Is Santa silly?

Arran said:

Nobody has mentioned children who follow other religions and do not celebrate Christmas. Many of them will accept and respect the religious aspects of Christmas to Christians but find the Santa lie to be an absolutely ridiculous innovation and a completely bizarre aspect of British popular culture. What if they start going round saying in the school playground that it's all a load of nonsense and that parents are lying through their teeth? How do handle this one?

There has been criticism levelled at the NAS that it is dominated by white middle class British people from the suburbs and shires, many of which claim to be defenders of multiculturalism but in reality have a weak knowledge of religions other than Christianity and neither do they associate with many people who follow these religions.

Arran, that's a reasonable question to bring up about the matter, but I honestly don't think it's an issue. I have no idea how the NAS functions as an organisation, but I certainly am not "middle class"; I went to a High School in the suburbs of Manchester with about 30 - 35% of pupils being from other religious backgrounds, mainly Muslim. The suburbs I grew up in were definitely not a paradise, I can guarantee you that!!

As I grew up with many Muslim peers, I had to tolerate and respect many Islamic beliefs about "Halal" and "Haram", which of course, goes way beyond dietary requirements and into wider cultural pursuits. If you were to ask me honestly and what my deep down beliefs were, I found those customs to be bizarre and an absolutely ridiculous innovation, but I never stated my opinion during my attendance at High School for obvious reasons and had no problem with those who followed their cultural customs. Tolerance has to cut both ways, and if I have to reserve my judgement and accept other people's observation of certain cultural quirks and customs, then it's only fair and respectful that the same level of tolerance and should apply for our customs, such as Santa.

I'm not making a personal slight against you or anyone else on this forum, so please don't interpret my following remarks as an insult, but I've noticed that some people with AS or autism seem to be hell bent on the "truth", but only when they themselves are the purveyors of such "truths" and when it's in their favour. Whenever anyone else tells them the "truth" to which it doesn't suit them in some way, or when it isn't particularly flattering in nature, they can't handle it at all. I think this is a problem for some people, and I think the simple solution is the following phrase, "if you can't take it, don't dish it out".

Arran said:

Nobody has mentioned children who follow other religions and do not celebrate Christmas. Many of them will accept and respect the religious aspects of Christmas to Christians but find the Santa lie to be an absolutely ridiculous innovation and a completely bizarre aspect of British popular culture. What if they start going round saying in the school playground that it's all a load of nonsense and that parents are lying through their teeth? How do handle this one?

There has been criticism levelled at the NAS that it is dominated by white middle class British people from the suburbs and shires, many of which claim to be defenders of multiculturalism but in reality have a weak knowledge of religions other than Christianity and neither do they associate with many people who follow these religions.

Arran, that's a reasonable question to bring up about the matter, but I honestly don't think it's an issue. I have no idea how the NAS functions as an organisation, but I certainly am not "middle class"; I went to a High School in the suburbs of Manchester with about 30 - 35% of pupils being from other religious backgrounds, mainly Muslim. The suburbs I grew up in were definitely not a paradise, I can guarantee you that!!

As I grew up with many Muslim peers, I had to tolerate and respect many Islamic beliefs about "Halal" and "Haram", which of course, goes way beyond dietary requirements and into wider cultural pursuits. If you were to ask me honestly and what my deep down beliefs were, I found those customs to be bizarre and an absolutely ridiculous innovation, but I never stated my opinion during my attendance at High School for obvious reasons and had no problem with those who followed their cultural customs. Tolerance has to cut both ways, and if I have to reserve my judgement and accept other people's observation of certain cultural quirks and customs, then it's only fair and respectful that the same level of tolerance and should apply for our customs, such as Santa.

I'm not making a personal slight against you or anyone else on this forum, so please don't interpret my following remarks as an insult, but I've noticed that some people with AS or autism seem to be hell bent on the "truth", but only when they themselves are the purveyors of such "truths" and when it's in their favour. Whenever anyone else tells them the "truth" to which it doesn't suit them in some way, or when it isn't particularly flattering in nature, they can't handle it at all. I think this is a problem for some people, and I think the simple solution is the following phrase, "if you can't take it, don't dish it out".