Is Santa a net positive or negative for Christianity?

Question

I can see this going both ways:
1.) Santa prepares young children to believe in magical undetectable old bearded men with an agenda and a punishment/reward system.

2.) Santa prepares them to outgrow magical undetectable old bearded men with an agenda and a punishment/reward system.

Which do you think it is?

Answer 1

OR

3) Santa is a fun game, by which children can learn the difference between make-believe and true "magical" power (ie the real power of God)... They can also learn the historical background of St Nicholas, and learn about Christian charity towards the poor, unique approaches to serving God and fellow-humans, etc.

P.S. My son is named after St Nicholas... Christmas time, and Santa Claus, make my son feel very important (and he is) because he knows that Santa is important, too (and everyone loves Santa).

Answer 2

LOL, doc. I love your questions. I see it as a net plus. It keeps people celebrating "christmas" even if they're not religions. It keeps children believing in a good vs evil worldview, and it keeps adults ikn a situation where they feel that good christian guilt if they don't give/ go to church/ support SOMETHING during the Christmas season.
The only negative is the truth, and Santa has nothing to do with that. :)
Good evening! Going to pass out soon, but I'll see you all in the AM :)

Answer 3

Satan in Hebrew has a number 359, which falls on the same day as Christmas. Santa has the same letters as Satan, and that is truly who he represents. Constantine tried to combine a pagan holliday the winter solstice with the biblical birth of Jesus.

Answer 4

properly, fairly, i began out life as a Christian, transforming into up in a Catholic (yet thank goodness no longer fundamentalist) relatives, so of direction while i become youthful, i got here upon the best factors to be extra exciting. Any youngster who grew up believing in God felt that it become so super that, each time it regarded that no-one become listening, somebody up there become. That guy or woman could help you whenever you needed somebody to chat to. yet because of the fact i become sixteen, I gave up on any Biblical Christianity. The God interior the Bible become some distance too hateful to deserve any understand from me--even inspite of the undeniable fact that I study the Bible in an attempt to make stronger my faith. for sure, it had the different result. Now, I label myself as a "Deistic Christian," because of the fact i could no longer permit pass of the ideals in a God as a toddler, yet Deistic because of the fact i do no longer think he interferes with our problems. and additionally now, I continuously, like continuously, discover myself siding with atheists/agnostics, because of the fact i've got found out how stupid faith could make some human beings. anyone with a innovations must be waiting to attain while an argument is crammed with logical fallacies (and for some, bigotry), and that i continuously take the possibility to take the atheists' ingredient and attack the overly-non secular idiots. you could persist with a faith, yet you do no longer could desire to be an fool (or a bigot) over it. this is those those that i detect extra exciting--and the folk I argue with the main.

Answer 5

Santa is an Americanisation of the Turkish Bishop of Mirah, who left gift for the poor children of his dioces.
So you honour St. Nicholas, he is one and the same guy, and nothing to do with fairytales and majic......!!

Answer 6

Santa Claus aka St. Nicholas is the embodiment of the spirit of generosity and altruism. So, it is a "positive" in my estimation.

Answer 7

first of all there is no such thing as a Santa clause.second a real christian does;nt put up a christmas tree because it;s a pagan belief. the whole thing about christmas is a pack of lies.the star in the sky was evil.it was satan trying to find jesus to kill him. so in answer to your question the whole thing about christmas is NEGATIVE. if you are a real christian.

Answer 8

neither.

santa is merely a fun thing for children while they are still young.
(young meaning elementary age kids, not older than 7 or 8 at max.)

Answer 9

When I as A Born Again Christian... had children.... I ..... Never told them that there was.....

Santa Clause.....

Easter Bunny.....

Or Tooth Fairy!

THE LIES PARENTS TELL THEIR KIDS...... holds them in the FANTASY OF ..... VIDEO GAMES...... Later on in LIFE!

Thanks for Asking ! RR

Answer 10

I say negative. His crass commercialism of late has disturbed me. I know it must be hard to raise funds to build all those toys, but did he have to become a shill for Coca Cola?