Not 'doing' Santa

OrkneyStar

peachyprice wrote: »

Yes, England. My children have been to 3 different primary schools in the LEA, all within the same cluster, all have had similar strong links with the church.

Which is fine, but we also have a large jewish, muslim and hindu community, I wish their leaders were encouraged too.

That does sound un-balanced.
Have the other leaders been approached?
Are there specific schools for their faiths?
Not an easy one to fix instantly I imagine.

peachyprice

balletshoes wrote: »

nope, no prayers, the local vicar only visits the school if invited (ie if they're doing their religion topic term, which is usually, but not always, Christianity and one other major religion, compare and contrast kind of deal - and then in that same term they will go visit a mosque/temple etc).
They only troop off to church as a whole school once a year for Christingle (and they can opt out of that if they want to). They don't do harvest festival etc.

Blimey. I wonder who decides how much involement the church has then?

maman

balletshoes wrote: »

this has been brought up on MSE before - no, not all state schools are religious. My DD's wasn't, and its a big city state primary school. Its non-demoninational, and theres no prayers etc, at all. I believe from teachers/governors etc that there should be a "time of reflection" or something like that built into the school day, but in practice, at both her primary and now her secondary school, theres nothing like that. To my recollection the only time anything from the bible was discussed at her primary school was the nativity.

All schools should have religious education (from a syllabus that includes teaching about other faiths) and broadly/wholly Christian worship. That's been the law for almost 70 years. Many people feel strongly that this isn't being adhered to in all schools because the school day is so packed with other exam based stuff that it gets sidelined. I'd be surprised if the law changed completely though as the power of church/state/monarchy is very strong.

peachyprice

OrkneyStar wrote: »

That does sound un-balanced.
Have the other leaders been approached?
Are there specific schools for their faiths?
Not an easy one to fix instantly I imagine.

I don't know whether they've been approached.

There are 2 jewish primary schools and one senior school, one of the primaries and the secondary take all faiths and there's a muslim secondary school that only takes muslims.

Although the parents of the jewish/muslim/hindu children don't seem to mind, they really enjoy the church services and always come along.

It doesn't really bother me, my children are free to believe in whatever they want regardless of my own beliefs.

lostinrates

pulliptears wrote: »

I find it incredibly sad that some children will never have the joy of that. The hours my children and I spent looking for fairies in the garden, hunting for toadstools where the gnomes lived etc. It was fun and like you it makes me smile when I see a fairy ring because it evokes lovely memories of those times with my children and with my parents.

When I hear sleigh bells on Christmas eve I'm instantly taken back to an excited 7 year old peeping through the window for a glimpse of Father Christmas and the excitement of seeing the milk and cookies gone the next morning.

It's a huge part of childhood and I feel sorry for people that don't have those happy memories. At the end of the day it hurts nobody to go along with it for a few years, and the end results are memories that can make you smile and brighten your days 30 years down the line.

Childhood should be a magical time of fairies, elves and Father Christmas. There is plenty of time for the real world and all the nasty surprises it holds.

I don't think it matters what form the 'magic' comes in, whether it's Santa claus/ st Nicholas/ father chistmas (and actually I thought Santa Claus originated from Europe, (I get fed up of america bashing)

Idiophreak

peachyprice wrote: »

Jesus is just a figment of the imagination, rather like Santa

IMO of course

Now, that's an interesting signature. Really? Figment of the imagination?

Imagination normally infers thought and creating an image of something yourself. Jesus and Santa Clause aren't imagined...in fact, the polar opposite....You're told explicitly not to think about or question it, but to believe blindly in *someone elses* creation.

A complete aside, I know, but I've never heard Jesus described that way before

RockPaperScissors

I echo what others have said here.

I am an atheist but I would never take Father Christmas away from children. I never saw it as a religious thing at all. It's such a lovely feeling to wake up and have a stocking sitting waiting for you. And I really don't feel that it's particularly materialistic?

My stocking consisted of a Satsuma, some chocolate coins, something homemade by my mum or nan and maybe a pair of sock or a pretty hair band. Nothing expensive, just something special to wake up to.

One of the biggest parts for me was leaving a glass of milk and finding it had been polished off in the morning - it's those tiny memories that are special, not having a huge sack of gifts from a religious source.

And I'm pretty sure my mum and dad used to be happy of the distraction so she could get on with cooking the sprouts!

Christmas is about being together for me (and eating lots of food) - Nothing religious, but incredibly special all the same.

OrkneyStar

Idiophreak wrote: »

Now, that's an interesting signature. Really? Figment of the imagination?

Imagination normally infers thought and creating an image of something yourself. Jesus and Santa Clause aren't imagined...in fact, the polar opposite....You're told explicitly not to think about or question it, but to believe blindly in *someone elses* creation.

A complete aside, I know, but I've never heard Jesus described that way before

I have never been taught that, the opposite in fact.
Of course I don't have all the answers, but who does, whether the believe in something or not?

shegirl

OrkneyStar wrote: »

Jesus is real to me, but that really is a separate debate.
The OP mentioned not doing Santa, as an atheist. I did mention my faith, so to show that all sorts of people can not do Santa, just as all sorts can. I have no problem with folks doing the whole Santa thing, my problem was that those who do think that they can also enforce it on those who don't!

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Jesus is real to you because you like the 'magic' of the stories and the meanings in them.

Jesus is real to you because you choose him to be.

Jesus is real to you because it gives you something to believe in.

Now replace 'Jesus' with Santa in all of the above. It's not so different is it.

OrkneyStar

shegirl wrote: »

Jesus is real to you because you like the 'magic' of the stories and the meanings in them.

Jesus is real to you because you choose him to be.

Jesus is real to you because it gives you something to believe in.

Now replace 'Jesus' with Santa in all of the above. It's not so different is it.

Thanks for telling me why I believe . Good to know a random person on the internet knows so well why someone else believes.
Anyway, I think the OP was looking more for comment on her original post and not Jesus, afterall she mentions being an atheist.