Why Jesus and Santa are so much alike

The similarities between Santa and Jesus are many. How about the differences?

Jesus is omnificent while Santa is (according to myth) merely one of his products. Both Santa and Jesus are God-like in nature. They both are omniscient, omnipresent, and pass judgment on every person promising rewards for the good (presents or heaven) and punishments for the not-good-enough (hell or a lump of coal).

Jesus is reported by fundamentalist believers to embody Truth. We know however that Santa is a big fat liar because he never follows through with his promise of punishment. No matter how bad a kid is, Santa still brings presents. There has never been and there probably never will be any lumps of coal delivered by Santa (unless they are chocolates cleverly designed to resemble coal). The big fat red-dressed phony probably doesn’t even have any coal. Think about it. Were you ever “bad” as a kid? Most likely you were but did you get any lumps of coal or bundles of switches for Christmas? I doubt it. Somehow, in spite of your true badness, you were assessed as good enough to avoid punishment and receive a Christmas present.

Only those who have died know if the promises of Jesus carry more weight than those of Santa. Don’t get defensive if you believe in Jesus. I am not saying that Jesus is as fictional as Santa. But those who truly believe in Jesus and yet go to great lengths to cajole their children to believe the Santa lie, should consider this warning. The children may have some questions about the veracity of the Jesus story once they grow up and discover that you (and apparently society as a whole) worked so hard to lie about Santa. Even if, once adult, they quip that believing in Santa was a harmless pretend game while Jesus is precious truth, there may remain a tiny voice of doubt ever present in the recesses of their minds telling them that maybe Jesus is a lie too. So many people in society work very hard to keep people believing the Jesus story just as they appeared to do in support of the Santa lie. Could it be that the Jesus story is simply a more elaborate lie designed to control the masses? Don’t ask your parents, they already lied to you big time about Santa.
A second warning pertains to the differences between Santa and Jesus (or God). Since there are so many commonalities between the elf and the savior, people may assume that they are alike in ways that they may not be. Children (and adults) may assume that since Santa only always rewards and never really follows through with punishment, Jesus will likewise overlook their badness (or in fundamentalist language “lack of conversion”) and let them into heaven anyway. No worries, if Jesus is simply a more elaborate Santa style fabrication. But if Jesus is for real (as portrayed in fundamentalist doctrine), then a lot of people may find the after-life to be hugely disappointing when they do not experience the amnesty to which they were so accustomed every Christmas with Santa.

Could perpetuation of the Santa lie by parents ultimately contribute to the watered-down type of religious faith practiced by so many adult Christians? By “watered-down” I mean the type or perhaps “degree” of faith characteristic of people who ascribe to the religion (attend church and say that they believe, and so on) but who do not practice the virtues of the religion: people who say they believe but deep down really know that we are all just pretending. An example might be the self-righteous Christian college student who condemns his professor for teaching evolution but who cheats on exams or plagiarizes in papers without any pain of conscience. Fundamentalist might see this as a serious problem (i.e. resulting in eternal damnation) and describe these people as being “religious” but not truly “saved.” More liberal Christians might describe these folks harshly as “hypocrites” or forgivingly as “limited by their humanity in spite of saving faith” depending on how offensive the person’s behavior is perceived. However they are described, they are Christians who believe that Jesus (like Santa) will overlook their sin (cheating on exams, etc.) on judgment day. They know that their behavior is wrong (inconsistent with faith in Jesus) but they don’t worry too much about it since none of their friends condemn them for it and perhaps because somewhere deep, deep, deep down inside they expect that the Jesus story is really just a lie (like the Santa lie).