Is it?

[Anakin]

Is it a sin to tell a child that Christmas is all about the birth of Santa?

[Divebomb]

Is this a philosophical question or mostly redundant looking for silly answers?

[Joysinger]

i told a girl there is no santa during the christmas market i was forced to attend from school. i got shot angry looks at when i did... i don't think it's a sin. christmas is all commercial anyways.

[Comatose]

This is an actual question that I have been thinking about.

If a child asks you if santa is real, what do you tell them?

My oldest is 6 and asked me if santa is real. He asked in front of the younger kids so I told him I would talk with him later.

[Scavenger]

We take pleasure in answering thus prominently the communication below, expressing at the same time our great gratification that its faithful author is numbered among the friends of The Sun:

• Dear Editor
  
  I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, "If you see it in The Sun, it's so." Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?
  
  Virginia O'Hanlon

Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours, man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

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 external light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies. You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if you did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived could tear apart. Only faith, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding. No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives and lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay 10 times 10,000 years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

[Comatose]

Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias.

I am going to be a true cynic. So the world was dreary before the story of Santa Claus was? Life doesn't just get dreary just because Santa doesn't exist. Our dreams and fantasies can just move to a different level. We can want something to exist without it existing. *shrug* thanks scav, but I am still going to have to find something to tell my son. Although the truth is probably what I will tell him, and teach him why we believe in dreams and things that may not be real.

[Stars]

Santa Claus is not real. If you tell your child that he does exist, then you are setting up your child for disappointment. After they get over the shock that Santa isn't real, they will remember that Mom and Dad lied to them. It IS a sin to tell a child that Santa Claus is real. It is a sin against that child. I've seen too many children cry because they learned the truth after years of lies. Are we telling them Santa is real for their benefit, or for ours? The truth here, is that we are hurting children for our own amusement. How could this be anything other than sin?
The best route is to tell your children the truth from the start. If you have already told them otherwise, then try to carefully tell them that santa isn't real (wait some time after christmas) and then tell them that it is still ok to "pretend".

[Divebomb]

Let's get back to basics with the original question.

Define "sin".

Sin according to the Judeo-Christian religions? Sin according to another religion? Sin according to a code of truth and ethics of which we are unaware?

I don't believe in "sin" as an all encompassing term for something.

I don't think telling your child a lie is a sin. I don't think lying at all is a sin. I don't think i'm going to rot in hell or karma is going to kick my ass later in life because I lied to someone.

Disappointment is a part of life, who better to learn it from than your parents?

I believe in the concept that Santa Claus represents and signifies in today's predominantly Christian society. I think it's a fantastic idea to create a fictional character that allows children to believe in something good in a world full of nuclear weapons, terrorism, plagues, etc - especially when they are surprisingly aware of all of those things.

I think the character Santa Claus represents an icon even adults can enjoy by bringing them memories of Christmastime/Holidays from their childhoods. It gives relatives a chance to do something unique for the children of the family either by "dressing up" or by giving gifts in the name of Santa.

The tooth fairy alleviates the worry of a child losing a tooth with the promise of a coin by taking their mind off the fact that something just fell out of their head. Does it matter that the tooth fairy doesn't exist when it brings nothing but pleasure?

When a child is old enough to grasp the concept that Santa does not exist, they will not be "disappointed" if it is explained properly.
"No Santa doesn't exist you whiney brat" is an inappropriate explanation. A parent explaining the reason for the "lie" as Stars so eloquently describes it, shows both trust in their child's ability to comprehend and that they cared enough to make sure their child enjoyed what Santa Claus is meant to represent.

[Stars]

Sin, in my opinion, is a harmful act carried out against another creature. Lying to a person is showing a lack of respect for that person. Lies, any lies, can build up into something ever more hurtful as time goes on. That's why many children cry when they learn that Santa Claus isn't real. You see, a child doesn't always learn why they were lied to from their parents when they are old enough to understand why lying is ok (concepts that hold to no logic I can fathom, especially when we tell children that lying is wrong). More often than not, a child hears that Santa isn't real from other sources, including other disillusioned children. I am so glad that I have chosen to protect my sons from these disappointments. I can't protect them from everything, but I can do my best to make sure they are prepared for the lies of the world by giving them all the truth I am able to give. Lies, you see, are the only real sins of this world. Every bad thing that we do comes from a lie of some sort. Therefore, lying is the worst crime we can commit against one another. It is for this reason that I am so strongly opposed to lying to children (or anyone for that matter).

I'm sorry that you feel the way you do, Divebomb. It seems a rather depressing view of life. I don't believe life is really that awful, at least not so much that we need to lie to each other and create alternate fantasies to believe in. (There is a difference between finding enjoyment in playing a game that you know is fantasy, and a fantasy created to replace reality.) There is enough beauty and happiness in this life to outweigh all the bad stuff, if only we would learn to embrace love and truth. For those who see the truth and choose to live according to that truth, then they will see the love and beauty I speak of. There will no longer be any need for lies.

These are the things that are important in this life:

Truth.
Love.

They are one and the same. It doesn't matter what your religious views are.

[Divebomb]

Sin, in my opinion, is a harmful act carried out against another creature.

Your opinion on the definition of the word is meaningless when others may disagree with you. The general connotation of "sin" involves a punishment as a result of doing a bad deed (like burning in hell or suffering later in life because of your sin). Your definition covers only half the common conception.

Given that, I stand by my conviction that it is not a sin. I choose not to comment on whether or not it is a "bad thing to do" because I tire of the neverending circle of "lying is bad/lying is not bad" conversation that occurs on these boards.

I'm sorry that you feel the way you do, Divebomb. It seems a rather depressing view of life.

It would be nice if once in awhile you grew up and made an intelligent commentary without the holier-than-thou highly condescending attitude. If you cannot comment maturely and intelligently on any topic, complex (like this one) or even the most simple, then you, Sir, may fuck off.

[disaster]

my parents had an interesting view on santa claus. the never really (as far as i can remember) said that santa claus did or didn't exist to me or any of my younger siblings. they basicly said "i don't know if he's real or not, it's possible that he's real. no matter how unlikely it is, no matter whether we personally believe it's real or not, it is possible that he exists". they also pointed out that it was rather unlikely that a child who professed not to believe in santa claus would recieve a present from him, if he did exist. the result was that they never really lied (once again, as far as i can remember, my memory is notoriously faulty after all), but were also able to provide as much time as needed to my younger siblings who still wanted to believe in santa claus, because the older siblings were willing ot go along with it in order to keep getting a present from santa claus. it may be a flimsy distinction, lying vs encouraging belief in something extraordinarily unlikely, but i think it's an important distinction.

[AMystery]

Yes, it is a sin to tell a child a lie. You can say Santa is a part of christmas, but saying he is all it is about is patently untrue. It can be argued that if christmas is only about santa in your house, then you could say its all about santa, however htis is the real world and that kid will go to school and say that and be corrected and then its a choice between which authority figure to believe in. Its better to start out on the right side. Explain the history of santa, the history of christianity, if you really want, explain how they were tied together with pagan tree worship.

[AMystery]

Santa, like elves, faeries, boogie monsters is real if you believe in him. If the kid is old enough to ask the question of if something exists, then they deserve an honest answer.

I think santa should be treated as a myth, a happy fantasy to indulge in during the holiday, but it needs to be clear it is just a dream. However, I haven't had kids yet so who knows what I will say when I actually get the question.

[Stars]

Disappointment is a part of life, who better to learn it from than your parents?

I think it's a fantastic idea to create a fictional character that allows children to believe in something good in a world full of nuclear weapons, terrorism, plagues, etc - especially when they are surprisingly aware of all of those things.

To put it another way:

The world is too evil to face, therefore we need to make up stories.

(This teaches children to run away from problems. We should teach them to face the truth, which isn't as bad as you might think, and to strive to improve.)

The views you express here are depressing ones, Divebomb. Maybe it is the truth in my observation that makes you so angry. I don't want to make you angry. If I could, I would make you happier than the image you present here. I sincerely hope that you already are, and that what I see from your statements is just a reaction in anger to what I say, or perhaps, how I come across to you in what I say.

Define "sin".

Sin according to the Judeo-Christian religions? Sin according to another religion? Sin according to a code of truth and ethics of which we are unaware?

Since you asked, I said...

Sin, in my opinion, is a harmful act carried out against another creature.

Your opinion on the definition of the word is meaningless when others may disagree with you.

If this is true, then why ask for a definition in the first place since it is likely that someone, somewhere, will disagree with it? This leads me to think that what you meant to say was: Your opinion doesn't matter because I disagree with you.

It would be nice if once in awhile you grew up and made an intelligent commentary without the holier-than-thou highly condescending attitude. If you cannot comment maturely and intelligently on any topic, complex (like this one) or even the most simple, then you, Sir, may fuck off.

I'm not sure how to respond to this without coming across in the wrong way. It is not my desire to upset you, Divebomb, or anyone else. I only want to participate in a conversation that I thought was open to anyone who wished to share their views. Does this mean that everything I say is LAW and must be followed by all who read it? Far from it. Does it mean that I am right in everything I say? Again, no way. It does mean that I share my views in the hope that any criticism or alternate view may help to lead me ever closer to the truth I seek, and perhaps anyone else interested as well. I freely admit, and thought it was understood, that I only want to learn, not to tell others what to do. God knows, I am not such a great person to be able to do this. I am far too flawed and stupid to be your spiritual leader. The damned cannot lead the damned to heaven, after all. (I am NOT saying you are going to hell because you believe in santa claus, or whatever else you might get out of this. I'm just trying to be clever while making a point, most likely failing again.)

To sum this all up in a short couple of comments:

I have never seriously said I am smarter, prettier, more righteous, less smelly, taller, thinner, sexier, or better in any way than anyone else.

I will always speak the truth I see, whether or not I am perfect in my observations. If I am wrong, I will admit it. So far, I see nothing wrong with my statements during this discussion. If anyone shows me where I am wrong, I will adjust my thinking accordingly.

[Stars]

Its better to start out on the right side. Explain the history of santa, the history of christianity, if you really want, explain how they were tied together with pagan tree worship.

The argument against this would be that most young children would not be able to understand these explanations. Yet, there is still nothing wrong with spending the time with your child to find ways to explain them in a way that is easier to understand. They may not get the full picture from the first day, but they will have a great foundation to build on. You also might find yourself growing closer to your child as a result. I explain complex things to my children all the time, using all the incomprehensible jargon. When they look up at me with those big eyes, looking all confused, I physically get down to their level and simplify my explanations drastically. I know they still don't get it all right away, but they love just being near me and learning from me. Having the Big Tall Daddy get down to talk with them makes them feel special and loved. And I know that someday they will be stronger and smarter for it all.

Then again, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I'm just setting them up for a neurotic complex when they get older. But, dang it all, I've got to try something to give them a better shot in this life. I look back at my youth, and I see no one there to answer my questions. I have promised them from birth that I will do my best to answer all their questions and to never lie to them in the process.

I think santa should be treated as a myth, a happy fantasy to indulge in during the holiday, but it needs to be clear it is just a dream.

I can see the sense of this, AMystery. Thank you for posting your opinions.