lies

[ready]

So if we tell our kids that Santa Claus lives at the North Pole, that’s a “mental reservation”?

I don’t believe so.

 

[diggerdomer]

I don’t believe so.

So is it a lie? Is it justifiable?

 

[ready]

So is it a lie? Is it justifiable?

Well, a lie is when you say something to deceive someone and to lead them into error. Is that what parents are doing to their kids when they tell them that Santa lives in the North Pole? It sounds to me like they are passing on fairy tales to their children more than trying to deceive or lead their children into error. But perhaps the whole Santa Clause thing is a lie and the real emphasis at Christmas should just be on the real St. Nick and the nativity of our Lord. I know the story of Santa is founded on the life of St. Nicholas who used to give to the poor in their need, but that doesn’t seem to get conveyed to many children when it is Christmas time - they just hear the story of Santa Clause and are told that he lives in the North Pole. Personally, I wish the story of St. Nicholas and the story of the nativity would be told to our children and not that there is a Santa Clause who lives in the North Pole. Children would benefit much more spiritually and mentally if they were receiving gifts in the spirit of the real St. Nicholas and the birth of Christ and the Epiphany, when the three wise men gave their gifts to the Lord, as opposed to receiving gifts under the influence of the whole Santa hype and the materialism it fosters.