Should Churches Discourage Belief in Santa Claus?
Bart Fields / FlickrShould Churches Discourage Belief in Santa Claus?
"The key word is belief. Emulating Saint Nick is awesome, but I have problems with parents duping their children into believing that Santa exists. A church could acknowledge in a family context the historical person of St. Nicholas. But the figure the culture has created does not belong in church."
Scottie May, professor, Wheaton College
"The true meaning of Christmas is sacred. No matter their choices, when it comes to Santa and other traditions, families should make it their main goal to tie every practice to the true meaning of Christmas."
Leon Wirth, executive director of parenting and youth, Focus on the Family
"The true story of St. Nicholas is about a life lived radically for Jesus. Santa teaches us how to give with joy and to receive gifts with gladness. Don't discourage belief in Santa; instead, spend time encouraging people to put their belief in God."
Michael Chanley, executive director, International Network of Children's Ministry
"Churches should be in the business of encouraging belief in Jesus, not micromanaging which bits of folklore parents choose to include in their family holidays. Santa gives us opportunities to show our kids the love Jesus brought into this world."
Caryn Dahlstrand Rivadeneira, author, Mama's Got a Fake I.D.
"Have Santa join the children to celebrate the birth of Jesus, since it is Santa's Favorite Story (by Hisako Aoki). The more we invite into the story, the less we will have to worry about the competition. All can bring their gifts to the King—even Santa."
Dennis Okholm, professor, Azusa Pacific University
"The notion of getting back to a 'pure Christmas' is misfounded; the holiday was a hodgepodge from the beginning. We should take those fun Santa traditions and link them back to St. Nicholas rather than getting rid of the fun part of Christmas and stick with the somber part."
Phil Vischer, creator, VeggieTales and What's in the Bible?
A Fractured and Beautiful Faith
Streaming This Weekend, May 24, 2013
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Claire Guest
Teresa, even when children are taught to believe in Santa Claus, there comes a time when parents tell them the truth - that SC is a myth. There was a Saint Nicholas, and it would be wonderful if children were simply told the truth about his life without the myth of SC tacked on to it. I don't like the song "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" because the lyrics give attributes to SC which are only true of God Himself. But as one who was taught to believe in SC as a child, then learned the truth later, that never caused me to believe that Mohammed was a true prophet of God or that Islam is true - there was never any correlation at all. I did a comparative study of world religions when I was a teen, before I became a Christian, and I saw clearly then the deficiencies of Islam.
Claire Guest
b k, the Angel Tree program, which was begun by Charles Colson about 30 years ago, arranges for gifts to be given to children of incarcerated parents at Christmas time (the gift tag says they are from the parent). Similar programs have arisen since then (they seem to have copied his idea) which do the same for poor children, children who have been taken from abusive parents, etc. These are worthy ministries for churches and individuals to participate in. My children have greatly enjoyed participating in ministries like these (including Samaritans Purse Christmas Shoebox program) through the years.
Teresa Benson
Even though most of us seem to agree not to teach our children that Santa is real, I wonder about our teaching children the "value" of tolerance-- letting others believe a destructive lie because it is "only a game." (Though in a game, the players actually know that there is a game on-- unlike lied-to children.) Or the "value" of not interfering with other parents' choosing to teach lies. Would we also we insist that our children never tell their Muslim friends that Mohammed really wasn't who the imams say he is? Or discourage our ministers from saying so in the presence of Muslim children?