There is no ‘Santa Claus’…

… there was, of course, one Saint Nicholas, a 4th-century bishop whose generosity was legendary, who, like other saints, was celebrated by the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches, and also by the Dutch Reformed, who, though Protestant and otherwise not given to celebrating Roman Catholic saints’ feast days, decided, for some reason, after initially resisting for some centuries, to eventually relent, and re-join the Catholic celebration of the feast of the Eve of St. Nicholas, or Sinterklaas; from which, combined with with the British tradition of ‘Father Christmas’, and with the publishing of Clement Clark Moore’s ‘A Visit From St. Nicholas’ (also known as ‘T’was the Night before Christmas’), helped give rise to the mythical figure we call ‘Santa Claus’, whom almost all adults know does not in fact exist, but whom many pretend does, and go on to teach to their children as fact, even though this is a deliberate telling of an untruth, i.e. a lie.

Why? asks Jim Goad, and I join him in that.  (Hat tip: Ferd)

Some of my Reformed brethren eschew Christmas altogether; not only the modern, mushy, sentimental, treacly, mostly Jewish-authored secular ‘Christmas’ songs, and the whole ‘Santa Claus’ mythos, but also the religious celebration of Christ’s birth.  I disagree with them, and observe the religious celebration; the part of the Reformed tradition I belong to, does so, cheerfully.  But I will fault my Dutchie brethren’s ancestors, nevertheless, for not opposing observation of Sinterklaas Eve vigourously enough, eventually re-joining their Catholic neighbours in celebrating it, which led to Santa Claus in America.  The Law of Unintended Consequences, and all that…

I remember, as a kid, when I figured out that it was impossible for Santa to visit every house, around the world, eat all the cookies and drink all the milk, because that would be miraculous, and only God, and no-one else, works miracles; that, when I confronted my parents, I accused them of lying to me.  Boy, were they speechless and dismayed!  But, I was right.  I was also right to go blab the truth to the neighbours’ kids when my parents admitted it, making them cry, and tell their parents, who told mine, getting me in trouble.  Oh well.  My parents, and millions of people the world over, have joined in perpetrating a myth they know to be false, which means they all have lied.  Now, I have long since forgiven my parents; they’re just part of North American culture, and went along with the flow, so to speak.  But, I accuse North American – and in fact now, global – culture, for perpetrating this myth, this known lie.  I understand; the idea is to fill children’s minds with wonder and magic, etc.  But the world does this, to promote a counterfeit alternative ‘saviour’ figure; to give a competitor for our attention, to Christ, Who is the real reason for the season.  The old ‘Church Lady’ bit from Saturday Night Live, two decades back, wasn’t far off:

*YouTube Clip since removed: basically, the Church Lady asked who would profit from the focus being pulled away from Christ, turned elsewhere? ‘She’ then rearranged the letters ‘SANTA’ on magnetic board – ‘SATAN’.

Indeed, who other than the powers of darkness, and their terrestrial secularist unwitting allies, gain from removing the focus from Christ, and instead moving it onto a secularized, mythological figure?  Why do we perpetrate this falsehood?  Moreover, if Saint Nicholas’ life and generosity is worth Christians remembering and celebrating, why not emphasize his feast on December 6 (or Sinterklaas Eve on December 5, as the Dutch Reformed do), and leave the Coca Cola depictions to the world, and separate it out from the celebration of Christmas?

We Patriactionaries are not knee-jerk conservatives; we are reactionaries.  Reactionary, means not merely holding onto traditions for tradition’s sake, but being willing to hold even tradition up to scrutiny, and being willing to jettison bad more recent traditions, whilst preserving worthwhile ones still around, and even returning to worthwhile older ones now lost.  For instance, Game, is a return to knowledge of female psychology that we used to have, before Victorian-era female pedestalization warped understandings held for centuries.  I see no reason not to also apply radical questioning – why do we do this – to other things such as the Santa Claus tradition – which, really, isn’t that old, historically speaking, compared to the many centuries before it came into being.  (Yes, there were always Father Christmas, and all the other British and European traditions.  But at least they weren’t global, they were local, particular to different cultures, and from another time; in any event, we also don’t teach our kids that vampires, werewolves, mermaids, and selkies exist, even though our ancestors may have believed in such things, considered traditional in their cultures, so why then should their untrue Christmas traditions be grandfathered?)

Why conserve Santa Claus?  I’ve heard some atheists say they stopped believing in God after realizing their parents lied to them about Santa, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy (two other traditions we should also question, and IMO, jettison); they couldn’t trust them when they told them that God is real, and that Jesus lives.  Touché.  A valid point, IMO.  If we want our children to believe us when we teach them about God, and that lying is wrong, why teach them a myth we know to be false, instead of focusing more on the truth that Christ was born, so that sinners may be saved?

We’d do well to return the focus of December 25 solely to Christ, the Saviour of Mankind; leaving real, traditional St. Nicholas celebrations for Dec. 5-6 for those who want to do so (if they insist they must), and eschew the Hollywood facsimile of St. Nick.

‘Santa Claus’ does not exist, though a kind-hearted, generous Christian bishop named Nicholas once lived, centuries ago.

But Christ does exist, and lives, yet today.

Spread the word!

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