Kicking Out St. Nick

Christmas is one of the most widely celebrated holidays in the year. Not only celebrated by Christians, it is a celebration that tends to bring people together. People who have no strict religious conviction are quick to latch on to Christmas as an event for the whole family. Because of this, Santa Claus has become a huge figure in a holiday that is supposed to be about the birth of the Christian savior, Jesus Christ. Parents are using Santa as a replacement for the focus that Christian religious parents put on Jesus. Even people who claim themselves as Christian tend to put more emphasis on the jolly old man than the humble younger one.

Because of this turn of events some parents are rebelling against the image of Santa Claus. Highly religious people have always rejected the image that they deem blasphemous. But now it is a trend that is moving into even parents who don't go to church twice a week or sometimes even at all. These parents are Christian parents who are worried about the fact that little children are often overheard asking God to bless Santa in their Christmas prayers or even praying to Santa instead. They believe that Santa should not have the focus on a holiday that is all about the birth of Jesus. So what are they doing about it?

They are canceling Santa. These parents are raising their children from the start to know that while the myth of Santa Claus comes from a beautiful legend of a very generous man who lived many years ago and letting them know that there actually is no man who slips into their homes at night to leave gifts under their Christmas tree. Many still use some of the common Christmas trappings, the tree, the gifts, and even the stockings (one of the few Christmas items that actually is tied into the myth of Santa Claus) but they just let the children know that the parents are giving the children these gifts, because Jesus was born.

In these homes you frequently see things like a "Happy Birthday Jesus" song on Christmas morning or even a birthday cake! The parents work very hard to make sure that the children aren't missing out on any of the Christmas fun, they don't want them to feel like they are being punished, they just want their children to know the truth about Santa.

This, of course, has caused some problems with the Santa-celebrating public. Some parents who encourage the myth of Santa are upset, saying that the parents who refuse to tell that lie to their children are ruining the innocence of childhood. But the parents who have banned Santa are firm in their beliefs. They say that Christmas is a religious holiday and they will not be swayed by those who are celebrating the holiday purely for the love of gifts.

Some of the parents refusing Santa say their reasoning comes from their own childhoods, when they found out that Santa Clause was not real at all but just a lie their parents had told them. Citing confusion and even a shaking of belief in their religious beliefs, they say that they wondered how they could believe in God whom they also couldn't see when Santa was supposed to be so "real" for years. These children grew up into adults that don't want to foster that same confusion in their own children, wanting to not give their children a reason to question the validity of their Christian beliefs because they had engaged in a lie about a man who took away from the true meaning of Christmas anyway.

This is not a debate that can be solved by any easy means but perhaps the anger can be put aside while we all think about the true meaning of Christmas, peace and happiness. Whether celebrating with the addition of Santa or not, in the end we are all trying to raise our children with happy memories of the holiday.