If Santa is Real, He's a Republican

If Santa is Real, He’s a Republican

Over time, the Buddha has remained a symbol of peace, compassion, tranquility and love. The four noble truths and the eightfold path has never changed and Buddha has never wavered in his pursuit of nirvana through the eightfold path. The same has been relatively true for the Dalai Lama. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for our view of who Jesus is, or for who Santa is.  On the eve of Christmas, when Santa is supposedly flying all over the world in a sleigh pulled by reindeer, I wish to opine why the myth of Santa Claus should have been left on the folklore shelf a long time ago.

When my children were babies, I wish that my husband at the time would have shared my view that the myth of Santa should be shared as merely a work of fiction. In time, children grow up and realize that Santa, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy are all fictional and they begin to wonder how much of what we tell them is actually true. If you have a father like mine, who has spent so much of his adult life telling lies that in his old age he can no longer remember what is even true anymore, you are even more so skeptical of what is true. In the event that you attempted to raise your children as Christians, your perpetuation of the myth of these fictional characters potentially places your children’s faith in God in danger.

Most parents wish for their children to be honest. Why then, do we lie to our children? Sure, there will be times when telling a little white lie might be necessary for their own benefit, but I fail to see how telling them that Santa is real is going to be at all beneficial unless you are wealthy and your children are incurious and dull.

The astute child, in time, will realize the improbability of flying reindeer that are able to navigate a large enough sleigh to carry a portly old man and millions of presents all over the world in a single night. Furthermore, this rotund old man has to be able to shimmy down multiple chimneys quietly in order to leave presents. I wish to be a fly on the wall of the Christian home that tries to explain that this is all possible through magic while at the same time explaining why magic is supposedly bad.

Beyond the impossibilities and contradictions of trying to pass this myth off as true is the harsh reality of inequality. If Santa is real, then he is a Republican. He does not favor the unemployed, the unfortunate, or the poor. He delivers more presents to the wealthy families than he does to the less affluent ones, and still others receive no presents at all. Wealthy children are not necessarily better behaved than poor children, and yet they receive more presents. How do you explain to poor children that behaved all year that Santa favors the wealthy kids more than he does them?

Yes, my opinion is based in leftist ideology, but it does not originate in someone who has always been poor. Quite the opposite is actually true. I have been on both sides of the economic fence over the course of my lifetime, but I have always been acutely aware of inequality. I knew there were children who received fewer presents than me when I was a child, and now that I am an adult with children of my own, I, as well as my children, know children personally who would not receive anything at all if not for the kindness of others. Children should be aware of this reality. Their parents should get the credit for anything they receive, not a mythical being. The parents are the ones who worked hard, went shopping, wrapped presents, etc., not Santa. They should know that individual circumstances control how packed the Christmas tree is, not favoritism. They should be aware that other children are not as lucky as they are. What better way to teach gratitude?