http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/Yasobich/1008 As far as i know Santa is this jolly old saint Nick that goes around and give presents to good little boys and girls no matter what color, race, gender, nationality or sexual preference. But tell a kid that and he will more than likey say HUH? as his/her eyes widden with joy when recieving thier gift. Here are some interesting things to read Jesus was born on December 25. (The idea of celebrating the birth of Christ on December 25 was first suggested early in the fourth century. This was a clever move on the part of Church fathers, who wished to eclipse the December 25 festivities of a rival pagan religion.The celebration of Christmas took permanent hold in the Western world in 337 with the Roman emperor Constantine. Christianity had become the official state religion in 313 AD. By 354, Bishop Liberius of Rome reiterated the importance of celebrating not only Christ's death but also his birth.) Angels Sang at Christmas (The Bible never says that the Angels sang! Read it closely!!) The Bible tells of three wise men who travelled from afar on camels to visit the infant Jesus as he lay in the manger.(Mathew 2:1 tells us: &quot;Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem . . . &quot;. That is the extent of it. There is no mention of THREE wisemen and no mention of camel! Also, Matt 2:11 states &quot;And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him . . . &quot;. Note that it mentions a child in a house, rather than a baby in a manger... so this is a postbirth event.) The modern image of Santa Claus was created by Coca-Cola(Haddon Sundblom drew his first Santa portrait for Coca-Cola in 1931... which popularized an existing image of Claus. In 1804, the New York Historical Society was founded with Nicholas as its patron saint, reviving the Dutch tradition of St. Nicholas as a bringer of gifts. In 1809, Washington Irving published his satirical A History of New York, by one &quot;Diedrich Knickerbocker,&quot; poking fun at New York's Dutch past, St. Nicholas included... in Dutch, &quot;Sinterklaas&quot;. Irving revised his History of New York in 1812, adding details about Nicholas' &quot;riding over the tops of the trees, in that selfsame waggon wherein he brings his yearly presents to children.&quot; In 1821,William Gilley wrote a poem about a &quot;Santeclaus&quot; who dressed all in fur and drove a sleigh pulled by one reindeer. On Christmas Eve of 1822, Clement Clarke Moore, wrote down and read to his children a series of verses; his poem was published a year later as &quot;An Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas&quot; ...more commonly known today by its opening line, &quot;'Twas the night before Christmas . . .&quot;) Two of Santa's reindeer were named 'Donner' and 'Blitzen.' (In 1822, Clement Clarke Moore wrote down in his &quot;An Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas&quot; ...more commonly known today by its opening line, &quot;'Twas the night before Christmas . . And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name. &quot;Now Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen! On, Comet! on, Cupid! on Donder and Blitzen! To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall! Now, dash away! dash away! dash away all! &quot; The song about Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer first made the mistake in Donder's and Vixen's names! ) The suicide rate increases significantly during the winter holiday season. (1985 Mayo Clinic report: &quot;Fewer suicides than expected may occur on weekends and major holidays because it may be easier to repress troublesome thoughts during these times of greater social interaction.&quot; ) Poinsettia plants are poisonous to humans. (The poinsettia poison myth had its origin when a young child of an Army officer in Hawaii died of poisoning, incorrectly assumed to be a poinsettia leaf. A 50 lb. child would have to eat more than 1.25 lbs. or 500 - 600 leaves , according to the POISINDEX Information Service. Handbook of Poisonous and Injurious Plants lists the symptoms of eating Poinsetta as vomiting as a side effect of ingesting otherwise harmless poinsettia leaves.) Man dressed as Santa Claus gets stuck in chimney and dies. (This story has been around for almost as long as the Santa Claus legend itself. It is a variation of the motif of juxtaposing an otherwise happy occasion with a senseless tragedy. Note Ella Fitzgerald's &quot;Santa Claus Got Stuck in My Chimney,&quot; Jimmy Boyd's &quot;Santa Got Stuck in the Chimney,&quot; and Gisele MacKenzie's &quot;Too Fat for the Chimney.&quot; ) The &quot;Immaculate Conception&quot; refers to the birth of Jesus. (The Immaculate Conception has nothing to do with either the birth of Jesus or any virgin birth. It is a specific dogma of Roman Catholicism which decrees that the Virgin Mary was preserved free from original sin by divine grace from the moment of her conception. Although this dogma had been argued since the 12th century, it was not made official Pope Pius X did so in 1854. Since then December 8 has been observed as a Roman Catholic feast in commemoration of the Immaculate Conception.) Candy canes were created to symbolize Jesus, their shape representing the letter &quot;J&quot; and their colors standing for the purity and blood of Christ... and were started in Indiana (Candy canes were most assuredly NOT created by &quot;a candymaker in Indiana&quot; who &quot;stained them with red stripes to show the stripes of the scourging Jesus received.&quot; Candy canes have been in existance long before there ever was an Indiana! They initially bore neither red coloration nor striping -- the red stripes were a feature that did not appear until a few hundred years later, at the beginning of the 20th century. More elaborate Christmas coloration and decoration have been added to these candies in recent years ... for purely marketing purposes.) The song The Twelve Days of Christmas was created as a coded reference to important articles of the Christian faith. (See our Twelve Days of Christmas site for the complete low down. This 1870 English Christmas song with origins running deeper in history in France was merely a silly Children's memory game.) 'Xmas' is a modern, disrespectful abbreviation of the word 'Christmas'. (X is a substitute for the Greek, Chi, which was an early church representation of Christ. It has been around for a long time and had no meaning of disrespect.) Strange but TRUE: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was created for Montgomery Ward department stores. (Rudolph began in 1939 when the Chicago-based Montgomery Ward company (a chain of department stores) asked one of their writers, 34-year-old Robert L. May, to come up with a Christmas story which could be given away to shoppers as a promotional gimmick. The chain had been been buying and giving away coloring books for Christmas every year. To save money, they wanted to create their own booklet. It was loosely based on the Ugly Duckling.) Christmas cards date to 1843. (English school children made their own and sent gave them to each other before this date. The first formal card was designed in 1843, by J.C. Horsley, in England. It was lithographed on dark cardboard. It consisted of a color print of a party of grownups and children with glasses of wine raised in a toast over the words &quot;A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you.&quot; Since it only cost 1 penny to send a card at that time, the custom caught on quickly.) The holiday season abounds with superstitions. (There are too many to mention! Why do we put up Christmas trees? Why do we kiss under mistletoe? Why do we &quot;deck the halls&quot; with green branches? Does Holly and Ivy really have healing powers? How did caroling get started? Which story is true about Green and Red? Which of the many versions of the Yule Log is correct? The list goes on!) sighhh As far as i know Santa is this jolly old saint Nick that goes around and give presents to good little boys and girls no matter what color, race, gender, nationality or sexual preference. But tell a kid that and he will more than likey say HUH? as his/her eyes widden with joy when recieving thier gift. Here are some interesting things to read Jesus was born on December 25. (The idea of celebrating the birth of Christ on December 25 was first suggested early in the fourth century. This was a clever move on the part of Church fathers, who wished to eclipse the December 25 festivities of a rival pagan religion.The celebration of Christmas took permanent hold in the Western world in 337 with the Roman emperor Constantine. Christianity had become the official state religion in 313 AD. By 354, Bishop Liberius of Rome reiterated the importance of celebrating not only Christ's death but also his birth.) Angels Sang at Christmas (The Bible never says that the Angels sang! Read it closely!!) The Bible tells of three wise men who travelled from afar on camels to visit the infant Jesus as he lay in the manger.(Mathew 2:1 tells us: &quot;Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem . . . &quot;. That is the extent of it. There is no mention of THREE wisemen and no mention of camel! Also, Matt 2:11 states &quot;And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him . . . &quot;. Note that it mentions a child in a house, rather than a baby in a manger... so this is a postbirth event.) The modern image of Santa Claus was created by Coca-Cola(Haddon Sundblom drew his first Santa portrait for Coca-Cola in 1931... which popularized an existing image of Claus. In 1804, the New York Historical Society was founded with Nicholas as its patron saint, reviving the Dutch tradition of St. Nicholas as a bringer of gifts. In 1809, Washington Irving published his satirical A History of New York, by one &quot;Diedrich Knickerbocker,&quot; poking fun at New York's Dutch past, St. Nicholas included... in Dutch, &quot;Sinterklaas&quot;. Irving revised his History of New York in 1812, adding details about Nicholas' &quot;riding over the tops of the trees, in that selfsame waggon wherein he brings his yearly presents to children.&quot; In 1821,William Gilley wrote a poem about a &quot;Santeclaus&quot; who dressed all in fur and drove a sleigh pulled by one reindeer. On Christmas Eve of 1822, Clement Clarke Moore, wrote down and read to his children a series of verses; his poem was published a year later as &quot;An Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas&quot; ...more commonly known today by its opening line, &quot;'Twas the night before Christmas . . .&quot;) Two of Santa's reindeer were named 'Donner' and 'Blitzen.' (In 1822, Clement Clarke Moore wrote down in his &quot;An Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas&quot; ...more commonly known today by its opening line, &quot;'Twas the night before Christmas . . And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name. &quot;Now Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen! On, Comet! on, Cupid! on Donder and Blitzen! To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall! Now, dash away! dash away! dash away all! &quot; The song about Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer first made the mistake in Donder's and Vixen's names! ) The suicide rate increases significantly during the winter holiday season. (1985 Mayo Clinic report: &quot;Fewer suicides than expected may occur on weekends and major holidays because it may be easier to repress troublesome thoughts during these times of greater social interaction.&quot; ) Poinsettia plants are poisonous to humans. (The poinsettia poison myth had its origin when a young child of an Army officer in Hawaii died of poisoning, incorrectly assumed to be a poinsettia leaf. A 50 lb. child would have to eat more than 1.25 lbs. or 500 - 600 leaves , according to the POISINDEX Information Service. Handbook of Poisonous and Injurious Plants lists the symptoms of eating Poinsetta as vomiting as a side effect of ingesting otherwise harmless poinsettia leaves.) Man dressed as Santa Claus gets stuck in chimney and dies. (This story has been around for almost as long as the Santa Claus legend itself. It is a variation of the motif of juxtaposing an otherwise happy occasion with a senseless tragedy. Note Ella Fitzgerald's &quot;Santa Claus Got Stuck in My Chimney,&quot; Jimmy Boyd's &quot;Santa Got Stuck in the Chimney,&quot; and Gisele MacKenzie's &quot;Too Fat for the Chimney.&quot; ) The &quot;Immaculate Conception&quot; refers to the birth of Jesus. (The Immaculate Conception has nothing to do with either the birth of Jesus or any virgin birth. It is a specific dogma of Roman Catholicism which decrees that the Virgin Mary was preserved free from original sin by divine grace from the moment of her conception. Although this dogma had been argued since the 12th century, it was not made official Pope Pius X did so in 1854. Since then December 8 has been observed as a Roman Catholic feast in commemoration of the Immaculate Conception.) Candy canes were created to symbolize Jesus, their shape representing the letter &quot;J&quot; and their colors standing for the purity and blood of Christ... and were started in Indiana (Candy canes were most assuredly NOT created by &quot;a candymaker in Indiana&quot; who &quot;stained them with red stripes to show the stripes of the scourging Jesus received.&quot; Candy canes have been in existance long before there ever was an Indiana! They initially bore neither red coloration nor striping -- the red stripes were a feature that did not appear until a few hundred years later, at the beginning of the 20th century. More elaborate Christmas coloration and decoration have been added to these candies in recent years ... for purely marketing purposes.) The song The Twelve Days of Christmas was created as a coded reference to important articles of the Christian faith. (See our Twelve Days of Christmas site for the complete low down. This 1870 English Christmas song with origins running deeper in history in France was merely a silly Children's memory game.) 'Xmas' is a modern, disrespectful abbreviation of the word 'Christmas'. (X is a substitute for the Greek, Chi, which was an early church representation of Christ. It has been around for a long time and had no meaning of disrespect.) Strange but TRUE: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was created for Montgomery Ward department stores. (Rudolph began in 1939 when the Chicago-based Montgomery Ward company (a chain of department stores) asked one of their writers, 34-year-old Robert L. May, to come up with a Christmas story which could be given away to shoppers as a promotional gimmick. The chain had been been buying and giving away coloring books for Christmas every year. To save money, they wanted to create their own booklet. It was loosely based on the Ugly Duckling.) Christmas cards date to 1843. (English school children made their own and sent gave them to each other before this date. The first formal card was designed in 1843, by J.C. Horsley, in England. It was lithographed on dark cardboard. It consisted of a color print of a party of grownups and children with glasses of wine raised in a toast over the words &quot;A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you.&quot; Since it only cost 1 penny to send a card at that time, the custom caught on quickly.) The holiday season abounds with superstitions. (There are too many to mention! Why do we put up Christmas trees? Why do we kiss under mistletoe? Why do we &quot;deck the halls&quot; with green branches? Does Holly and Ivy really have healing powers? How did caroling get started? Which story is true about Green and Red? Which of the many versions of the Yule Log is correct? The list goes on!) sighhh en-us i pulled this off an Atheism website interesting......<u><strong><br /> <br /> Santa Claus: Should Parents Perpetuate the Santa Claus Myth?</strong></u><br /> <br /> <strong>Problems with the Santa Claus Myth</strong>: <br /> Although Santa Claus was originally based upon the Christian figure of Saint Nicholas, a patron saint of children, today Santa Claus is wholly secular. Some Christians object to him because he is secular rather than Christian; some non-Christians object to him because of his Christian roots. He is a powerful cultural symbol which is impossible to ignore, but this doesn&rsquo;t mean that he should simply be accepted without question. There are good reasons to dispense with the tradition.<br /> <br /> <strong>Parents Have to Lie About Santa Claus:</strong> <br /> Perhaps the most serious objection to perpetuating belief in Santa Claus among children is also the simplest: in order to do so, parents have to lie to their children. You can&rsquo;t encourage the belief without dishonesty, and it&rsquo;s not a &ldquo;little white lie&rdquo; that is for their own good or that might protect them from harm. Parents should not persistently lie to children without overwhelmingly good reasons, so this puts supporters of the Santa Claus myth on the defensive.<br /> <br /> <strong>Parents&rsquo; Lies About Santa Claus Have to Grow: </strong><br /> In order to get kids to believe in Santa Claus, it&rsquo;s not enough to commit a couple of simple lies and move on. As with any lie, it&rsquo;s necessary to construct more and more elaborate lies and defenses as time passes. Skeptical questions about Santa must be met with detailed lies about Santa&rsquo;s powers. &ldquo;Evidence&rdquo; of Santa Claus must be created once mere stories of Santa prove insufficient. It&rsquo;s unethical for parents to perpetuate elaborate deceptions on children unless it&rsquo;s for a greater good.<br /> <br /> <strong>Santa Claus Lies Discourage Healthy Skepticism:</strong> <br /> Most children eventually become skeptical about Santa Claus and ask questions about him, for example how he could possibly travel around the whole world in such a short period of time. Instead of encouraging this skepticism and helping children come to a reasonable conclusion about whether Santa Claus is even possible, much less real, most parents discourage skepticism by telling tales about Santa&rsquo;s supernatural powers.<br /> <br /> <strong>The Reward &amp; Punishment System of Santa Claus is Unjust:</strong> <br /> There are a number of aspects to the whole Santa Claus &ldquo;system&rdquo; which children shouldn&rsquo;t learn to internalize. It implies that the whole person can be judged as naughty or nice based upon a few acts. It requires belief that someone is constantly watching you, no matter what you are doing. It is based upon the premise that one should do good for the sake of reward and avoid doing wrong out of fear of punishment. It allows parents to try to control children via a powerful stranger.<br /> <br /> <strong>The Santa Claus Myth Promotes Materialism:</strong> <br /> The entire Santa Claus myth is based on the idea of children getting gifts. There&rsquo;s nothing wrong with getting gifts, but Santa Claus makes it the focus on the entire holiday. Children are encouraged to conform their behavior to parental expectation in order to receive ever more presents rather than simply lumps of coal. In order to make Christmas lists, kids pay close attention to what advertisers tell them they should want, effectively encouraging unbridled consumerism.<br /> <br /> <strong>Santa Claus is Too Similar to Jesus and God:</strong> <br /> The parallels between Santa Claus and Jesus or God are numerous. Santa Claus is a nearly all-powerful, supernatural person who dispenses rewards and punishment to people all over the world based upon whether they adhere to a pre-defined code of conduct. His existence is implausible or impossible, but faith is expected if one is to receive the rewards. Believers should regard this as blasphemous; non-believers shouldn&rsquo;t want their kids prepared in this way to adopt Christianity or theism.<br /> <br /> <strong>The Santa Claus &ldquo;Tradition&rdquo; is Relatively Recent:</strong> <br /> Some might think that because Santa Claus is such an old tradition, this alone is sufficient reason to continue it. They were taught to believe in Santa as children, so why not pass this along to their own? The role of Santa Claus in Christmas celebration is actually quite recent &mdash; the mid to late 19th century. The importance of Santa Claus is a creation of cultural elites and perpetuated by business interests and simple cultural momentum. It has little to no inherent value.<br /> <br /> <strong>Santa Claus is More About Parents than Children:</strong> <br /> Parental investment in Santa Claus is far larger than anything kids do, suggesting that parents&rsquo; defense of the Santa Claus myth is more about what they want than about what kids want. Their own memories about enjoying Santa may be heavily influenced by cultural assumptions about what they should have experienced. Is it not possible that kids would find at least as much pleasure in knowing that parents are responsible for Christmas, not a supernatural stranger?<br /> <br /> <strong>The Future of Santa Claus:</strong> <br /> Santa Claus symbolizes Christmas and perhaps the entire winter holiday season like nothing else. An argument can be made for the importance of the Christmas tree as a symbol for Christmas (notice that there are no Christian images which come close), but Santa Claus personifies Christmas in a way that trees cannot. Santa Claus is, furthermore, a very secular character by now which allows him to cross cultural and religious lines, placing him in an important position for the entire season rather than for Christmas alone.<br /> Because of this, it&rsquo;s plausible that giving up on Santa Claus will mean abandoning much of the Christmas holidays altogether &mdash; and perhaps that&rsquo;s not such a bad thing. There&rsquo;s a lot to be said for Christians dismissing the consumerist, commercialized Christmas of America and focusing instead on the Nativity of Jesus. Ignoring Santa Claus would symbolize this choice. There&rsquo;s a lot to be said for adherents of other religions refusing to allow Santa Claus to become part of their own traditions, representing an intrusion of Western culture into their own.<br /> <br /> Finally, there&rsquo;s also a lot to be said for nonbelievers of various sorts &mdash; humanists, atheists, skeptics, and freethinkers &mdash; refusing to be co-opted into a religious observance. Whether Santa Claus in particular or Christmas in general is treated as defined by Christian or pagan religious traditions, neither are religions which nonbelievers are part of. Christmas and Santa Claus have strong secular elements, but those are primarily commercial &mdash; and who is going to invest themselves in a holidayall about commerce and who can spend the most money on credit?<br /> <br /> The future of Santa Claus will depend on whether people will care enough to do anything &mdash; if not, things will continue on the same course they have been on. If people care not to be taken over, borg-like, by America&rsquo;s Christmas, resistance may reduce Santa&rsquo;s status as a cultural icon. http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/Yasobich/1008/#c_9183 http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/Yasobich/1008/#c_9183 i pulled this off an Atheism website interesting......<u><strong><br /> <br /> Santa Claus: Should Parents Perpetuate the Santa Claus Myth?</strong></u><br /> <br /> <strong>Problems with the Santa Claus Myth</strong>: <br /> Although Santa Claus was originally based upon the Christian figure of Saint Nicholas, a patron saint of children, today Santa Claus is wholly secular. Some Christians object to him because he is secular rather than Christian; some non-Christians object to him because of his Christian roots. He is a powerful cultural symbol which is impossible to ignore, but this doesn&rsquo;t mean that he should simply be accepted without question. There are good reasons to dispense with the tradition.<br /> <br /> <strong>Parents Have to Lie About Santa Claus:</strong> <br /> Perhaps the most serious objection to perpetuating belief in Santa Claus among children is also the simplest: in order to do so, parents have to lie to their children. You can&rsquo;t encourage the belief without dishonesty, and it&rsquo;s not a &ldquo;little white lie&rdquo; that is for their own good or that might protect them from harm. Parents should not persistently lie to children without overwhelmingly good reasons, so this puts supporters of the Santa Claus myth on the defensive.<br /> <br /> <strong>Parents&rsquo; Lies About Santa Claus Have to Grow: </strong><br /> In order to get kids to believe in Santa Claus, it&rsquo;s not enough to commit a couple of simple lies and move on. As with any lie, it&rsquo;s necessary to construct more and more elaborate lies and defenses as time passes. Skeptical questions about Santa must be met with detailed lies about Santa&rsquo;s powers. &ldquo;Evidence&rdquo; of Santa Claus must be created once mere stories of Santa prove insufficient. It&rsquo;s unethical for parents to perpetuate elaborate deceptions on children unless it&rsquo;s for a greater good.<br /> <br /> <strong>Santa Claus Lies Discourage Healthy Skepticism:</strong> <br /> Most children eventually become skeptical about Santa Claus and ask questions about him, for example how he could possibly travel around the whole world in such a short period of time. Instead of encouraging this skepticism and helping children come to a reasonable conclusion about whether Santa Claus is even possible, much less real, most parents discourage skepticism by telling tales about Santa&rsquo;s supernatural powers.<br /> <br /> <strong>The Reward &amp; Punishment System of Santa Claus is Unjust:</strong> <br /> There are a number of aspects to the whole Santa Claus &ldquo;system&rdquo; which children shouldn&rsquo;t learn to internalize. It implies that the whole person can be judged as naughty or nice based upon a few acts. It requires belief that someone is constantly watching you, no matter what you are doing. It is based upon the premise that one should do good for the sake of reward and avoid doing wrong out of fear of punishment. It allows parents to try to control children via a powerful stranger.<br /> <br /> <strong>The Santa Claus Myth Promotes Materialism:</strong> <br /> The entire Santa Claus myth is based on the idea of children getting gifts. There&rsquo;s nothing wrong with getting gifts, but Santa Claus makes it the focus on the entire holiday. Children are encouraged to conform their behavior to parental expectation in order to receive ever more presents rather than simply lumps of coal. In order to make Christmas lists, kids pay close attention to what advertisers tell them they should want, effectively encouraging unbridled consumerism.<br /> <br /> <strong>Santa Claus is Too Similar to Jesus and God:</strong> <br /> The parallels between Santa Claus and Jesus or God are numerous. Santa Claus is a nearly all-powerful, supernatural person who dispenses rewards and punishment to people all over the world based upon whether they adhere to a pre-defined code of conduct. His existence is implausible or impossible, but faith is expected if one is to receive the rewards. Believers should regard this as blasphemous; non-believers shouldn&rsquo;t want their kids prepared in this way to adopt Christianity or theism.<br /> <br /> <strong>The Santa Claus &ldquo;Tradition&rdquo; is Relatively Recent:</strong> <br /> Some might think that because Santa Claus is such an old tradition, this alone is sufficient reason to continue it. They were taught to believe in Santa as children, so why not pass this along to their own? The role of Santa Claus in Christmas celebration is actually quite recent &mdash; the mid to late 19th century. The importance of Santa Claus is a creation of cultural elites and perpetuated by business interests and simple cultural momentum. It has little to no inherent value.<br /> <br /> <strong>Santa Claus is More About Parents than Children:</strong> <br /> Parental investment in Santa Claus is far larger than anything kids do, suggesting that parents&rsquo; defense of the Santa Claus myth is more about what they want than about what kids want. Their own memories about enjoying Santa may be heavily influenced by cultural assumptions about what they should have experienced. Is it not possible that kids would find at least as much pleasure in knowing that parents are responsible for Christmas, not a supernatural stranger?<br /> <br /> <strong>The Future of Santa Claus:</strong> <br /> Santa Claus symbolizes Christmas and perhaps the entire winter holiday season like nothing else. An argument can be made for the importance of the Christmas tree as a symbol for Christmas (notice that there are no Christian images which come close), but Santa Claus personifies Christmas in a way that trees cannot. Santa Claus is, furthermore, a very secular character by now which allows him to cross cultural and religious lines, placing him in an important position for the entire season rather than for Christmas alone.<br /> Because of this, it&rsquo;s plausible that giving up on Santa Claus will mean abandoning much of the Christmas holidays altogether &mdash; and perhaps that&rsquo;s not such a bad thing. There&rsquo;s a lot to be said for Christians dismissing the consumerist, commercialized Christmas of America and focusing instead on the Nativity of Jesus. Ignoring Santa Claus would symbolize this choice. There&rsquo;s a lot to be said for adherents of other religions refusing to allow Santa Claus to become part of their own traditions, representing an intrusion of Western culture into their own.<br /> <br /> Finally, there&rsquo;s also a lot to be said for nonbelievers of various sorts &mdash; humanists, atheists, skeptics, and freethinkers &mdash; refusing to be co-opted into a religious observance. Whether Santa Claus in particular or Christmas in general is treated as defined by Christian or pagan religious traditions, neither are religions which nonbelievers are part of. Christmas and Santa Claus have strong secular elements, but those are primarily commercial &mdash; and who is going to invest themselves in a holidayall about commerce and who can spend the most money on credit?<br /> <br /> The future of Santa Claus will depend on whether people will care enough to do anything &mdash; if not, things will continue on the same course they have been on. If people care not to be taken over, borg-like, by America&rsquo;s Christmas, resistance may reduce Santa&rsquo;s status as a cultural icon. <font color="#000080">After reading first comment, I started thinking about when I found out Santa wasn't a jolly man in a red suit and realized something.&nbsp; I cannot pinpoint when it happened.&nbsp; I think that is because of a concept that was not in that posting, &quot;the Spirit of Christmas&quot; or the &quot;Spirit of Santa&quot;&nbsp; As I got older phrases like those replaced Santa Claus and I learned it was not that he was a real person on a sled, but a symbol reminding us the importance of giving, sharing and helping out others that time of year.&nbsp; I think those concepts are great lessons for people and I wish more people would remember them year round.</font>&nbsp; http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/Yasobich/1008/#c_9225 http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/Yasobich/1008/#c_9225 <font color="#000080">After reading first comment, I started thinking about when I found out Santa wasn't a jolly man in a red suit and realized something.&nbsp; I cannot pinpoint when it happened.&nbsp; I think that is because of a concept that was not in that posting, &quot;the Spirit of Christmas&quot; or the &quot;Spirit of Santa&quot;&nbsp; As I got older phrases like those replaced Santa Claus and I learned it was not that he was a real person on a sled, but a symbol reminding us the importance of giving, sharing and helping out others that time of year.&nbsp; I think those concepts are great lessons for people and I wish more people would remember them year round.</font>&nbsp; <p>Santa Claus today is nothing more than a fun way to teach kids about giving without asking in return. Well that is how I use Santa in my house. My oldest right now is starting to catch on to the fact that my wife and I are really Santa and as a parent is makes me sad as it means two things. First that my little girl is growing up and two the reality of real life is come to pass for her. However I have always ensured my daughter know what Christmas is really about. I have always explained that Christmas was a time to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ&nbsp;&nbsp;and that he gave his life for us and that is why we give to others and shouldn't expect anything in return. Yes I know that everything in the Bible reflects that Jesus was born in the spring. It does appear that the church at the time Christmas was first starting to celebrate Christmas did pick a time when a pagan celebration was happening. This was to get people to stop the pagan celebration and convert to Christianity. For the better part it worked.</p> http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/Yasobich/1008/#c_9233 http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/Yasobich/1008/#c_9233 <p>Santa Claus today is nothing more than a fun way to teach kids about giving without asking in return. Well that is how I use Santa in my house. My oldest right now is starting to catch on to the fact that my wife and I are really Santa and as a parent is makes me sad as it means two things. First that my little girl is growing up and two the reality of real life is come to pass for her. However I have always ensured my daughter know what Christmas is really about. I have always explained that Christmas was a time to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ&nbsp;&nbsp;and that he gave his life for us and that is why we give to others and shouldn't expect anything in return. Yes I know that everything in the Bible reflects that Jesus was born in the spring. It does appear that the church at the time Christmas was first starting to celebrate Christmas did pick a time when a pagan celebration was happening. This was to get people to stop the pagan celebration and convert to Christianity. For the better part it worked.</p> Because I grew up in a family that wasn't very religious, Christmas always had other meanings for me. Though I remember the concept of Santa when I was very small, I can't quite pinpoint when Santa became a fictitious character. My parents moved gift giving to Christmas eve and then the whole idea of Santa coming down the chimney and and leaving presents no longer made sense. Christmas became more about family and friends getting together, a lot of really good food and sweets, christmas movies and music, making ornaments, decorating the tree, and of course, giving and receiving gifts. Those fond memories remain with me to this day. What Christmas means to me now? It's difficult to be a mother and have children that have grown up with the commercialization of Christmas today. It's hard to keep kids focused when there are so many other people and businesses pushing "what do you want for Christmas" when there is so much more to it than that. I have difficulty explaining to family members that the kids really don't need all these presents they give to us every year. Though I know they have good intentions, it is simply too much and makes it hard for me to focus on what my tradtions have been over the years, or to create any new ones. I want Christmas to be about family, togetherness, thankfulness. But it seems to be more and more difficult to do that with our busy lifestyles and expectations of everyone in our spheres. I feel in limbo trying to keep the commercialization at bay while struggling to instill family traditions. Does anyone else feel like that? http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/Yasobich/1008/#c_9240 http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/Yasobich/1008/#c_9240 Because I grew up in a family that wasn't very religious, Christmas always had other meanings for me. Though I remember the concept of Santa when I was very small, I can't quite pinpoint when Santa became a fictitious character. My parents moved gift giving to Christmas eve and then the whole idea of Santa coming down the chimney and and leaving presents no longer made sense. Christmas became more about family and friends getting together, a lot of really good food and sweets, christmas movies and music, making ornaments, decorating the tree, and of course, giving and receiving gifts. Those fond memories remain with me to this day. What Christmas means to me now? It's difficult to be a mother and have children that have grown up with the commercialization of Christmas today. It's hard to keep kids focused when there are so many other people and businesses pushing "what do you want for Christmas" when there is so much more to it than that. I have difficulty explaining to family members that the kids really don't need all these presents they give to us every year. Though I know they have good intentions, it is simply too much and makes it hard for me to focus on what my tradtions have been over the years, or to create any new ones. I want Christmas to be about family, togetherness, thankfulness. But it seems to be more and more difficult to do that with our busy lifestyles and expectations of everyone in our spheres. I feel in limbo trying to keep the commercialization at bay while struggling to instill family traditions. Does anyone else feel like that? <p>I remember the day I learned Santa wasn't real. I was playing in my parents room and got into their closet. I ended up getting hit in the head by a falling My Little Pony. I didn't understand. Why was this brand new pony and other toys which I quickly discovered in my parents closet? Well they couldn't explain it and so at the age of 7 my belief in Santa was forever squashed. lol I wouldn't change it for the world. Yes, I was sad, but I got over it. </p> <p>I also find it hard to instill the true meaning of Christmas into my children but they are still young.&nbsp; I have two with birthdays in Dec.,one on the 12th and one on the 13th. The&nbsp;toys get out of control and by the time Christmas comes around my children turn into greedy little monsters going from one present to the next. lol&nbsp; So to help them better understand the meaning of Christmas every year we go through their old toys and clothes and give them away to charity. They also have to pick one new present to give to our church for the less fortunate.&nbsp; I do this to help them understand that Christmas is a time for family, friends and for giving, not getting!</p> http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/Yasobich/1008/#c_9246 http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/Yasobich/1008/#c_9246 <p>I remember the day I learned Santa wasn't real. I was playing in my parents room and got into their closet. I ended up getting hit in the head by a falling My Little Pony. I didn't understand. Why was this brand new pony and other toys which I quickly discovered in my parents closet? Well they couldn't explain it and so at the age of 7 my belief in Santa was forever squashed. lol I wouldn't change it for the world. Yes, I was sad, but I got over it. </p> <p>I also find it hard to instill the true meaning of Christmas into my children but they are still young.&nbsp; I have two with birthdays in Dec.,one on the 12th and one on the 13th. The&nbsp;toys get out of control and by the time Christmas comes around my children turn into greedy little monsters going from one present to the next. lol&nbsp; So to help them better understand the meaning of Christmas every year we go through their old toys and clothes and give them away to charity. They also have to pick one new present to give to our church for the less fortunate.&nbsp; I do this to help them understand that Christmas is a time for family, friends and for giving, not getting!</p> <p>SANTA ISNT REAL???? :( </p> http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/Yasobich/1008/#c_10268 http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/Yasobich/1008/#c_10268 <p>SANTA ISNT REAL???? :( </p> Oh hes real alright..... i've seen him on TV<br /> http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/Yasobich/1008/#c_162693 http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/Yasobich/1008/#c_162693 Oh hes real alright..... i've seen him on TV<br /> <p><font size="3">As I posted on one of Kat's blogs, Christmas is not my holiday. I don't like it. The commercialism, the competition, the stress, the sadness are just too depressing. I put on a good act&nbsp;if I'm with the young grandkids but we usually just spend the day at home. </font></p> <p><font size="3">I don't decorate, don't get a tree etc. I do buy gifts (books) for all the grandkids, but that's all the shopping I do. I don't bake</font></p> <p><font size="3">Yeah, you can call me Ms. Scrooge...bah humbug!</font></p> http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/Yasobich/1008/#c_162713 http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/Yasobich/1008/#c_162713 <p><font size="3">As I posted on one of Kat's blogs, Christmas is not my holiday. I don't like it. The commercialism, the competition, the stress, the sadness are just too depressing. I put on a good act&nbsp;if I'm with the young grandkids but we usually just spend the day at home. </font></p> <p><font size="3">I don't decorate, don't get a tree etc. I do buy gifts (books) for all the grandkids, but that's all the shopping I do. I don't bake</font></p> <p><font size="3">Yeah, you can call me Ms. Scrooge...bah humbug!</font></p>