“I have a real problem when parents lie to their children, about the fat man in a red suit who goes down chimneys.”
Oh, well, gosh, i wouldn’t want to raise MY CHILDREN in a manner that YOU don’t approve of. Why don’t you go suck-start a shotgun while i come clean on every little detail.
“Isn’t God the only one who really has those attributes?”
Whoe REALLY HAS superpowers? Maybe in your ficton. In Marvel, Santa’s one of a number of superpowerful mutants. Kids will see all sorts of settings with various people having a variety of superpowers. And i’m sure it would never occur to any kid to compare Superman or Squirrel Girl to your supergod. WHo’s real. For sure.
"The first of Ten Commandments, which God wrote with His own finger, says,”
The copy god wrote was lost, wasn’t it?
We’re stuck with a replica, Moses’ memory?
“Thou shalt have no other gods before me”
Santa’s not meant to replace God, just as a babysitting tool for the bulk of December.
"Shouldn’t the focus of Christmas be on Christ, not Santa?”
OR, on the gods that Solstice was originally set to celebrate, if you’re going to be picky.
We put Gandalf on the roof of Mom’s nativity scene last year.
"Besides why would you want some fat man to get the credit for your hard work anyway?”
Oh, please, pick an argument and stick with it. You’re just throwing candicanes at the tree and seeing which hooks.
I’m fine with kids having a bit of mystery or whimsy in this life. No hurry for them to start paying bills.
“And finally, if parents lie to their kids about Santa, and then later tell them that an all-knowing, all-powerful God loved them so much that He sent His son Jesus to earth to die for their sins, how are they suppose to believe it?”
Dude, WHO the FUCK doesn’t tell kids about God and Jesus until after they’re old enough to understand the Santa transaction?
"Why should they believe any thing their parents say after that?”
Because eventually they’ll get a job. And they’ll get a performance review. And ALL THREE of my kids came home from their first Performance Reviews in a state of shock that I and their mother had predicted EVERYTHING the manager said.
It is an AMAZING validation of all my life choices, it really is.