santa is a witch!

[brekfustuvluzerz]

why is it "satanic" when harry potter uses magic to save his classmates, but its part of a christian holiday for a fat guy to know how youve behaved all year, then fly with his magic reindeer all over the world stretching time (using the principles of general relativity, perhaps) to visit every child before sunrise, fitting his fat ass down chimneys? thoughts?

[dodgecity]

Actually, the Christians that I've encountered have a negative attitude toward St. Nick, because they feel he takes away attention from Jesus and his magic birth.

But your rationale still functions (and maybe at a more fundamental level) when we consider the magic of Harry Potter compared to the miracle of Jesus Christ's birth.

This is a prime example of special pleading that has shaped the societal connotation of our language. Miracles are acts of magic, but they are not thought of that way.

It makes me sick. The most efficacious action is to attempt to raise consciousness by refusing to use a special word for "real magic" because there is no real magic. So hats off to Sarah Silverman.

[brekfustuvluzerz]

agreed

[rlrose328]

The Christians I know around here (most are parents of the children my son attends school with) are anti-Santa because they are afraid that when their kids find out that Santa isn't real, they might think Jesus and God aren't real, so they just tell their kids that the non-believers use Santa as a substitute for god (true story...  ).

[brekfustuvluzerz]

i dont have a problem with someone saying we use santa in place of god or jesus. in fact santa seems much more worthy of worship than the god of the bible! i personally have asked myself the question a few times whether or not i should tell my kid(s) (if and when) about santa. i dont like the idea of lying to them, there is enough of that in store for them as they grow up. it would be nice to be able to say to them "i will never lie to you, not even for my own trivial amusement. while other parents were filling their children's heads with little white lies, i always stressed truth and honesty between us." but my wife will probably throw a fit and get her way.    . . . such is life.

[Wechtlein Uns]

Where I live, santa is a pretty mainstream character, at least with the protestants. As for catholic families, they hold candlelight rosarios and midnight mass. However, I don't think it's right to compare Harry Potter and Santa Clause, at least in the minds eye of a christian. To a christian harry potter is a wizard, and performs magic on his own. While Miracles seem to be solely predicated on god's will. That might be why magic was condemned in the early church, because christians thought that only god should perform miracles.

Santa was a way for me to be sure that I would get presents on christmas day. Whenever my parents said that they didn't have money to get me anything, I would portray a sad lonely face and long morose sigh, and say that it was ok, and that, "maybe santa will think of something." I don't know if that guilted them into buying me stuff or if they had money all along, but at least I got a Nintendo Sixty-Phoar.

Oh, yeah, kind of funny how fundamentalists are scared of fictional works, huh? I think it has to do with group think. If you can think about majic and sorcery, they reason you might actually become a wiccan, even if real wiccans to utter spells like, "ridiculous!".

[brekfustuvluzerz]

i guess the question lies in where does one get magic. wiccans channel it from pagan gods, harry potter seems to be suggested to have been born with it (even though the fact that he must utter a phrase correctly means he must be channeling it from somewhere or someone as well, but not from someone intelligent enough to understand the command made with an improper voice inflection, pronunciation, or wand flick. sounds like a computer!), but where does santa get it? from baby jesus? must be.

[Sophus]

That's interesting. In my experience it has been most Christians who play the Santa Claus game, while I prefer to be honest with my kid about everything. Which is odd that they will teach their children Santa is a real man with magical powers, but Harry Potter is a fictional satanic wizard. And why isn't Mickey Mouse evil? What about Shrek and the Easter bunny? Or the preachers who claim to have the gift of tongues or even divine healing powers?