Is Santa Claus a fraud?

[Ferris Bueller]

I was an atheist on this forum... I know these guys... They always compare God to things like Santa, easter bunny, unicorns, tooth fairies, Pegasus, ghosts, big foot and other such mythical concepts

All convenient excuses to reject the sure and indisputable voice of the Holy Spirit testifying to them and showing them that the gospel is in fact true.

Apart from common sense there is no way to know if Santa and the Easter Bunny are real or not. But the gospel isn't like that. God convinces everybody that the gospel is for real. So if you're rejecting the convincing/convicting testimony of the Holy Spirit because Santa turned out to be a lie then you're using that to rationalize your rejection of the gospel that you know to be true.

 

[Ezra]

everything about him is imaginary.

so is cartoons but as kids we still watched them . the imagery of Santa never harmed anyone. unless he is worshiped over Christ..
bet you have no problem buying specials in a store for Christmas sale
. the world commercializes Christmas and yet Christians shop and no they dont believe in Santa like children do . they just like to shop all i am trying say is Santa the character /figure is of no harm did you ever have a child blow out birthday candles .but they had to make a wish before blowing the candles out

 

[Naomanos]

The fact is that Santa does turn some kids away from God.
Im not saying all kids and i don't know how many. I just know that some do

I can agree with that, but there might have also been other factors involved and it wasn't just Santa that was the issue.

I have seven kids, five with an ex-girlfriend we were together for ten years and she never wanted to be married and I had walked away from God before then. They never knew God really, so I cannot use them as an example. However, every Christmas Eve they anxiously awaited for me to call and read The Night Before Christmas since I was 1200 miles away from them. My two little ones with my ex-wife, still believe in Santa and they are brought up in a Christian household from the time that they were both born. So I cannot use them either, but they understand who Jesus is. They still hear The Night Before Christmas.

As someone else mentioned, when the time comes, you explain it to them. Most kids, like me, understand and we do know the difference after it is explained. We don't give kids enough credit, we really don't and I am just as guilty of that.

 

[Cristo Rei]

I believe that people use Santa as an excuse to not believe in God.
But I do not believe that finding out that Santa is not a real person causes a person to then conclude that God is not a real God. For God himself sends his testimony out to the whole world, convicting and convincing all that the gospel is real.

You obviously didn't even look at that link so whatever

 

[Cristo Rei]

I can agree with that, but there might have also been other factors involved and it wasn't just Santa that was the issue

Oh ye for sure... There would be a multitude of possible factors.
I turned in my teens but i honestly can't remember if Santa had to anything to do with it.
I just remember thinking God wasn't real and that it was just a wives tale

But as i said... It does effect the choice of some people and i supplied proof that some other people refuse to accept...
A current thread in an atheist forum reveals all...

God, Santa, and The Tooth Fairy

 

[Ferris Bueller]

You obviously didn't even look at that link so whatever

Is there even one atheist testimony that they knew the gospel was real but chose to not accept it? Because, ultimately, that is exactly what every unbeliever does. They are without excuse. God shows everybody, eventually, that the gospel is in fact true. Most choose to not receive that testimony and instead say they don't believe it.

 

[Cristo Rei]

Is there even one atheist testimony that they knew the gospel was real but chose to not accept it? Because, ultimately, that is exactly what every unbeliever does. They are without excuse. God shows everybody, eventually, that the gospel is in fact true. Most choose to not receive that testimony and instead say they don't believe it.

Your delusional if you think Santa didn't drive away some kids... I even provided proof which you refuse to look at...
So like i said... Whateva

 

[Ezra]

The fact is that Santa does turn some kids away from God.
Im not saying all kids and i don't know how many. I just know that some do

you just admitted you dont know

 

[Ferris Bueller]

Your delusional if you think Santa didn't drive away some kids... I even provided proof which you refuse to look at...
So like i said... Whateva

I looked at it.
It's the same old atheist junk.
They never admit that they just don't want to believe what the Spirit has convincingly testified to them in their heart. Instead they grasp for excuses - Santa Clause, Easter Bunny, can't see him, no proof, etc. - to rationalize their choice to not want to believe what God has convinced and convicted them is true.

 

[Cristo Rei]

you just admitted you dont know

Your intentionally taking that out of context and building a weak strawman...
You not worth the response after that

 

[Lambano]

Not to bear you with this of course. I just wanted to point out where Santa is going this Christmas in the Cold country of Norway...Gay

Daddy’ caught kissing Santa Claus in new postal service commercial
By
Ben Cost
November 24, 2021 12:41pm

He’s come down the chimney — and out of the closet.

Postal service ad depicts Santa as gay on Christmas

The Norwegian Postal Service (Posten Norge) puts a ho-ho-homo twist on the classic carol “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” — with a new commercial depicting Kris Kringle as a gay man. The ad, which features English subtitles, has amassed around 150,000 views — and hundreds of divided comments — since it was uploaded Monday to YouTube.

“Posten is an inclusive workplace with great diversity,” the company’s marketing director Monica Solberg told LGBTQ Nation of the commercial, which commemorates 50 years since Norway decriminalized homosexuality. The clip is captioned, “In 2022, Norway marks 50 years of being able to love whoever we want.”

The four-minute video, titled “When Harry Met Santa,” shows the shirtless titular character gazing lovingly as Saint Nick disappears up the chimney — an apparent twist on the Yuletide trope of a kid catching Kris Kringle on Christmas Eve.


A new holiday ad features a gay Santa Claus engaged in a kiss. The Norwegian Postal Service’s inclusivity-promoting commercial is spreading holiday cheer — and jeers — among the YouTube peanut gallery.
Youtube/ Posten Norge
‘Little kid: Hey Santa, what did you bring me? Santa: Nothing, but I’m taking your dad away.’

One of the snarky remarks made in the YouTube comments section
The short film then cuts to the days after Christmas Eve, when Harry is mired in melancholy, knowing he has to wait 364 days before Santa comes down his chimney again.

Finally, unable to contain his love, Harry pens Santa a letter that reads, “All I want for Christmas is you.” He gets his wish and spends this Christmas making out with his sleigh-riding soulmate.

“When Harry Met Santa” concludes with Father Christmas farming out some of his gift-delivery duties to the postal service — freeing him up to hang with Harry during the holidays. “This year, Santa is happy that Norway Post can relieve him a little, so that he can be with the one he loves,” gushed Solberg.

The postal service’s inclusivity-promoting advert spread holiday cheer — and jeers — among the online peanut gallery, with some dubbing it the best Christmas campaign of the year.


Harry hopes that Santa will be home for the holidays. “Really, Santa is gay now? I must have missed the memo,” one Scrooge griped in the YouTube comments section.
Youtube/ Posten Norge
“That was quite sweet and wonderful,” fawned one fan on YouTube, while another wrote, “Jesus Christ, why am I crying?! The feels.”

However, as viral sensations typically go, not everyone was impressed.

“Really, Santa is gay now? I must have missed the memo,” one Scrooge griped in the comments section, while another snarkily chimed in: “Little kid: Hey Santa, what did you bring me? Santa: Nothing, but I’m taking your dad away.”

This isn’t the first time Santa has been depicted as someone other than a straight, white male. During this year’s Christmas festivities, Disney’s US theme parks featured a black Kris Kringle, marking the first time they’d done so in their 66-year existence.

And to think I might’ve gone all week without seeing that.

 

[Cristo Rei]

I looked at it.
It's the same old atheist junk.
They never admit that they just don't want to believe what the Spirit has convincingly testified to them in their heart. Instead they grasp for excuses - Santa Clause, Easter Bunny, can't see him, no proof, etc. - to rationalize their choice to not want to believe what God has convinced and convicted them is true.

What you call an excuse is actually their valid explanations and testimonies.

Excuses is what your trying to present. To think that Santa helped no kids leave God is delusional to say the least.

 

[Enoch111]

But I do not believe that finding out that Santa is not a real person causes a person to then conclude that God is not a real God.

Here's the thing. Once little children grow up and discover that Santa is pure fantasy, will they not say to themselves "Our parents lied to us"? Which means that it would then be difficult for Christian parents (at least) to talk about the truth of the birth of Christ and what it really means. We never gave our children any notion that Santa was real or that he would bring them presents.

 

[Cristo Rei]

Here's the thing. Once little children grow up and discover that Santa is pure fantasy, will they not say to themselves "Our parents lied to us"? Which means that it would then be difficult for Christian parents (at least) to talk about the truth of the birth of Christ and what it really means. We never gave our children any notion that Santa was real or that he would bring them presents.

Some people think that because they and their kids were ok that everyone else will be the same.
They don't understand that people have different experiences and won't dare consider the fact that Santa helped in turning some kids away from God and will do so even more in the future

 

[Lambano]

Here's the thing. Once little children grow up and discover that Santa is pure fantasy, will they not say to themselves "Our parents lied to us"?

Then the next question is, “What else did they lie to us about?”

 

[farouk]

Here's the thing. Once little children grow up and discover that Santa is pure fantasy, will they not say to themselves "Our parents lied to us"? Which means that it would then be difficult for Christian parents (at least) to talk about the truth of the birth of Christ and what it really means. We never gave our children any notion that Santa was real or that he would bring them presents.

@Enoch111 Do any of your children now have children of their own?

 

[Enoch111]

@Enoch111 Do any of your children now have children of their own?

Sure. And they have also been given the truth about Santa.

 

[Rita]

@Cristo Rei I relooked your OP again and compared it with most of the responses thus far. I noticed very few actually took it seriously and answered it.

Most actually avoided choosing between the world's version of giving 'life' to the party with Santa of the early 20th century versus the Father's party in bringing Christ to us as the real life and truth.

In the Summer of 1971 there was a new Coke jingle: 'it's the real thing (life).' And later it was plastered to the hip with Santa commercials. This was deliberately made to mock and replace the works of Christ and his Father. It was obvious to me the first time I saw it on TV in 1972-73?.

Some here are actually acting as agents of the worldview by showing Santa in only a positive light that he is not hurting anyone, just bringing a happy and joyful spirit to things. Yes, another spirit of this world.

I say, beware that one does not become lukewarm, in compromising with the spirits of this world.

I just voted, even though I answered with a comparison in my earlier post. I think , for me ,it was more about what it real and what is not real. There was a real St Nicholas, but Santa and all that is conveyed is not real.
I have never really gelled with Santa, but my wonderful memories of Christmas are of family, warmth, provision of wonderful treats that we didn’t get the rest of the year ( so we appreciated it all so much more )
Snow ( well we often had a white Christmas , the weather has changed somewhat since ) we were warm with people we loved )
However Santa is a made up person, but then the world is made up of so many fantasy things these days.
I did think your list of comparisons earlier was really interesting and thought provoking.
When the thread was started I did think to myself ‘ are we really debating if Santa is a fraud, he is not real, so of course he is ……..

 

[Cristo Rei]

 

[Cristo Rei]