Issue Date: 12/5/05
Santa or Jesus
(Originally Published 12/6/04)
By Donnie Boyle
- Page 1 of 2 next >
(Palomar College) -- During the next few weeks there will be banners and stickers everywhere, proclaiming "He's the reason for the season." But exactly who is "he?"
These six words setup one of the greatest battles of our time - Jesus vs. Santa. Here is the catch: There is no winner. Christmas is about individual spirit - not piety, righteousness, commercialism or even faith.
It is about something different for everyone, and as America becomes more polarized politically, culturally and socially, the debate over the meaning of Christmas is becoming just as bitter.
Ironically, well-intentioned people of deep religious faith are attempting to use logic and even the laws of physics to prove Santa is a fake. Logic and reason are not usually the tools of religion - faith is. But apparently faith is only a "good thing" in certain cases.
This issue came to the forefront recently when, during Mass, a priest at a Catholic school in Santa Fe Springs told a group of young children that "There is no such thing as Santa Claus."
A similar incident occurred two years ago in England when an Anglican vicar told a group of children that "Santa and his reindeer would burn up doing 3,000 times the speed of sound as they delivered gifts to 91.8 million homes."
The vicar added that it was "logically impossible for one man and his sleigh to deliver 378 million presents in just 31 hours."
In both cases, parents were outraged. They wanted to be the ones to tell their children that Santa doesn't exist. Local papers and the Web were filled with arguments from parents arguing both sides of the issue.
Some felt that it was the parent's job to shape their children's reality - not the role of church leaders.
Others said they wouldn't lie to their children by telling them there is a Santa.
They want their kids to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas. Something that is, unlike the myth of Santa, easy to explain logically - the virgin birth of the Son of God.
These six words setup one of the greatest battles of our time - Jesus vs. Santa. Here is the catch: There is no winner. Christmas is about individual spirit - not piety, righteousness, commercialism or even faith.
It is about something different for everyone, and as America becomes more polarized politically, culturally and socially, the debate over the meaning of Christmas is becoming just as bitter.
Ironically, well-intentioned people of deep religious faith are attempting to use logic and even the laws of physics to prove Santa is a fake. Logic and reason are not usually the tools of religion - faith is. But apparently faith is only a "good thing" in certain cases.
This issue came to the forefront recently when, during Mass, a priest at a Catholic school in Santa Fe Springs told a group of young children that "There is no such thing as Santa Claus."
A similar incident occurred two years ago in England when an Anglican vicar told a group of children that "Santa and his reindeer would burn up doing 3,000 times the speed of sound as they delivered gifts to 91.8 million homes."
The vicar added that it was "logically impossible for one man and his sleigh to deliver 378 million presents in just 31 hours."
In both cases, parents were outraged. They wanted to be the ones to tell their children that Santa doesn't exist. Local papers and the Web were filled with arguments from parents arguing both sides of the issue.
Some felt that it was the parent's job to shape their children's reality - not the role of church leaders.
Others said they wouldn't lie to their children by telling them there is a Santa.
They want their kids to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas. Something that is, unlike the myth of Santa, easy to explain logically - the virgin birth of the Son of God.