Why We Need to Abolish the Santa Claus Myth

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by Ross Kardon

I know many of you reading my remarks may think that I am some kind of a Scrooge, but there are many good reasons I think the Santa Claus myth should be completely abolished. I think parents should just tell their children the truth that mommy and daddy put the presents under the Christmas tree, and that there really is no Santa Claus.

no-santa-claus

I think that it is just more decent and humane to give children an ounce of disappointment that there is no Santa Claus, than to have children, as they get older, to experience a ton of enormous disappointment when the Santa Claus myth comes crashing down, as they eventually discover there is no Santa Claus!

One of the reasons I think the Santa Claus myth should be completely abolished is the self-evident inequality of Christmas gifts. In the homeroom class of any school, there a few children of people like Donald Trump, who to modernize the phrase, make out like Colombian cocaine barons at Christmas, because their parents can afford all sorts of expensive gifts. But, most of their classmates get will be jealous because all they get are a few lousy trinkets from Walmart, because that is all their parents can afford to give them. And yet, the mythical Santa Claus is supposed to give away many wonderful presents as a reward for good behavior, and not on the ability of the parents to pay.

Another reason I think the Santa Claus myth should be completely abolished is the mythical sleigh riding son of a bitch, is supposed to have such incredible powers to make reindeer fly around the world, visit billions of homes, and deliver billions of toys in one night. Even Harry Potter does not have that kind of power. But, to any kids who are suffering from disabilities such as diabetes, the obesity gene, epilepsy, being crippled or paralyzed, being blind, deaf, having Down’s Syndrome, or any other physical or mental disability, Santa Claus is not going to use any of his powers to heal you. So if you need to wear glasses like Ralphie from “A Christmas Story” and you would much rather have Santa Claus give you 20-20 vision as a present so that you can throw away your glasses, instead of the a Red Ryder B-B gun for Christmas, forget it kid!

That is why many years ago, when the The Weekly World News tabloid was a printed weekly bullshit newspaper, I was very deeply offended by a photo of blind boy sitting on the lap of professional Santa Claus. This is because that mythical sleigh riding bastard was not going to use any of his supposed magical powers to heal the boy and give him the gift of sight!

I grew up in the mainline suburbs of Philadelphia, PA I now live in center city Philadelphia, PA. During my own childhood, my parents very severely scolded me for believing that Dr. Seuss characters were real and lived in California. But, then during Holiday Season my parents took me to see a department store Santa Claus and very strongly encouraged me to believe in the mythical toy giver who is supposed to live at the North Pole. Ironically, I was very disappointed when I only received toys from the mythical Santa Claus. I am not sure if I remember exactly what it was I wanted, but I wanted something more than a toy from mythical Santa Claus!

I am not a parent myself. I am a lifelong bachelor. So maybe I am not able to understand the Santa Claus myth from a parent’s point of view. But, I still think the Santa Claus myth should be completely abolished because I think it is wrong, to any parents reading my comment, to deliberately lie to your children!

What do you think?  Should we do away with the Santa myth? Readers are encouraged to offer their thoughts in the comments section below.

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Jeff
4 years ago

What are you a nazi good god it’s Santa

C. D. B.
8 years ago

I think we should cut out all imagination. Children should be fed a steady diet of solid scientifically sound and provable information. Children should not be asked to believe in their imaginations. All children’s shows should take care to not include such damaging things like talking animals, sentient objects that are otherwise inanimate in the real world, there should be no virtually impossible solutions for all problems. Basically at any point where a child should develop false hope or a temporary belief in something unreal should be eliminated. As a nation we should all unite under one specefic set of ideals. One that does not include anything the author believes *ahem* knows to be untrue. With reams of children stricken with diseases like fantasy and dreaming, a belief in miracles and an optimism about the improbable we can’t just sit idly by. From here on out let’s banish dreams, fantasy, hope and the suspension of disbelief.

Marsha Woerner
Reply to  C. D. B.
8 years ago

There is difference between encouraging fantasy and imagination (both of which are important to the development of the child) and flat out lying, which ISN’T!

Marsha Woerner
Reply to  C. D. B.
8 years ago

There is a difference between helping develop a healthy imagination and fantasy world, both of which are important both to a developing child and to a person in general, and flat out LYING, which ISN’T!

Reply to  C. D. B.
8 years ago

You make some good points. I know people without imaginations and I can’t “imagine” life without one. I have an active imagination, and, although I no longer believe in Santa Claus, I’m glad I once did.

Marsha Woerner
Reply to  Professor Mike
8 years ago

And I have a very active imagination, although admittedly not nearly as active as when I was a kid, and I never believed in Santa Claus OR the tooth fairy…

Marsha Woerner
8 years ago

Neil, if you are still able to believe after all of this time, the words of one nonbeliever really shouldn’t sway you 🙂
Meanwhile, I’m Jewish. I never believed in Santa Claus. More than that, we used to visit the children of my brothers brother were raised Methodist, and we told them all about the MYTH of Santa Claus when they were young 🙂 . My aunt and uncle were not pleased with us (“us” at the time only consisting of my older sister and me). More than that, my parents didn’t believe in lying to kids! My dad was a scientist, and Mom worked for in elementary scientific book publisher. Science in our family was come by naturally amongst the five kids 🙂 . When my older sister lost a tooth and a family friend’s house, that was the first time that we heard of the tooth fairy. Mom felt obligated to put some money under Rebeccah’s pillow, but both my sister and I realized that it was my parents.
Lying to kids is WRONG. If your kids can’t believe in things you say from the start, when should they begin to? My own kids didn’t have the tooth fairy or Santa Claus, or even a magician in the sky! We think it important to teach them about Judaism and the practices and history without infecting it with the belief in a sky fairy!
When a good (Jewish) friend of mine married a non-Jew, and the question of Santa Claus was raised between us, she agreed to meet that lying to kids was a very bad thing. But then the question of the tooth fairy came around! “There’s nothing wrong with the tooth fairy!” What kind of nonsense is that? Can you say “double standards”?.
No, lying to kids is wrong. ALWAYS! My husband was Christian when we got married, but he never believed in “Jesus as Lord” or the sky fairy.
I’m sorry, as with many things, I know that I’m opinionated, but I don’t think you should lie to kids!

Reply to  Marsha Woerner
8 years ago

I agree. I don’t think it’s healthy to lie to children.

8 years ago

You mean????…You mean he ISN’T real?????

Thanks for ruining my Christmas dreams 🙁

😉

Bill Formby
8 years ago

Come on folks! I think we should leave people to their own determination of reality. I am a parent and a grandparent and neither of my kids ever had to be told about Santa Clause. They had it figured before I knew they did but it added a little more excitement for Christmas. While I agree with Mike that religion, in general, has caused more problems in this world than could ever be solved and I think the writer has confused the mythical Santa Clause with the powers of a God, any God. There is no harm in letting children have a fantasy for a while in their life because once they get older, life is a bitch and then they die.

Reply to  Bill Formby
8 years ago

You make some good points Bill. I figured it out, well, I asked my Dad who told me. I was beyond the age where I should be thinking such things and he knew it I guess.

James Jobe
8 years ago

You had me right up to the god-like healing faults. Santa is never made out to be a miracle man and the travel round the world in one night is completely within the scope of little ones imaginations.
What about “God” !? Do we continue to tell our children that God exists and loves all of us and yet he lets kids die from disease, abuse, neglect and random maniacs with assault weapons?
To me you should have stuck with the “trust” issue. Why would any parent risk that bond by deliberately lying about a being like Santa.
The rest of your essay sounds bitter about class differentiation. Some kids will have better clothes, do better things and go on better vacations with or without a god or a Santa appearing to show favoritism.
I don’t disagree, but the topic is broader than just the Santa myth. I did enjoy reading this.

Reply to  James Jobe
8 years ago

God is also a myth, and one that has lasted much longer than Santa Claus. It is one that is also far more dangerous to our world and that has been proven, and is being proven time and again. God is the embodiment of hypocrisy.

Glenn Geist
8 years ago

I’m guessing you’re not a big fan of the Tooth Fairy either? But well said! I mean where is this guy the rest of the year? Abuse, poverty, starvation and disease are here all year for sure.

Reply to  Glenn Geist
8 years ago

I used to be a huge fan of the tooth fairy, even though, back in the day when I was young enough to put my teeth under a pillow and not pick them up off the ground, that old fairy was a bit stingy. The most I ever got was a quarter and I thought it was Christmas. Funny how times have changed Glenn.

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