The "Claus" Clause [in honor of St. Nick's feast day]

Fighting Irish Thomas ^ | 12-5-06 | Tom O'Toole

[mlizzy]

Having just turned five years old, I was a little young (at least back then) to question the “holiday” law-of-the-land. Of course five-year-olds believed in Santa Claus! But it was back in the day when several ages of neighborhood kids used to hang around together, and I was running with some seven- and eight-year-olds who were feeding me some pretty good reasons not to believe in that benign big man.

Most of you are at least vaguely familiar with the various Protestant Reformation (and later secular) traditions that transformed Saint Nicholas into Santa Claus, so it is not necessary to go into those now. What I’m wondering is why many devout Christians including some Catholics, conclude that, while it’s absolutely crucial to be truthful to your children, in the case of Santa Claus, it’s perfectly acceptable to LIE.

Yes, I used the word lie deliberately, rather than some double-speak like “story-telling” or even “half-truth.” For to go along with the Santa myth is not harmless fantasy; it is deliberately deceiving your children about the Good News, specifically the Salvation Story. In my case, it was not the “time factor” (all those houses in one night!) or “small chimney, big body” arguments that dissuaded me. It was because while many “good” poor kids got few, if any presents, many “bad” rich kids received more than their share—completely contrary to the basic “good kid, bad kid” theory of Santa gift distribution. Perhaps few other five-year-olds adopted my line of reasoning, but the fact remained that my devout Catholic parents were the ones who sold me on the Santa Story, and this made the discovery all the more disillusioning. For it was the first (and one of the only times) that my folks had lied to me—and once that absolute trust is lost, every parent knows how hard it is to get it back.

Also, this article is not aimed at those, who, through negligence, convenience or simple lack of faith, are routinely dishonest with their kids. This warning is geared toward good parents like my own, who through societal or peer pressure, gave in to the Santa Claus myth. So if you are in the latter category, but think I was either an over-sensitive lad or am making a holiday molehill into a holy-day mountain, let me conclude with a couple of good reasons for raining on the kids’ Kris Kringle parade.

First, in our ever increasing materialistic society, I believe this once sacred cow of Christmas consumerism is actually in danger of being swept aside. Twenty years ago Santa may have been safe; the one dude that could be politically correct and fat. But in our 21st century, high-speed, cell-phoned-off society, I notice more and more adult radio and TV ads (which kids all hear and see) poking fun at the Old, Out-of-Shape One whose place techno-society is rendering irrelevant. But the better reason, if you are a Christian, is simply that the real story is better than the make-believe one.

In telling my kids the true story of St. Nicholas, a skinny bishop who did his best to bring gifts to poor kids so that they too might share in the joy of Christmas, I found it fit in much better with the true meaning of the holiday than the cliche-ridden, contradictory tale of sleighs and reindeer. Plus, St. Nicholas’ life is not only a great example of the Christian axiom, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 21:35), it is a perfect lead-in to the story of the Incarnation, where the Lord of Lords received the praise of angels and gifts of kings despite being born in a stable.

So withstand the pressure from your peers or (sometimes) even your own parish, and resolve this Christmas to tell your toddlers the real truth, for in the case of Christ, truth is always stronger than fiction. While it is not necessary to preach, as fundamentalists have, that “Santa is one letter removed from Satan” (for it is possible to show your kids that, just as there is some truth in the various Protestant versions of Christianity, there is some good in the Santa Claus tales), it is imperative not to perpetuate the Santa Claus lie. For Satan IS the “father of lies” (John 8:44) and he will gladly add your version to his X-Mas list if you only give him the chance.

[mlizzy]

One of my favorites! Happy feast day, St. Nick!

[MEGoody]

Most of you are at least vaguely familiar with the various Protestant Reformation (and later secular) traditions that transformed Saint Nicholas into Santa Claus

Really. . .so Catholic parents don't do the Santa Claus thing with their kids? Every single Catholic family I know does so.

[madamemayhem]

wait...what? santa is a myth? a lie? seriously? but... i’ve been really good this year and i was expecting something awesome. now you’ve gone and ruined christmas for me.:)

[pgyanke]

If you kept reading past that point, you would have found that the author admitted that many Catholics (with a secular perspective) have bought into this myth. That doesn’t change the origins of the tradition... which, by the way, aren’t really found in the Reformation. They are found in Germanic pagan traditions.

[mlizzy]

That’s what the article is about. Catholic parents who didn’t tell their son the truth about Santa Claus, and their son’s thoughts on the subject later on in life after he decided to tell his kids the truth from the get-go.

[mlizzy]

St. Nick (the real one) has always been very generous to us. So not to worry ...

[MEGoody]

That’s what the article is about.

I found it interesting that the author couldn't resist blaming the Protestants for it.

[NavyCanDo]

I was raised in a good Christian home, with 5 brothers and sisters and none of us were damaged because our parents let us watch Santa Clause is Coming to Town, and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer - so many times we knew most of the words, and the hundreds of hours listening to Gene Autry’s Christmas album on my Dad’s hi-fi. Just good clean fun, and cherished memories. And we are all still strong Christians, with one of us ordained and working as a Police Chaplin. If you balance growing up with a strong Christian upbringing, you could not convince me there is a problem.

[fanfan]

Really. . .so Catholic parents don't do the Santa Claus thing with their kids? Every single Catholic family I know does so.

No. The point is that they shouldn't.

[MEGoody]

If you kept reading past that point, you would have found that the author admitted that many Catholics (with a secular perspective) have bought into this myth.

I just always find it interesting how some Catholics seem to have to find something to rag on the Protestants about. If the article was truly about the author deciding to do away with Santa Claus in his family, there was no need to bring up Protestants at all.

[Yaelle]

Not Germanic pagan — I lived in Germanic Europe for many years. There, the Christ child brings the presents, and there, on St. NiklausTag, the Skinny bishop in the red coat gives the tangerines, chocolates, and nuts from his bag.

[mlizzy]

Really. . .so Catholic parents don't do the Santa Claus thing with their kids? Every single Catholic family I know does so.

No. The point is that they shouldn't.

Exactly!

[mlizzy]

You say you watched the various movies, but did your parents tell you Santa Claus was, in fact, real? The big jolly bearded man that brings presents down a chimney and eats the cookies and milk left for him?

[NavyCanDo]

I can't remember what the parents said about Santa, but I know they didn't tell us he was not real when we were little. And yes all of us kids believed he was real until we were told by an older sibling in time. And again, I say what's the big deal? We turned out alright, and so have hundreds of millions of other kids, who grew up and sat next to you in church, served our country in uniform, served as missionaries in diverse areas of the World, or performed heart surgery, or gave CPR, saving people lives.

Not one iota of proof on your part that any of these good people's lives could have been more fulfilling if they did not believe in Santa when they were kids.

[sportutegrl]

This reminds me of Dana Carvey’s “The Church Lady” rearranging the letters in Santa to spell Satan.

[fanfan]

My parent's did it to me, and I was heart broken. Even so I did it to my own kids. I guess I forgot how much the ‘finding out I'd been lied to’ hurt.

One Christmas in the early ‘90s, when my daughter was 5 or 6, we were barely keeping the bills paid. She hadn't asked Santa for much, but he didn't/couldn't bring the one thing she really wanted, because I didn't have the money.

You see, she believed the whole story, and she just knew she had been good that year! It wasn't the present, it was the lack of reward for being a good girl. That may have been the year where she decided it didn't matter if she tried to be good.

Santa is a lie we tell children to make them behave.

The truth is a much better motivator.

[fanfan]

See my #16

[mlizzy]

The article doesn't state people whose parents have lied to them regarding Santa Claus, can't have normal type lives. That's not really the point of the post. The point is if parents want their kids to trust them (that they are telling the truth always), it helps if they tell the truth to begin with, especially on important matters (to a child) like Santa Claus. Also the story of the real St. Nick is just a much better one to tell all around, so why clutter it up with a fabrication?

[mlizzy]

Thanks a lot fanfan for your heartfelt commentary. (My husband, the author of this post, will appreciate your words, and understand. His parents truly were and still are darn-near saints, and he was crushed when he found out they had lied to him.)

Our kids, because of his experience, were told the truth regarding St. Nick, and they have never really doubted anything we say. They don't follow our advice, mind you, but they've never thought of us as handing them a line of bull.

[fanfan]

Exactly!

Good job!
:-)