My son refuses to let my grandson believe in the mystic of Santa Claus, because it detracts from the true meaning of the birth of Christ.

I say it adds to the "magical enlightenment of the miracle of Christ."

He tells me the world is changing and he's probably right.

Should Santa be abolished??

Just a 60 year old child asking for opinions.

All Blessings,
Jerry

Santa was banned in our house. I don't believe in lying to Children especially when I want them to believe in a God they can't see. They are all grown up now and don't seem to have suffered any ill effects.

Santa never visited our house for the same reason bigk mentioned.

I appreciate that I never had to explain to them that "Yes, mommy and daddy have been tricking/lying/deceiving you all along about Santa, but I'm telling you the truth about Jesus. He's for real. You can believe me on that."

I'm glad I never had to explain why Santa brings my children what they ask for, but not the little girl down the street (or other children that are poor/starving/homeless).

Jerry, the wisest thing you can do is respect your son and his family in this personal conviction, whether you share it or not. To do otherwise will cause harm to your relationship with them. I know that my parents and tst's parents did not agree with us back then. But over time, they learned to respect us for our choice. Now...well, my kids are grown up/growing up well adjusted in spite of our abolishment of Santa.

We used "Santa" to teach our son about "disciples" - those who act/teach/follow. Christians will never be Christ - but he invites us to be like him. So when we'd walk past "Santa" in the mall, he'd ask if that was Santa or someone who wants to be like him.

One year, my husband got asked to be Santa at the last minute when the hired Santa got sick right before a children's party sponsored by the city I worked in as a media writer. Our son was young enough but savvy enough to look to see who was playing "dress up like Santa". He came up to me and asked where his dad was - I asked "Why do you ask?" and he said that Santa sounded like his dad and smelled like his dad - he just got a great big grin on his face as he said that.

We were blessed to have wonderful neighbors. We lost a business when our son was very little - and the first few years of his life we struggled. One year, brand new toddler clothes showed up on the doorstep Christmas morning. Another year a bicycle just the right size for a 6 year old upgrading from the baby bike with training wheels.

It was really easy to transition to Jesus' disciples because he had experienced the loving kindness from Santa's helpers so much in his life.

We totally embrace the idea that "All things work for good" taught in Romans 8:28 - and for a parent, that can include Santa. We simply used the actions of Santa's helpers to teach him how to give good gifts - love and kindness.

I believe it is up to each invididual family/set of parents to decide. There is no verse that says thou shalt not have Santa, but there is no Santa requirement either. We focus on Christ, but we have done Santa. I have friends who don't. I respect their choice, and they don't judge mine.

Do you put up a Christmas tree?

Thanks one and all for replies.

I needed others point of view on all this.

Yes, Pep, we do put up a Chrismas tree every year, but we also put out a Nativity manger and on the top of our tree is of coursse,an Angel.

I grew up with both and so did my sons, but trust me, no one is more devouted to his religion than he. Well, that may be an overstatement.

I do think there is room for both, but I will take the wise advice to stay out of this. It is his family and his business how he raises his child(providing GS loves grandma an me,,LOL).

Many Blessings to all of you this Holy season,
Jerry

:MerryChristmas:

After my experience with the church, I'm having a hard time believing in anything.

This is the reason we never did Santa at our house either.

Our kids never acutally asked if Santa was real for a long time. DD was around 7 when she did ask, and we told her the truth. We also told her not to talk about it to her friends. I didn't want 15 phone calls blessing me out for ruining their kid's Christmas!

When I doubted Santa at about age 9, my dad left me a note that year, which I found on Christmas. I bought it hook, line, and sinker. But I never really connected the Jesus dots. When I found out Santa was a fairy tale, I didn't think Jesus was one too. I didn't believe in Jesus because my parents told me he was real. By that time, I believed in Jesus because I knew he was real. But I know not all kids make that connection.

When my son was 3, yes 3 he said the thought of a beared fat guy coming into the house through the chimney was weird and scarey. Enough said, he had to break it to his older sister who was 6.

Christ is #1 in our family and we celebrate God bringing our family together and remember His only begotten Son. Although we always remember Him, we put the emphasis on thanks to Him and is almost like a 2nd thanksgiving, but with presents.

Paganism or not the gathering of His children in one place and thanking Him together is something he'll see in our hearts.

Read Romans 14 a few times. I eat a lot of red meat, my daughter doesn't like red meat, I will not force her to eat red meat. I drink alcohol, my friend stopped and we are having them over for dinner (not to eat) and I will not drink as not to offend or make him stumble.

My strength lys in the Lord and I am not bound to anything but Him and Him alone. As Paul said, everything is permissable to me, but not everything is beneficial. If it makes your brother or sister stumble we should avoid it as it pertains to them.

My daughter is very spiritual. We are Lutherans. We always had Santa Claus visiting.

It never occurred to her that one detracted from the other. She KNEW that Christmas was celebrated because of the birth of Christ. She also knew that the typical Santa/tree/present occurrence was because of SOCIETY, and had nothing to do with celebrating the birth of Christ.

She in no way suffered in her belief of God because she looked forward to Santa Claus bringing her presents. She just spent a week in New Orleans with her church youth group working her butt off this summer just because she wanted to help people; it was the Christian thing to do.

I think that people who keep children from celebrating the same as most other children - be it Halloween or Christmas - because they feel it is damaging their children religiously are not giving their children enough credit to be able to understand the difference. In 50 years, I have NEVER heard a child say they wanted to learn more about the devil because they celebrated Halloween. In 50 years, I have NEVER heard a child say Jesus is stupid and Santa is better. Children are smarter than us, I think.

Thanks Cat,
That was sorta my contention as well. However I do not judge others who think otherwise.

If you think about it, the reality is that a child really only believes in Santa till about the age of reason(7-8 years old).
It is at that point that they must reconcile what all the big fuss is WITHOUT santa, and hopefully that is when the begin to pick up on the fact that the big deal,,,,IS JESUS!!!

I don't see anything wrong with santa filling in till they hit that age!

Just my humble thoughts,
All Blessings,
Jerry

I agree in what KaylaAndy,luroosi and Cat said also.

We were very spiritual with the Children when they were growing up and attended church three times a week, allways relating life and values from Gods perspective. Taking every opportunity to show them how God loved us and what the sacrifice of his Son meant. Also why God had to lay all the Sins of the World on him and let him die at the hand of man so He could have a relationship with us.

When they got to be around 7 they all had thier issue about Daddy and Mommy pulling the wool overtheir eyes but my retort about it was this.

"Santa is a spirit that people can embrace in giving gifts to others,(We never did the naughty or nice thing),and the magical thing about Santa was that once a year people opened their hearts and found it joyful that they give to others, not because they would recieve but because they could. In that way he exists. Even though it was man-made it was from a good spirit of man. When you look at what goes on in the world and the struggles people go thru daily is it not somewhat Magical that people will open there hearts and pocketbooks for others?
I understand Kids that Santa doesn't fly out from the north pole with reindeer but the Magic of Santa and the gifts will allways be real to me."

They would look at Dad like he had two heads but understood that from where my mind operated from as far as people go I had a point.

We taught the children that Santa, Halloween, the Easter bunny all came from Mans need for ritual not God. God gave us good things and that God worked though people.

All of the pagan rituals that surround these holidays were revealed to my Children as they got old enough to understand them. They never had fits because Santa didn't get them exactly what they wanted and all of their memories of Xmas are awesome..

It would have been easier to tell them from the beginning that Santa was not real but why not let them have fun with it while they were young? Accually it might have helped them understand the difference between mans rituals and the reality of Gods existence.

They have grown to be generous sensitive young adults and in no way shut God out of thier lives. I expected them to use their imagination, one of Gods greatest gifts, and they do.

Yes there is a deception involved with Santa Claus, but I like the idea that kids can see that they are loved by something intangible in an intangible way. As an adult, I like the idea that I can give to my kids without taking any credit for it whatsoever. In a similar way, Christians will often give credit to the Spirit for thier good deeds. I don't think there is a negative in teaching and experiencing these kinds of principles through a myth.

At the same time though, I don't think parents should put a ton of effort in keeping up the myth. When my kids ask me about Santa, I tell them the myth. If my kids were to ask my if Santa is real, or to say that they're friends are telling them there is no Santa, I won't make them a fool by keeping the truth from them.

Yep I agree, kids need to trust us ultimatly.