What should Christians do with the Santa Claus fantasy?
Dec 14, 2016 by Dr. Wesley C. McCarter
As a pastor, I would simply want Christian parents to carefully think through this subject, biblically and christocentrically, like every other aspect of life. My wife and I did so years ago as a married couple planning to have kids, and we consulted our closest Christian friends and mentors. To my surprise, all of the Christian friends we consulted (and it must have been at least four different couples) had come to the same conclusion when raising their own children: They chose not to reinforce the Santa Claus fantasy. Now, the application of their conclusion was varied from family to family, but they all had come to the same decision. And this confirmed our own conclusion.
Two points, among several others, seem most glaring to us when it comes to the Santa Claus fantasy: (1) The American culture (and yes, influenced by Satan himself) has sought to "steal" Christmas away from Christ; so, this is our small act of rebellion against "the machine," and (2) While we obviously want our little ones to have fun, imagine, and pretend, we also want them to know the difference between fantasy and reality. While we are not constantly saying, "Don't believe in Santa," neither are we constantly reinforcing a lie for the sake of childhood creativity. Our daughters’ creativity has certainly not been stunted by our decision to not play along on this one. Our celebration of Christmas is just as lively, fun, and exciting as any other, if not more so, and all without the big man.
I am not on the offensive here, trying to "convert Santa activists." This is just for clarification on our position, if anyone is interested. By the way, I should add that I was raised to "believe" in Santa and the Easter Bunny just like millions of others. This was not some weird, religious thing passed on to us. This was a thoughtful decision we made as Christian parents. Everyone should think it through for their own families and move on with a clear conscience.
Here is another article on the subject from a well-known Christian scholar:
https://www.reasonablefaith.org/writings/question-answer/should-parents-let-their-children-believe-in-santa-claus/
—Peace in the Name of the One Born in Bethlehem, Wesley