Not 'doing' Santa

Person_one

arbroath_lass wrote: »

Midwinter celebrations celebrate the rebirth of the sun god, no?

Every culture comes up with its own reasons, but at the root of it seems to be a human desire to have a bit of light and good cheer at the time of year when the days are shortest and it gets a bit depressing.

Its only about the various religions on the surface.

Carl31

arbroath_lass wrote: »

Midwinter celebrations celebrate the rebirth of the sun god, no?

I dont know that much, although I am familiar with wiki.......

I just know that most of it relates to pagan rituals, where pagan is generally a term used to mean anything not assoiciated to an organised religion as such

The point im making is that its fine for people that wish to brand themselves 'athiest' to have a drink and mince pie this time of year, without anyone thinking any less of them

arbroath_lass

Carl31 wrote: »

I just know that most of it relates to pagan rituals, where pagan is generally a term used to mean anything not assoiciated to an organised religion as such

The point im making is that its fine for people that wish to brand themselves 'athiest' to have a drink and mince pie this time of year, without anyone thinking any less of them

And I agree with you except for the pagan bit. Pagan is generally accepted to mean "country dweller". Paganism is a group term for many polytheistic pre-christian religions. Whether or not it bears any resemblance to modern Paganism is another matter.

Carl31

arbroath_lass wrote: »

polytheistic pre-christian

without the use of google, what does this mean?

barbiedoll

When I was little, I believed in Father Christmas. I also talked to my dolls and teddy bears, I thought that fairies lived at the bottom of the garden and that Dumbo was a real elephant.

If nothing else, the Father Christmas/Santa figure is such a help from around September onwards. You only have to say "If you don't eat your peas/clean your teeth/read your book, Santa will know" and your child miraculously turns into a little angel. Sadly, the effects wear off around 9.30am on Christmas day!

A little escapism doesn't harm children, my husband used to dress up as Santa and bring a small gift to our son at bedtime on Christmas Eve. It was a way of getting him to go to bed on time but the rapt expression on his face when he heard the sleigh bells (a tree decoration from Wilkinsons) and saw Santa peeping around his bedroom door, was worth the deceit and lying in my opinion. DS is now 14 and he still doesn't know who it was who dressed up and came into his room!

arbroath_lass

Carl31 wrote: »

without the use of google, what does this mean?

Polytheistic - many gods and goddesses. Probably the most obvious to many people would be the Norse, Roman or Greek pantheons

margaretclare

Carl31 wrote: »

without the use of google, what does this mean?

Polytheism: belief in more than one god, often gods who had different 'jobs', functions if you like. Woden, father god, Thor, the god of thunder. The best-known are those of the Greeks: Zeus, Apollo, Aphrodite, et al.

Pre-Christian means any religion which existed before Christianity.

Christie_L

IMO, Jesus, Father Christmas, Santa, Easter Bunny, whatever, are all 100% real. Perhaps not in real-life - DNA to-prove-it it real, but in people's cultures, religion, imaginations and stories that are passed down through generations etc there's no doubt that they are 'real'. Perhaps just not in the way you would like them to be.

To be honest, if societies need a reason to come together for one day of the year and tell their family and friends and other loved ones that they are loved and appreciated, and cook for them, give presents, spend time together on the one day that most of us have as a holiday, you can wrap it up and call it whatever name you like. I love Christmas, it doesn't necessarily have to be the materialistic spend-fest that the high street would have you believe, but if that's what makes you happy and you're not putting yourself at risk of debt then what can be wrong with that? :-D

skintchick

Person_one wrote: »

Pretend play and make believe are a hugely important part of child development, and loads of fun. Isn't it better to look at risk/benefit rather than be dogmatic about never lying at all in any way?

You don;t have to lie to pretend play and make believe, we covered that earlier in the thread.

barbiedoll wrote: »

If nothing else, the Father Christmas/Santa figure is such a help from around September onwards. You only have to say "If you don't eat your peas/clean your teeth/read your book, Santa will know" and your child miraculously turns into a little angel. Sadly, the effects wear off around 9.30am on Christmas day!

This is another reason I don't like FC. I don't parent my child using threats, I use positive parenting techniques instead.

I have to say, I think the discussion is more interesting when people aren;t specifically targeting other posters, but are looking at the issue/s in general.

cbrown372

skintchick wrote: »

I make no distinctions between levels of untruths. They are all lies.

And of course you are aiming to deceive! You don't believe in FC, you know he doesn't exist, so to tell your child about him your intention is to deceive your child into believing in FC.

You might be perfectly happy with doing it, that's your choice, but it is still lying.

but its okay for you to target a poster?