Christianity QA

Question:

<snip If they had you write Santa a letter, it was, to you, a petition (prayer) to Santa. I see, so you are praying to everyone who reads your posts ! Scripture bans Christians having other Gods, whether they are put before Christ or not. K.C. G(CM) http://providential-plan.com/providence.html

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Every year, on the very Birth Celebration of Christ, people worship a red robed figure called Santa Claus.  Think I’m over the top on this Yes.  Nobody believes in the literal existence of Santa Claus or pays to him the same kind of reverence paid to Christ or the Buddha. He’s an important figure in our Christmas celebrations, and I’d even say, a spiritual one. But it doesn’t constitute worship, and only an insufferable smarty pants –or a blockhead– would seriously claim otherwise. Ahhh, but the children are taught to believe it is true. The parents have given the children a god.  one?  Consider… 1.  People sing holiday songs about Santa Claus (worship), often in churches. People also sing songs about yellow submarines and little red Corvettes, that doesn’t mean they worship them.  And nobody sings about Santa Claus in church.  What faith did you grow up in anyway? Again, the children believe it is true. 2.  People teach their children about how to please Santa, rather than teaching our children in the Lord. Christian folks might manipulate their children with the Santa Claus myth, but no Christian substitutes Santa Claus for Christ. You’re making things up again. The children teach their children to believe in a Santa-God figure that is watching them and will reward or punish them. 3.  Parents have their children write letter prayers to Santa asking for things. Okay, this really must be a joke.  But it’s a very faint one. Letters to Santa are typically a ploy by which parents discover what the kids really want for Christmas.  Though the kids quit believing in Santa at around age 7, the game is carried on for much longer. Adults often joke about the things that Santa gave them.  It’s figurative language, didn’t they teach you about that in school? Whether adults or older kids believe it or not, parents are teaching their children to believe Santa is true.  They are giving them another god to serve (breaking the Ten Commandments). 4.  In a holiday that is supposed to be about God’s gift to man, Jesus, we have Santa has being the giver of gifts. If we talked about the birth, death and crucifixion of Santa Claus, you’d have a point.  But once again, no Christian substitutes Santa for Jesus. Both stories are told simultaneously, with different intentions in each case. Same point as above. Besides, Saint Nicholas is a Christian saint in the first place. He represents the spirit of good will and generosity we hope to see during the Christmas season. Yes, Saint Nicholas (which looks nothing like the figure we see now) has to be outraged in heaven as he looks down that Jesus has been replaced with Santa. 5.  Rather than reading the story of the coming of Christ, we have families and tv specials telling of the coming of Santa. Now you have a point:  almost. America is not yet a theocracy, if you hadn’t noticed.  Secular folks talk about Santa Claus, whom they do not believe in, rather than talking about Jesus Christ, whom they also do not believe in. I have a point in all of it, even if you refuse to see it. The secular – religious aspect is not an accident.  It is a tool of the devil to replace Jesus in society. 6.  Rather than promoting giving love, the season has been about giving cash and money to commerical stores. The fact that Santa has the same letters at Satan and that he is always accompanied by elves that look much like demons should give us a clue Christmas has become an orgy of commercialism, and that is truly a shame. But believe it or not, I see plenty of real good will during the holidays. It’s a time for family and friends to get together and eat, talk and exchange presents.  I don’t think Jesus has anything against these things. Money cannot save your soul. As for Santa and Satan, it’s barely interesting.  God is dog spelled backwards, but you don’t think he shits in your yard, do you? Elves are another matter.  Behind their commercial images, there is a truly sinister element.  Fairies, as they come to us through myth and legend, are capricious and troublesome.  But asserting that they look like demons stretches the point.  How do you know what demons look like, anyway? Are you an authority on Faerie and the denizens of Hell?  I don’t think pointy ears are a sufficient proof of Infernal pedigree. You know I’m right. what is going on here.  The devil is trying to CO-OPT this holiday to be in the place of God, the sin that originally sent him to hell, and Christians are helping him do it. Believe it or not, I think there’s some truth in this,  if you understand Satan as a spirit of vulgarity and crassness. As a Catholic, I love the season of Advent and  the idea that Christ is born into the world every year. It’s a yearly renewal, an annual shot at joy, as if the Savior must be perpetually reborn in each of us.  I think the real Satan would be interested in besmirching Santa Claus, not promoting him.He must hate this figure who represents the spirit of generosity and good-will to so many.  In other words, there’s no need to be such a suspicious old hamburger about Santa Claus. Because he’s clearly an ally of Christ rather than an enemy. Parents are having their children believe in the reality of Santa, pray to him, sing to him, and much more.  This is a violation of God’s Law. K.C. Whoa!  Since when?  I’m only 24, and when I was little, my parents never told me to pray or sing to Santa.  The only thing I did "to" or "for" Santa when I was a child was mail him letters at the first of December. My 8-year-old cousin does not pray or sing to Santa either, and she never has. My parents always told me that the real purpose Christmas was to celebrate the birth of Christ, first and foremost.  Santa was just an "on-the-side plus", per se.  My aunt and uncle are the same with my cousin. "Jesus first, Santa second." Gr

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