by Christine G.

Created on: December 09, 2008

The sanctity of the Santa myth is astonishing. Movies, cartoons and popular media all tell us that anything is possible for those who truly believe in Santa Claus. This message has brainwashed parents to the point of unquestionable conviction that no childhood is complete without unquestioning faith in the reality of Santa. The heat generated by differences of opinion regarding politics and religion is nothing compared to the sparks that fly when someone dares to question the morality of lying to children about Santa.

Even the religious folk seem to think that it is OK if Santa enjoys a temporary god-like status. Could it be that they are sawing off the branch on which they are sitting as they try to pass on their faith? In the eyes of the average child, evidence for the existence of Santa and his minions far outweighs evidence of the existence of God and other spiritual entities. When a child discovers that the whole Santa thing is a fabrication, s/he will surely question whether God is not equally bogus. Even in the best-case scenario, the principle of telling the truth is seriously undermined. If Mom and Dad can tell the truth selectively, it must be all right for children to do likewise.

Belief in Santa raises some serious ethical problems. How come Joey next door got all the expensive toys he asked for, while little Rita received just one bargain-basement doll and some nuts and oranges? Does Santa like Joey more? Is Joey more worthy in some way, or is it possible that Santa plays favorites? If Santa reads all the letters and knows what everybody wants, how come Janet got a pair of skates instead of a pony, and Tiffany got the Chinese Barbie when she specifically requested the Dancing Princess model?

If you factor in the naughty and nice variables, Christmas gifts become rewards for good behavior. We all know what a jerk Jimmy is, so how come Santa is rewarding him? All Jimmy deserves is a lump of coal and a kick in the behind. Santa either has inside knowledge that we can't imagine, or his standards are in a class of their own.

There is no benefit in encouraging kids to believe in Santa any more than they believe in the reality of fairy dust, unicorns or talking pigs. Flights of fantasy are wonderful exercises of creativity that can bring great pleasure, but even Santa's sleigh has to come back down to earth sooner or later. All those wonderful toys under the tree are purchased by people who realize that they won't appear magically if they just believe hard enough.

When my children were growing up, I was careful to tell them, "That's a nice story, and people like to pretend they believe it." But no matter what I said, I was no match for the authority of their friends. They decided to believe in Santa, just in case he existed. My son cited the fact that Santa's budget was vastly larger than mine, and he might be persuaded to come up with some high-end items that we could not afford. My daughter pointed out that every year, there was always at least one gift under the tree that did not specify the donor. Who was I to say that it was not from Santa?

There may be a clue there. Perhaps the real Santa is the spirit of gracious anonymous giving. That's something we can all believe in.

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