Santa Claus for Adults
When I was a child, I was brought up to believe in a mythical being named Santa Claus, who inhabited the North Pole (why?) and flew around in a sleigh delivering presents to all of the children. He was always watching us. If we were well behaved we got what we wanted. If we broke the rules, we got charcoal. And even though my parents had nothing to do with it, through society I was brought up to believe in another mystical being, named God. He lived in the sky, and loved everybody who accepted his son as their personal savior. He was always watching us. If we were well behaved, we would live forever in bliss in heaven. If we broke the rules, we got eternal damnation in the fires of hell.
The parallels here are astonishing. Eventually, like all children, I lost my faith in Santa Claus. I lost faith in God at about the same age, though it seems that many faithful adults simply replaced Santa with God once they reached that critical age of "reason".
The similarities between the two do not stop there. I had no credible evidence of the existence of Santa Claus other than here-say (my parents told me he existed) and a few "miracles" (cookies magically disappearing and being replaced with gifts) but I had ample evidence pointing to other explanations of Christmas. The first clue was when fed-ex delivered a box that was almost the exact same shape and size as my new Lego set that I gleefully unwrapped a few days later on Christmas. Surely with his magical sleigh and reindeer, Santa would never need to resort to such shipping methods. Then there was the loud banging of a hammer one Christmas eve before I got my new bike. Had the elves forgotten to assemble the bike before Santa's journey? Something just didn't add up. And there is something about this "God" character that just doesn't add up either. While scientist won't be able to prove for certain evolution occured in the past without going back in time and watching it themselves, there is an overwhelming abundance of evidence saying that it did occur in the past, and we have proven that it can and does occur in the present.
But why was I different? Why did I reject not just one but both mythologies? More importantly, why do so many people hold on to one? Santa Claus is easy to let go of. You are letting go of a few presents once a year. But giving up God carries great risks. What if they are right? What if hell exists? The power of fear welded by modern organized religion encourages many to hold on to these ridiculous supernatural claims.
The parallels here are astonishing. Eventually, like all children, I lost my faith in Santa Claus. I lost faith in God at about the same age, though it seems that many faithful adults simply replaced Santa with God once they reached that critical age of "reason".
The similarities between the two do not stop there. I had no credible evidence of the existence of Santa Claus other than here-say (my parents told me he existed) and a few "miracles" (cookies magically disappearing and being replaced with gifts) but I had ample evidence pointing to other explanations of Christmas. The first clue was when fed-ex delivered a box that was almost the exact same shape and size as my new Lego set that I gleefully unwrapped a few days later on Christmas. Surely with his magical sleigh and reindeer, Santa would never need to resort to such shipping methods. Then there was the loud banging of a hammer one Christmas eve before I got my new bike. Had the elves forgotten to assemble the bike before Santa's journey? Something just didn't add up. And there is something about this "God" character that just doesn't add up either. While scientist won't be able to prove for certain evolution occured in the past without going back in time and watching it themselves, there is an overwhelming abundance of evidence saying that it did occur in the past, and we have proven that it can and does occur in the present.
But why was I different? Why did I reject not just one but both mythologies? More importantly, why do so many people hold on to one? Santa Claus is easy to let go of. You are letting go of a few presents once a year. But giving up God carries great risks. What if they are right? What if hell exists? The power of fear welded by modern organized religion encourages many to hold on to these ridiculous supernatural claims.
posted by Josh at
4:56 PM
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