My Anti-Santaism: Santa's Teachings

Image by Oren neu dag [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], from Wikimedia Commons.

My Anti-Santaism is also growing because of what Santa teaches. I have a BIG problem with the message he sends to kids. Most people would say that Santa stands for joy; that his main goal is to bring happiness to children. To me that teaches children that joy and happiness comes from material items. I would guess that 99% of children ask Santa for tangible things, objects that will be used, discarded, and forgotten. The other 1% ask Santa for things that he cannot possibly provide. He can’t bring peace on earth, save a dying loved one, or bring a child the love that they long for.

Acts 20:35b says ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ Santa teaches the opposite of that. Every year children (accompanied by their parents) line up and wait for their turn to tell Santa what they want to receive that year. They write him letters asking for the gifts they are hoping to be given. In return they might leave him cookies, and they of course watch their parents give a few gifts to others.

Matthew 7:7-8 says “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. We are suppose to ask God for things, not Santa. The Bible also says in John 14 that we are suppose to ask for things in the name of Jesus (vs 13). Jesus said that if we ask for things in His name, they will be given to us to glorify the Father through Him. However, the Bible doesn't stop there. It tells us in James 4:3 that When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. Isn't that what we do with Santa? We ask for things for our own pleasure?

Not only is Santa teaching us that joy and happiness is something that can be bought, he is also teaching us to ask with the wrong motives. Santa teaches selfishness. He teaches us to make lists of the things we desire. Doesn't the Bible tells us to be content with what we have, and not to covet. We shouldn't be teaching others to covet the things in the store by making lists and telling everyone what they "want".

The other day someone told me that her mom taught her that God was Santa. That God provides for the money to buy presents, therefore He is Santa. I have a huge issue with that. If God is something is should be reversible (please let me know if you disagree).

God is God the Father/God the Father is God
God is Jesus/Jesus is God
God is the Holy Spirit/the Holy Spirit is God
God is Santa/Santa is God?! NOOOO!!!! That's blasphemy! God is triune, not quadruple.

God isn't Santa. God teaches the opposite of Santa. God teaches us to put others before ourselves, not to want/covet, but to be thankful for what we have. God teaches us that it is better to give than to receive. Is Santa God? Absolutely not.

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