i'm on a santa kick today...
are you going to have your kids believe in santa claus? why or why not?
i have mixed feelings. i don't want to lie to my kids, but i want them to have fun with it. not believing in santa will make them stick out even more...on top of being atheist until they learn to think for themselves.
2007-08-13 06:25:25 · 34 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
i know that Santa is a pagan myth only associated with Christmas. However, I asked atheists because they generally don't like to perpetuate lies to people, and I am the same way, but am torn on this subject.
2007-08-13 06:30:41 · update #1
This is horrible, but I'll be damned if I'll give credit for all those expensive gifts to some fictional fat@ss in a red suit.
My parents never told me there was a Santy Claus, and look how damn happy and adjusted I turned out.
2007-08-13 06:27:57 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 11⤊ 3⤋
Why don't you tell your kids the truth? The "myth" is based in reality, and yes, there really was a Santa Claus. He was some rich baron or count or something and he was very generous towards the poor people. He would give them food, not gifts. Research it first, then tell the kids. I always told my son that if Santa gave him a gift, it would be something small, and that the gifts he received for Christmas were from different people in our family. So there was never any problem with the whole Santa-Thing.
2007-08-13 06:33:19 · answer #2 · answered by furballchaser 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
My daughter has the Santa story till she was about 20, then she started yelling at me to stop so I did.
She is an Atheist as am I. I don't think having fun with Santa as a child was any more than a bit of fun. It had no long term effects on her either way, but why deprive her of the same fun as all her friends, there are no religious connotations to Santa that I can think of, and that is after all the main gist of Atheism.
2007-08-13 07:04:16 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
Just tell the truth - that Santa Claus is a fun part of the holiday that we made up. That doesn't mean you have to take Santa out of the holiday.
2007-08-13 06:31:12 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
We never told our child that Santa was for real. That seemed like it was a set up for making them believe we would lie to them about a lot of other things, too.
For little kids, it's not a big deal to tell them something can exist in their imaginations while not existing in real life. I've found that kids don't have a problem with that since they have such vivid imaginations, anyway.
So, when asked, I would say that Santa is in a lot of people's imagination because it is a very nice thing to think about. And then I'd ask what she imagined Santa to be like.
Similar thing to when she asked me if there was a God. I told her that nobody knew for sure. Then I asked her what she thought. It was a good way of getting a conversation going about hopes and dreams without letting dogma get in the way.
I hope that is helpful to you.
2007-08-13 06:40:52 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
Santa Claus has nothing to do with Christian religion. It's actually a pagan custom...so I don't see why you couldn't tell your kids about him just because you're an athiest.
The Catholics integrated Santa Claus into Christmas, so that it would be easier for them to convert pagans to Christianity.
2007-08-13 06:28:49 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
You can go with the idea of people being nice to people and giving presents etc. and how Santa symbolizes this goodness of heart among people. When they're older you can go into the actual historical bishop named Nicolas and how this real person evolved into jolly old St Nick in many cultures.
The idea in any case would be that you don't need an organized religion to do good things for people.
2007-08-13 06:33:48 · answer #7 · answered by juditurc 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Of course I'll tell them about Santa. I'll also tell them about Shiva, Osiris, Zeus, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy.
But I won't tell them what to believe. I have confidence in my parenting skills that I will raise children sharp enough to make up their own minds about what is truth and what is not. At least I hope, but we'll have to find out.
I would imagine that atheists will be no more inclined to have their kids believe in Santa Claus than any non-Christians will.
2007-08-13 06:31:13 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
nicely, i haven't instructed my 3 3 hundred and sixty 5 days previous daughter approximately Santa, nor plan to. She has considered and heard some random bits approximately Santa and found out he's the guy interior the crimson extra healthful. in accordance to what she expectantly instructed me final evening Santa is "the guy who wears study and climbs in timber." i'm guessing that's from Christmas decorations. She loves the decorations, traveling the relatives, and being shocked by utilising provides from daddy interior the morning without Santa necessary.
2016-10-15 04:45:03 · answer #9 · answered by broderic 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes.We do celebrate christmas in my house because while i was growing up my mom didn't and i would get back to school and all tha kids would be flaunting their presents and when they asked me what i got i would say:nothing:.They usually would give me this weird looks and stop talking to me....I don't want my kids to go through that.
But i do tell my kids that santa claus is not real,they know mommy and daddy buys them the present ....
2007-08-13 06:29:51 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Santa Claus has nothing to do with religion so why not let them believe in Santa?
2007-08-13 06:29:40 · answer #11 · answered by Ollie's Mommy 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋