Mommy, Do We Believe in Jesus?

But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.

Matthew 18:6


Did you read the quote above? Did you read the one up there?
Huh? Did you? Take a glance at it before you continue.

You read it? OK. Here it goes:

My darling little daughter asked the other day:

Mommy, is Jesus real?
(Ha! It's Mommy's turn to get some tough questions from the kids!)

Mommy replies: Well, for some people Jesus is real-- and for some, Jesus is like Santa Clause.

(Mommy phrased her answer this way because recently she told our daughter that Santa Clause is not real.)

Then our precious little four-year-old cutie digs even deeper:

Mommy . . . do we believe in Jesus? I don't think we do . . . do we?

Mommy's response?

Uh -- we'll have to talk about that another time, sweetie.

I find the fact interesting that my daughter asked if we believed in Jesus-- as if she is trying to fit in socially. Sort of like sitting at a dinner table watching everyone else while you try to figure out which fork to use for the salad.

She wouldn't know or think to believe in Jesus except that someone introduce her to the whole idea (read: daycare staff & grandparents). Just as you don't really think about a salad fork-- until you notice that you have two slightly different forks at the table. Which fork should you use?

Our daughter knows that we don't attend church regularly and that we do not insert ideas about God and Jesus into our nurturing-- unlike the daycare staff and grandparents. She notices this and she wants to fit in with us at home, too, apart from the religious indoctrination she faces.

People who believe their faith should spread tend to reach out to children. And parents who don't participate in the indoctrination process often receive a stern warning from believers in the form of the above quote.

The indoctrination process seems mindless and automatic to me. And the stern warnings sometimes come across as a cruel scare tactic.

My wife and I don't want our daughter to be helplessly enveloped by this process of indoctrination. We want her to be able to choose for herself with wide open eyes.

And honestly, I don't think my wife and I are the kind of parents that deserve to be drowned with millstones around our necks.

Saint Nick versus Noah's Ark

I know Christmas is over now, but I can't resist making this point:

NORAD has a tradition where they "track" Santa Clause as he journeys across North America to deliver toys.

We know that this is only a tradition. Of Course Santa Clause cannot traverse all of North America -- let alone the whole world -- climb down someone's chimney, deliver toys, climb back up the chimney, get back on his sleigh, then stop again next door.

He can't do this for any home, let alone each home in North America before morning!

Don't get me wrong, we like to imagine Santa making his delivery; many of us still like to pretend. Fiction and fantasy are wonderful as long as we keep these elements in their place.

But, keep in mind, the same kind of physical impossibilities that prevent Santa Clause from going to each home across North America -- and the whole world -- are the same type of physical impossibilities that Noah faced when trying to get a pair of every species of every animal (and in some cases seven of each clean animal) onto his ark. Animals that don't even live in his climate had to somehow find their way to Noah and board his boat.

Lets not even go into the sanitation problems he'd have on the ark. A pair of each animal from all the animals of earth trapped on a boat with only eight or so people?!

The animals outside of their climate would die. And what would the carnivores eat? They'd starve to death after breaking loose and eating Noah and his family.

And the other animals on board, too.

Whoops, their goes humanity!

And I'm not sure, but I don't think there is even enough water to cover the surface of the whole earth anyway? At least, not from rain. Not even from busting out from under the ground, either.

Santa Clause has a better chance of being real that Noah's attempt to save the world -- and what we pretend about Santa is certainly impossible!

Oh well . . .

Santa-God

I read an article that gave suggestions on how parents might deal with their child's belief (or non-belief) about Santa Clause; this following paragraph really stood out:

One example of how to deal with a child questioning Santa might go something like this: "Yes, Tommy, Santa Claus is very real, and if you listen to the laughter and excitement of children at Christmas you are hearing him. It is true that many of the stories you have heard about Santa are fantasies to help you have fun. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Santa's workshop at the North Pole and Santa squeezing down your chimney are all fun things to imagine, but they are not real. But the love and joy that Santa represents to us, the kindness and the generosity that we show each other in his name are all very real and very special. You see, Santa is really a feeling - a part of the spirit of Christmas - and when we are filled with that spirit we become like Santa ourselves. So, yes, Santa, like love, kindness and generosity, is real and lives in the heart of every one of us."*

My thoughts: touching, but no thanks. Being an atheist now, that just sounds so very strange to my ears. Cult-like, even.

I'm surprised that at the end of this paragraph the author didn't add:

In the name of the Santa-father, and of the Santa-son, and of the Christmas Spirit. Amen.

Or maybe the author should have made a parody of Colossians 2:9 & 10 and said: In St. Nick dwells the fullness of the Santa-God bodily, and Christmas is complete in him.

*Unfortunately, the link to the full story: Psychology: When it comes to Santa Claus, you've gotta believe is dead now. Maybe you can use your Google-Fu to dig up the original article somewhere.

Santa Clause versus the baby Jesus

I saw a nativity scene where Santa Clause was kneeling down and praying to the baby Jesus.

But honestly, I think the scene should have gone the other way around.

Santa Clause owns Christmas.

I know, I know, Jesus is the reason for the season.

Well, actually, as I've read in other places, the tilt of the earth's axis is the reason for the season.

Anyhow, Ole Saint Nick seems to have true supremacy over the Christmas holidays.

I think Santa Clause has an advantage. You can't listen to Christmas songs for too long without hearing something about Ole Saint Nick. I don't think too many popular movies hit the box office about the baby Jesus either -- not like you see movies about Santa Clause. Besides, you can find Santa Clause in any color! Caucasian-American, African-American, or Asian-American.

Besides, who can resist that magical sleigh with reindeer, that jolly laugh, and all those free gifts?!

I bet in a few years, you'll even find Hispanic-American Santa Clauses running about.

But, I've never seen anything other than a blond haired, blue eyed baby Jesus.

Now, with grown up Jesuses, I've seen all kinds. I've even seen an African-American Jesus with a perm.

Or, maybe he just had good hair. Naturally, Jesus would have good hair; he's the Christ, for Christ's sake!

Maybe if baby Jesus would let people depict him as other races, he could finally get one up on Ole Saint Nick and take Christmas back.

At the very least, baby Jesus should let people depict him as Jewish -- don't you think?

And he should bring all the kiddies lots of new toys. That always helps.

The Santa-skeptic

My seven year old son doesn't believe in Santa Clause. He displayed a very bad attitude a few Christmas seasons ago. At that point, I proceeded to inform him that I was his Santa Clause. If he didn't like it, then Santa just won't visit him in the future on Christmas day.

He was quite grateful for his gifts, after that.

Nowadays, when I pick him up from the bus stop after school, he complains about how all of his friends still believe in Santa Clause.

"They just keep thinking he's real. They won't listen to me. I try to tell them. Geesh! They won't even listen".

I try to help him understand that everyone isn't ready to face the reality of Santa Clause not being real. Their parents keep telling them that Santa is coming. I think many parents use Santa Clause as leverage for good behavior. Also, my son's friends probably want Santa to be real. After all, Santa will deliver exactly what they want for Christmas.

My son is still happy and enjoys Christmas even though he doesn't believe in Santa Clause.

He even enjoys watching movies about Santa such as the Polar Express or The Santa Clause.

But, dismissing Santa Clause is easy. People claim that Santa Clause lands on your roof top and comes down your chimney.

People say that he brings toys and lives at the North Pole.

I know that if I don't place gifts under the tree for my kids, nobody else will.

My son believes in god. He does because both his grandmothers spend a lot of alone time with him. They both lay it on thick.

But, I teach him a lot about the nature of the world we live in -- the solar system, the weather system, history. Little tidbits of the basic things.

He notices contradictions in what he hears from his grandmothers and what I tell him from time to time. How can god control the weather if rain comes from clouds? If god does control the weather, then why does he let hurricanes hurt people?

My son noticed problems with Santa Clause before I ever admitted that Saint Nick didn't exist. He asked how Santa Clause could visit our home since we didn't have a chimney (at the time, our home did not have a fireplace).

Maybe he was already turning into a Santa-skeptic before I even told him the truth.

Maybe deep inside, he's becoming a god-skeptic, too.

Time will tell.