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<\/a><\/p>\nThe spectacular fantasy film \u201cThe Polar Express\u201d, based on the beloved children\u2019s book by Chris Van Allsburg, is a good example of the cultural pressure to uphold the Santa myth. The protagonist, a boy who is struggling with doubts about the reality of Santa, is invited to ride on a mysterious train to the North Pole. A creepy hobo he meets on the train asks him, \u201cWhat\u2019s your take the big guy?\u201d The whole point of the yarn is of course to decry disbelief in Santa. A web page on WikiHow<\/a> tells you how to \u201cKeep Your Child Believing in Santa.\u201d<\/p>\n Even Christians play along with the Santa myth, as it is passionately defended in an article I ran across entitled \u201cWhy I Believe in Santa (And My Kids Will Too)\u201d<\/a> by Hannah Giselbach:<\/p>\n You get where I\u2019m going with this. The thought of having an intervention every time your children use their imaginations is ill-advised and rather silly. Why, then, are we so afraid to let our children imagine and pretend when it comes to Santa Claus? Pretending isn\u2019t always lying. One very sad and dismal day, your children won\u2019t play with dolls anymore. They won\u2019t run, elated, arms flailing when they see Mickey Mouse at Disney World. One day, your children will grow up and understand that all the things they used to play with and pretend with are not actually real. I beg of you, don\u2019t take away that magic prematurely. It will happen when it happens. And I\u2019ve never once met an adult who felt betrayed by their parents who \u201clied\u201d to them about Santa when they were children. Not once! I have, however, met adults who feel deprived of a major part of childhood because their parents felt the need to dispel their belief and encourage their questioning doubt at a very young age.<\/em><\/p>\n This approach, of winking and saying \u201cit\u2019s a good lie\u201d or \u201cit\u2019s just pretend\u201d makes me a bit squeamish. Also it seems unnecessary. In my own family we have reveled in the imagination of \u201cHarry Potter\u201d and \u201cStar Wars\u201d without trying to maintain that they are real and true. I don\u2019t want to be a spoiler of enchanting ideas, or an enemy of imagination, but neither will I tell a bald-faced lie to someone, especially a child. Especially as Christians, the myth of Santa is not the place to stake our flag of truth, lest we lose all credibility on more important things, such as the Resurrection.<\/p>\n This is not merely a frivolous worry. Philosopher David Kyle Johnson, associate professor at King\u2019s College, Wilkes-Barre, PA, wrote an opinion article entitled \u201cSorry, Virginia\u201d<\/a> in the Baltimore Sun, in which he stated:<\/p>\n Parents should stop teaching their kids to believe in Santa Claus. Reading stories about Santa is fine, and encouraging generosity and imagination is great. But tricking children into believing that an omniscient fat man, with a red suit and rosy cheeks, will slide down the chimney bestowing presents on Dec. 24 is just flat-out immoral. First of all, it\u2019s lying. It\u2019s one thing to lie to save someone\u2019s life, but stop kidding yourself. \u201cIt\u2019s fun to watch the kids get excited\u201d is hardly a noble cause. Nor is it harmless. I\u2019ve amassed recollections of \u201cfinding out the truth about Santa,\u201d and many were stories of genuine embarrassment and resentment. The systematic deception makes children feel taken advantage of or like the butt of a joke. <\/em> In contrast to the opinion of Ms. Giselbach, prof Johnson has collected stories of harm done by the lie, and you can read about this here<\/a>.<\/p>\n An article published in Lancet Psychiatry<\/a> also hypothesizes that lying to kids about Santa may be harmful. As reported in The Guardian:<\/a><\/p>\n Kathy McKay, a clinical psychologist at the University of New England, Australia and co-author, said: \u201cThe Santa myth is such an involved lie, such a long-lasting one, between parents and children, that if a relationship is vulnerable, this may be the final straw. If parents can lie so convincingly and over such a long time, what else can they lie about?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Even more, from a Christian perspective, is this: The more of our time and brain space we give to the \u201cSanta\u201d myth, and by extension to the plastic and commercial \u201cX-mas\u201d of our culture, the more we distract from\u2013nay, rob from\u2013the glory of Christ\u2019s birth. Pastor and author John Piper, of \u201cDesiring God\u201d fame, responded to the question of Santa by first recounting the fact that Christmas celebrates that Jesus came to seek and save the lost, that he came to give his life a ransom for many, and that through his death he might destroy the one who has the power of death.<\/p>\n So the birth of the Son of God, the very God, very man, is simply stunning and glorious and infinitely serious, an overflow of the happy news. The angel called it \u201cgood news of great joy\u201d \u2014 great joy, not small joy, not a little bit of joy, but great joy (Luke 2:10).<\/p>\n \u2026It is mindboggling to me that any Christian would even contemplate such a trade, that we would divert attention away from the incarnation of the God of the universe into this world to save us and our children. . . . Not only is Santa Claus not true \u2014 and Jesus is very truth himself \u2014 but compared to Jesus, Santa is simply pitiful, and our kids should be helped to see this.<\/em> I\u2019ll return to the question posed by that ghostly hobo, \u201cWhat\u2019s your take on the big guy?\u201d<\/p>\n When this came up for me, when my kids were toddlers, I pondered how to honor Santa, without lying, and without sucking away the magic of the season. I purchased a lovely little book by Julie Stiegemeyer entitled Saint Nicholas: The Real Story of the Christmas Legend<\/em>, published by Concordia Publishing in 2007. This is a very readable book with charming illustrations, which I found helpful. It links Santa with the historical St. Nicholas, relating him to the real meaning of Christmas at the end of the story.<\/p>\n
\n(Desiringgod.org<\/a>).<\/p>\n