Christmas. As a recently married couple, my sweetie and I have had a few talks about what Christmas has been like for us and how we want it to be in the future. On Saturday night, in the parking lot of IKEA, I found out that he never believed in Santa Claus, which astounds me. I was convinced that Santa Claus existed until I was eleven.
And ya know, why not? If fax machines exist, why can't a guy who gets around to all the priviledged houses in the world in a single night? Why the heck not?
How do you know, anyway? People who declare that there is no God, faeries, miracles, evolution, etc. remind me of all those people who thought that tomatoes were poisonous (the Devil's apples, they were called).
Well, maybe that doesn't work. Because I can't prove to you the existence of any of the above, but tomatoes really aren't poisonous. Mmm, tomatoes. I really was born to be Italian.
But anyway, my point is this: I don't know. You don't know. And I want my kids to not know either, which is why I will "lie" to them and tell them that their presents come from a man with a snowy beard, a big stomach, and an ability to wiggle down chimneys.
Switzerland 2020
3 years ago
3 comments:
I have a few things to say:
If we don't know the truth about something, then there's no reason to push in one way or the other. Which would lead me to answer the children, when they ask whether Santa exists, "I have no idea."
What it does NOT seem proper to do, is lie. No quotation marks. Is there a santa? No idea. Did he leave those presents under the tree? If so, why do I remember walking in a daze through untold stores, wrapping, etc.? And why the big ballance on the cc?
See the difference here my sweet?
Do I hear footsteps on the rooftop? I might, and if I do, I'll say so. But if I don't, I'm not going to say I did.
If you are convinced you must tell the children about the fat man with beard and presents, I love you so much I will do my best to fill that description, so that you won't have to be a liar.
Can you pick up some donuts on the way home dearest??
kiss!
Did you know that Santa Claus as we Know him, long white beard, red clothes, belly and all was invented by coca cola in the 1930s?
here in germany it's the "Christkind" (roughly translated as christchild), who brings the presents. And if I don't believe tha it brings the presents anymore, I still believe it's the spirit that watches out for us at christmas time and brings us all together.
We have someone, too, who resembles Santa Claus, St. Nikolaus who brings gifts to children on December 6th, and he really did exist. he was a bishop in Nicäa who apparently was very good to children.
So much for some christmas facts. And yes there are fairies and angeks out there...
Existence is a state, not a cause. Therefore, the existence of one thing can never necessarily require the existence of another, and so the existence of fax machines has no bearing on the existence of Santa Claus.
Let us then consider the existence of Santa Claus as an independent concept. Does he exist? Well, there’s certainly no evidence that he does, but we certainly have good reason to think that he doesn’t. For instance, Santa Claus is not consistent with our knowledge of physics (http://guim.org/the_physics_behind_santa_claus.html). Could our knowledge of physics be wrong? Perhaps, but there’s a lot of evidence to suggest that it isn’t (sending men to the moon, for instance).
So, do you really think it’s ok to teach children one thing, when there’s good reason to think the opposite? Even saying “I don’t know” seems a lie of sort, in the face of all reasons to have a belief.
Here’s another question for you, while we’re on the subject of belief and knowledge. I assume you’ll raise your children as Christians of one type or another. Why? Why not as Muslims, Jews, or Hindus? How do you know that Christianity is the right religion? This seems to me a good case for saying “I don’t know”. But then, if you have no way of knowing which one is right, how do you choose? Does it make sense to choose one at all?
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