The Santa Claus Myth Vs. the Reality of Jesus Christ

Black Friday 2011 came and went, and so did the shoppers' paychecks, as they spent millions of dollars on useless wares that will wear out by this time next year. These shoppers also took their children, the future generations of shoppers, out to see the grossest sign of corporate greed ever, in the annual ritual called, "Sitting on Santa's Lap." There were "Santa Claus" parades galore nationwide from Thanksgiving Day through "Black Friday," much to the chagrin of people who had to negotiate wacky traffic patterns, or worse yet sit and wait, as they tried to shop for real goods they really needed. Honesdale, PA was no exception. As my mother and I were trying to shop for goods we badly needed for ourselves, and then tried to go to a local restaurant for dinner, we had to alter our plans somewhat just to negotiate around the "Santa Claus" parade and wound up eating at a Chinese Restaurant in town instead of eating at the restaurant where I really wanted to take her. That is beside the point. We got what we badly needed, then ate dinner at a nice place, then went home.

Nevertheless, we had to suffer through the annual corporate lying fiasco that is "Santa Claus" and "Black Friday." Driving hither-and-yon to find a convenient parking space because my mother has a hard time walking, and finding a space a block or two away from where we needed to go, was a hassle in itself. The bigger hassle is having to spend one more year with the largest corporate-sponsored, greed-engorged lie that is "Santa Claus" instead of enjoying the truth-endued, archaeology and history filled fact of Jesus Christ.

Parents throughout the USA and all around the Earth know that economic times are tough and that most people are unemployed or underemployed. Just ask any of the thousands of people who portray Santa and Mrs. Claus, and who have to endure criminal background checks costing from $50 upward just to be cleared so they can work daily for the month prior to Christmas. Many of these fine people, with good intentions, spend hundreds of dollars on their costumes and scenery just so they can break even working temporary jobs for municipalities or stores, and perhaps earn enough for food and regular clothes. Several of these families have had to expand their services to include offers of "Letters from Santa Claus" or even other kiddie icons such as "the Tooth Fairy" for a nominal cost from their parents. Once again, this fosters lies and costs the parents their hard-earned money.

Instead of telling their children the truth, that there is no Santa Claus and that their parents cannot afford to buy them the toys they want because their cars need repair, their mortgages and rents must be paid, food and clothing and shoes must be bought, and they need to save money, the parents tell their kids that Santa said he was sorry but couldn't come to the house and bring them their toys. Santa got too busy, or couldn't get down the chimney, or the chimney isn't there. Well, parents cannot be liars, so they have to make Santa Claus out to be the liar.

Major corporations such as Walmart, Sears Holding Corporation, PepsiCo, The Coca-Cola Company, The Home Depot, and clothing manufacturers know all this, so they hire people to wear the Santa suits and ring the bells and holler "ho-ho-ho," and they dress other store workers as elves and snowmen and who-knows-what, and help rake in the green by selling crap no one normally can use, at high costs, just to fill our homes with junk. Buying junk does not stimulate an economy. All it does is empty workers' wallets and fill their storage facilities with useless items as people go home from work as broke as they ever were.

Let us further explore the lies of the Santa Claus myth. First, reindeer cannot fly, and even if they could, they would have a hard time navigating in high winds with a huge sleigh full of toys driven by a morbidly obese man. Second, one man cannot possibly fly over the entire earth and its 24 time zones and 4 half-hemispheres, and drop presents down chimneys for every child on Earth, all by midnight of each time zone. Third, millions of homes do not have chimneys. Fourth, if Santa descended a chimney, distribute the presents, and then ascended the chimney back to the roof, if he did not get stuck in the chimney itself, he would be burned over 36% of his body with second-degree and third-degree burns. Fourth, if he did not get burned in the fire, he would get busted by police for burglarizing a home, then charged with obstructing justice and lying to the police by telling them he was giving the kids presents and not taking anything from the home. Fifth, Santa would have to hire so many body-doubles for himself, plus millions of elves, just to make and distribute the toys to the girls and boys, and would have to charge parents for his services. Sixth lie, and this is most intriguing, is that the North Pole is completely uninhabitable as a frozen waste with no solid land mass, as the South Pole has. Even then, because of global warming, much of the ice pack surrounding the Northern Arctic is melting, which would mean that Santa's Workshop would have to be in a submerged biosphere. Because underground and underwater pressures are so high, the ascent to the Earth's surface would have to be so slow as to avoid giving Santa and his reindeer DECOMPRESSION SICKNESS, also known as "The Bends." Deep-sea divers and submarine personnel must often go into decompression or recompression chambers just to survive this because the morbidity is so severe, and sometimes is fatal.

Now, let us explore the truths of Jesus Christ, whose birthday we celebrate on December 25. First, Jesus Christ was a real man, and this fact is recorded not only in the Holy Bible but also confirmed in historical documents by others ranging from Jewish historian Josephus to Claudia Procula, the wife of Pontius Pilate, the man ultimately blamed for Jesus' murder. Second, the Acts of Christ are duly recorded by eyewitnesses and those who interviewed these eyewitnesses and are published worldwide in thousands of languages. These Gospels and their confirming documents exist in libraries worldwide, are backed up by archaeological evidence, and would stand up in courts of law as authentic testimony to Christ. Third, in the 19th Chapter of Matthew's Gospel, Jesus Christ told his disciples to let little children come to Him because He knew that the Kingdom of Heaven, a treasure where moths and rust do not corrupt and thieves do not steal, belonged to them. Fourth, Jesus only traveled approximately 200 miles in any direction from his birthplace while His followers took His message to the uttermost parts of the Earth. Fifth, Jesus Christ lived in Israel, in the southern region near Jerusalem, a city that is Holy to Christians, Jews, and Muslims. Sixth, not only do Christians, but also Muslims, Jews, Hindi people, and even Buddhists and New Age worshipers, acknowledge the existence of Jesus Christ; Hindu worshipers even call Jesus Christ an avatar of God, dressing Him in the purple robe and thorny crown that we know is the mockery of Christ as King before He was crucified. Seventh, at His crucifixion, there were hundreds, if not thousands, of witnesses to the event, several of whom possessed items He touched or that were stained with His sweat and blood. Roman soldiers forced St. Simon of Cyrene to carry Christ's Cross. St. Berenice (Veronica) wiped Jesus' face with a linen cloth, bearing a distinct impression of Jesus' face thereon in His own blood. The Vatican library holds historical documents written by famous people who knew Jesus; among these are letters written by Claudia Procula, who told her husband Pilate not to kill Jesus because He had healed their son Pilo of a withered foot and because she had a wonderful dream about Christ's ministry to people. These letters were later translated and published in English.

Why teach children about a mythical man created by corporations to boost end-of-year sales, when we can teach children about a REAL MAN in a REAL BODY from a REAL GOD and lived among REAL PEOPLE to give us a REAL REDEMPTION FROM SIN and a REAL LIFE IN HEAVEN?

Lastly, let us discuss groups of people seeking to ban Santa Claus because it is a lie cut from whole cloth. On 6th October 2010, The Telegraph of London published that the Bonifatiuswerk group of German Catholics began calls for "Santa-free zones" as Santa Claus is "an invention of the advertising industry designed to boost sales" and "a representative of consumer society who has little to do with the historical figure of St. Nicholas." That campaign was supported by several German TV celebrities as well. (Telegraph, 2010)

The Head Start classes in St. Peter, MN, banned Santa Claus as portrayed by Dennis Jackson in December 2010 because there are many Somali immigrants who moved there, and they do not celebrate Christmas. (JihadWatch, 2010) A South Carolina Cancer Center also banned Santa from volunteer visits because that center treats Muslims, Jews, and Atheists. Later, their decision was reversed after some public protest. (Geller, 2011) In 2003, The South African Advertising Standards Authority banned advertising for that country's Post Office giving children an address to write to Santa Claus to express their Christmas wishes, citing the fact that the Post Office was selfishly "profiting from the natural credulity of children" instead of boosting their hope (or promoting reality). In other words, Santa as liar betrays children's trust and causes them to lose self-esteem. (Hall, 2003) In the New York Times, writer Jacqueline Woolley also wrote; "The adults they count on to provide reliable information about the world introduce them to Santa. Then his existence is affirmed by friends, books, TV and movies. It is also validated by hard evidence: the half-eaten cookies and empty milk glasses by the tree on Christmas morning. In other words, children do a great job of scientifically evaluating Santa. And adults do a great job of duping them." (Woolley, 2006).

Even professional musicians are calling for re-thinking the Santa Claus myth. Country quartet The Statler Brothers performed a Christmas single called, "Daddy, Just Whose Birthday is Christmas?" written from the point of view of a man listening to a six-year-old boy asking his father about Santa and Jesus after Church. Hip-hop duo The Insane Clown Posse recorded a joint called "Santa Claus Is a Fat Bitch," recalling how they as children received no presents from Santa as they grew up in a Southwest Detroit, MI ghetto. Other artists on their label, Psychopathic Records, have recorded similar materials, calling Santa Claus a liar.

Dear Readers, the movement is sporadic but growing. Please, replace your wallets with Bibles this Christmas and start telling the truth about Jesus, Santa Claus, and who really buys the Christmas presents. Tell the truth that there are no flying reindeer with sleighs full of toys and goodies, that you are too poor to afford both toys and basic necessities, that the best Christmas presents come from the heart and are always what the recipient badly needs, and that Jesus Christ was born and died for the redemption of mankind to God.

With love in Christ,

Richard C. August

References:

The Telegraph. (2010). Group of German Catholics want to ban Santa. England:London. Retrieved on 26 November 2011 from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/8046139/Group-of-German-catholics-want-to-ban-Santa.html

Jihad Watch. (2010). Minnesota: Santa Claus banned from Head Start to avoid offending Muslims. Retrieved on 26 November 2011 from http://www.jihadwatch.org/2010/12/minnesota-santa-claus-banned-from-head-start-classes-to-avoid-offending-muslims.html

Geller, Pamela. (2011) St. Nick Nixed: South Carolina Cancer Center becomes Sharia-compliant, bans Santa Claus. Retrieved on 26 November 2011 from http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2011/11/south-carolina-cancer-center-becomes-sharia-compliant-bans-santa-claus.html

Hall, Steve. (2003). Santa Claus Ad Banned in South Africa. Retrieved on 26 November 2011 from http://www.adrants.com/2003/12/santa-claus-ad-banned-in-south-africa.php

Woolley, Jacqueline. (2006). Do You Believe in Surnits? New York, NY: The New York Times, 23 December 2006. Retrieved on 26 November 2011 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Claus#Controversy_about_deceiving_children