bible is just a bunch of stories, and you run across Bible skeptics and atheists... you can easily see the logical conclusion.
Getting back to the question, however, is how do so many Christian parents justify lying to their kids about Santa? I personally despise Santa. I can accept a lot of other things which are unbiblical about the way we celebrate Christmas because I don't want to be too legalistic about the date, the decorations, etc. We celebrate Christ's birthday in spirit. I just can't stomach Santa, probably from my own experiences.

I never taught my son that Santa Claus was real. But, I did teach him about Saint Nicholas, who is, I trust, now in the safe keeping of Jesus.

 

[cre8id]

First, I always hear the "lieing to your kids about Santa will make them doubt God's existence too" - in nearly every anti-Santa thread it's brought up, which makes me believe it's more a legend than anything actually happening.

Second, do you lie do your kids about the toothfairy? When your kids draw a picture and it's an awful drawing, do you tell them "eh well you colored outside of the lines, drew his face weird, stick body shows lack of creativity... 2/10" or do you say "Wow! Very nice picture! Good job!" and other encouraging things?

Point is, you lie to your kids. I'm not pro-telling kids about Santa, nor am I against it - probably because I never had kids of my own to judge fully. However all the kids in my extended family and stuff, if they ask me questions about Santa and their really young, I'm simply not going to tell them he isn't real. It's not my place.

1. I didn't give you legend, I gave you what really happened to me.
2. No, I did not lie to my kids about the tooth fairy. I told them about make believe and stories and made sure that when they were told make believe stories, like the tooth fairy, Easter Bunny, etc. they at least got the message.
3. If you do not encourage the skills of your kids, too bad for both you and them. Coloring outside the lines may indeed be a "good job" if they have not reached the level of development where they can do better.

 

[cre8id]

I never taught my son that Santa Claus was real. But, I did teach him about Saint Nicholas, who is, I trust, now in the safe keeping of Jesus.

Well, good for you! Saint Nick, who was real, is NOT the same person as Santa.

 

[CodyFaith]

1. I didn't give you legend, I gave you what really happened to me.
2. No, I did not lie to my kids about the tooth fairy. I told them about make believe and stories and made sure that when they were told make believe stories, like the tooth fairy, Easter Bunny, etc. they at least got the message.
3. If you do not encourage the skills of your kids, too bad for both you and them. Coloring outside the lines may indeed be a "good job" if they have not reached the level of development where they can do better.

So when your 1 year old scribbles a whole bunch of lines on a paper, and it literally makes not even a shape, you wouldn't tell them "nice picture"?

After all, it's not a nice picture. It's nice that they took the initiative and tried to do it, it's great that they're developing skills. But it's not a nice picture, it's scribbles.

 

[cre8id]

So when your 1 year old scribbles a whole bunch of lines on a paper, and it literally makes not even a shape, you wouldn't tell them "nice picture"?

After all, it's not a nice picture. It's nice that they took the initiative and tried to do it, it's great that they're developing skills. But it's not a nice picture, it's scribbles.

One fits their comments to the developmental level of the child/person. If you can't grasp that, then any further remarks along this line will be ignored.

 

[Galatea]

This is off topic, but coloring outside the lines shows more creativity and art than coloring a coloring book picture inside the lines.

It's better to give them blank paper to color or paint on- something with no lines.

 

[CodyFaith]

So if a 5 year old, for whatever reason their extended family or something, comes up to you and says to you "the tooth fairy left me a dollar yesterday for my tooth!" - what do you say?

 

[cre8id]

This is off topic, but coloring outside the lines shows more creativity and art than coloring a coloring book picture inside the lines.

It's better to give them blank paper to color or paint on- something with no lines.

I can appreciate that.
My comments were to the assertion made that I was deliberately lying to my kids (now grand kids) if I told them "good job" if they produced scribbles or colored outside the lines... which I reject.

 

[Galatea]

I can appreciate that.
My comments were to the assertion made that I was deliberately lying to my kids (now grand kids) if I told them "good job" if they produced scribbles or colored outside the lines... which I reject.

It's a tricky issue. You want to praise and not hurt their feelings, yet not lie if the art is bad.

I think maybe praising the effort, or the intent if not the outcome. "Thank you for coloring this picture for me." This is truthful, kind, and praising the intent but not the piece.

 

[Radrook]

I was told that I was lied to about Santa in order for me to enjoy the childhood fantasy world as long as possible.

The phrases:

"Would I ever lie to you?" and "Trust me!" were employed to keep me believing until age approx 11.

When the truth of dishonesty was suddenly revealed by the same person I had blindly trusted, my mother, I almost blacked out in public and needed to hold on to a lamppost to steady myself.

 

[4x4toy]

Who was St Nicholus ?

 

[Kiterius]

I am a Christian now, in fact I am a rather 'fundi' Christian, but I used to be an athiest. I became atheistic and extremely skeptical of the Bible and religion at an early age... mostly because I felt I could not believe my parents nor the Church. I grew up attending a very liberal church, Methodist in denomination. They taught me that the scriptures were really a collection of early myths but taught moral truth.
I was always interested in science... I knew what a paleontologists was before the 2nd grade. Science contradicted the Bible, or at least certainly seemed to. Somewhere around then you learn that Santa is not real... he is a story, a myth... Santa is an impossible being in the real world yet carries a LOT of the same attributes of God... he knows if you (and every other kid in the world) have been bad or good, something that only God knows... we call it the attribute of Omniscience.
So, even a kid can start thinking logically as he gets to be a teenager. if Santa is a fraud, and the Bible is just a bunch of legends, and your own parents lied to you... and the Bible is just a bunch of stories, and you run across Bible skeptics and atheists... you can easily see the logical conclusion.
Getting back to the question, however, is how do so many Christian parents justify lying to their kids about Santa? I personally despise Santa. I can accept a lot of other things which are unbiblical about the way we celebrate Christmas because I don't want to be too legalistic about the date, the decorations, etc. We celebrate Christ's birthday in spirit. I just can't stomach Santa, probably from my own experiences.

Not quite sure what you mean when you say that Santa isn't real.

 

[truefiction1]

Saint Nicholas

 

[4x4toy]

This guy
How St. Nick Became Santa Claus

 

[Tetra]

My daughter (age 8) asked me this year if Santa is real, I told her no. I don't think you should lie to your children. She never really asked until now anyways.

I did tell her though, part of what makes a fictional story fun, is imagining it. Thinking about the characters, the setting, what they look like, how they act etc... You see, you can still take part in a fictional story, in fact, doing so is the purpose of fiction I think.

Since my daughter loves reading fiction, she understood right away.