I ran across this on some Christian blog that I don't remember the name of...
Two little kids are discussing religion and the one kid brings up Satan and the other kid says " I don't think Satan is for real...I bet Satan will turn out to be just like Santa - just my daddy late at night when nobody is looking"

Children trust their parents to tell them the truth. Parents have a moral obligation to do so. If you'd like to tell your child, "let's play a game..." or "let's pretend..." they'll be equally excited without betraying their trust. When they find out parents lie to them about one thing, they'll wonder what else they've been lied to about.

Originally posted by nyk537
I don't buy that for a second, especially in regards to Santa Claus.

That's fine, I'm not trying to sell it to you.

Originally posted by nyk537
I believed in Santa for many years when I was younger, and when I found out the truth, not once did I ever resent my parents for it. Nor did I feel like I had been lied to.

Check out the threads regarding God and Jesus. See how many bitter people parallel them Santa Claus. Then, ask yourself why. Okay, so you're an exception. Congratulations, but are you going to live life by that risk?

Originally posted by nyk537
I always looked forward to being able to tell my children about Santa, and let them experience the same things I did.

It's certainly your right, just giving a heads up as to the possible and observable consequences.

Originally posted by lombozo
Yes ATS, there is a Santa Claus.

No, there WAS a Saint Nicholas. Deny Ignorance, this is the place for it.

Originally posted by nyk537
The only "consequence" of sharing Santa with my daughter I've seen is the awesome look in her eyes each time we talk about him.

May the scheme of deception not return to you with monsterous results.

I think that if the Santa myth was "Just a harmless lie," we wouldn't even be discussing this. It was reported that the feelings of the child were crushed when they were told the truth. And the parents were outraged!

Sounds far from harmless to me.

I remember getting in trouble more than once in school for telling the other kids the truth about Santa, the easter bunny, the tooth fairy....ect.
I never taught my kids any of this nonsense.


I see no benifit for kids to be allowed to believe something so stupid. You never know....they might grow up to believe in aliens and the Illuminati.



[edit on 11-12-2008 by Sparky63]

Oh, please spare me all the crap about how lying about Santa Clause is going to permanetly damage our children. I have three kids, the youngest now 10 and they don't have any Santa issues. What is wrong with letting a child divulge in a little fantasy for awhile. I didn't accuse my parents of being horrible people because they acted like there was a Santa Clause, Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, etc al.

Now my kids just bring me the tooth and I give them a dollar. No accusations, no crying, nothing. Children play pretend all the time. I don't see how this is any different. At some age we all outgrow the fantasy and move on with our lives. If that was my child and they didn't already know then I would probably be upset too.

Originally posted by yeahright
Did you feel betrayed by your parents when you found out the truth about Santa? Assuming of course your parents did the Santa thing.

Yes. I had to be careful what they told me from that point on.

Originally posted by yeahright
My parents "lied" to me about a great many things - personal things I won't reveal here, some to "pretend" and some for protection. And may God bless them for every "lie" they told me.

I'm sorry to hear that and that your world is more comfortable being shielded from truth.

Originally posted by saint4God
May the scheme of deception not return to you with monsterous results.

Don't you dare preach to me about deceiving my child. Don't assume for a second that you know more about raising my daughter than I do.

I think you're taking this Santa stuff a little too seriously.

Originally posted by secretstash
Children play pretend all the time. I don't see how this is any different.

They're children, you're the adult. Children are the students, parents are the teachers. Although many adults seem to behave like children, this is a maturity issue more than a reasonable excuse.

Originally posted by nyk537
Don't you dare preach to me about deceiving my child. Don't assume for a second that you know more about raising my daughter than I do.

Please show me where I preached? Please show me where I make any accusation that i know more about raising your daughter than you do.

Originally posted by nyk537
I think you're taking this Santa stuff a little too seriously.

I think people don't take lies seriously enough.

The following statement comes from a 19 year old with no children. So, I cannot understand a parent's perspective, but I will give my own nonetheless.

Yes, telling children to believe in Santa is lying to them. No, it's not wrong to always tell a lie. Would you tell your sweet loving grandmother that she is ugly, wrinkly, pruny, no fun, and a waste of space? Would you tell a pregnant woman she's ugly because her belly is poking out? I hope not! Lies are only as bad as the significance of the truth. In this case, it's not that big of a deal once kids realize Santa is not real, depending on how important that lie is to them. That is why this scenario is more controversial and devastating to the children.

That said, I'm not sure whether I'll tell my kids about Santa or not. Before reading this thread I would have said no. Now, with the heartfelt posts from parents about the joy in their childrens' eyes, I'm not so sure. On the other side, couldn't the kids get just as much joy knowing that their loving parents buy them all these great gifts on Christmas? And wouldn't that joy be better because it is now focused towards the parent instead of their appreciation going towards an imaginary man?

Let's keep this discussion civil.
We might have different opinions, and that's what's so cool about ATS, but let's not go in a bad direction. OK?

Originally posted by secretstash
At some age we all outgrow the fantasy and move on with our lives.

I don't know about that. Some who post here are still living in a fantasy world. Aliens, reptillians, indigo children, bigfoot....and the list goes on and on.....Some just exchange one set of fantasies for another.