sick of consumerism in christmas

[Catholic90]

I am more concerned about the annual Santa lie that so many people teach there most beloved children. It truly is a most most dispicable sin. At least Pagans who taught there children to worship the sun actually thought it was the truth. But this one has people knowingly lieing to there children.

How sad that you would deny this to children…It is NOT a sin to believe in Santa!

Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

There IS a Santa Claus. There ARE elves and fairies. Just because YOU cannot see them does not mean they do not exist!

 

[Dirk_Skene]

How sad that you would deny this to children…It is NOT a sin to believe in Santa!

There IS a Santa Claus. There ARE elves and fairies. Just because YOU cannot see them does not mean they do not exist!

Somehow in all this frey I missed these comments. Santa Claus & elves & fairies are such innocent childish belifes. Thanks for takeing up for them Catholic90. Darn! This reminds me of the song “House at Poo Corner” Anybody remember that one? It’s about the innocents we lose as we become “smarter”.

 

[kalt]

I am more concerned about the annual Santa lie that so many people teach there most beloved children. It truly is a most most dispicable sin. At least Pagans who taught there children to worship the sun actually thought it was the truth. But this one has people knowingly lieing to there children.

I couldn’t agree more. I was lied to as a child, and to this day I hate the sight of fat men wearing red, especially if they’re jolly. Several attempts at therapy have failed, and I fear that my case is hopeless.

Before I saw an Oprah show on this most horrific child abuse, I went along with the “tradition”, not knowing that I had been damage, and I committed the same sin against** my own** child. People make fun of Oprah, but if it weren’t for her show, who knows how many people would never have realized that the people they thought were loving parents were truly abusive monsters, and those happy memories sad psychological compensation for unimaginable pain.

We should outlaw Santa Claus–the prisons are filled with the children of doting parents who carefully constructed this lie so well that their kids were 9 or 10 before they realized that they were made fools of. The better the abuse was perpetrated, the more likely the child is to be in prison today.

Santa Claus is an evil lie!

 

[CarrieH]

Gifts don’t have to be lavish or numerous. It’s about the feeling behind the giving…

What do you think of Xmas cards?

Everyone, what do you do when you’re stuck for ideas?

This year, the decision about what to do about Christmas was helped along by circumstance. I live in Michigan, where we have one of the highest rates of unemployment in the nation (the last time I checked, we were #1 on the list). This very minute, I could rattle off the names of at least 15 people I know who have lost their jobs, and I joined them on the unemployment line myself at the end of July. It’s been a rough stretch in our lives, but the situation has given me a legitimate excuse to stop spending so much on Christmas. For a number of years, I have wanted to cut back on gifts for extended family and for old friends who might not be so close anymore, but it’s always awkward bringing that up. This year, nobody argues about it because literally everyone knows people who are out of work. Cards are going only to elderly relatives and a few long-time friends. If I can call, email, Facebook, or send you an e-card to say “Merry Christmas,” don’t look for a Christmas card this year.

When I’m stuck for ideas, I always give something edible. The only adults who are getting gifts from me this Christmas are my elderly parents and two of my closest friends. I found an antique-looking bowl in a thrift store for one friend, which I am filling with home-baked treats, and the other one will get a bottle of wine and some of the same treats. I would get a little something for the nieces/nephews if I had any under 18, but they are past college-age now and have been told that Santa’s sack is going to be pretty light this year (unless it’s loaded up with home-baked goodies!). BTW, I have no kids of my own, unless you count the cats, but I might get them a can of tuna…

I’m hoping this simplified approach to Christmas will stick even after the job situation improves, and that if I have a job by next Christmas, people won’t expect “two-fers” to make up for this lean year!