Is Santa silly?

I think this is an "Arran and Paull" thread only, and nothing anyone else says is going to sway them in any way.

It was Thatcher's government who was responsible for making RE an official part of the school curriculum. Back in the days when my mother was at primary school she never studied any religions apart from Christianity and most of that took place in the assembly hall rather than in the classroom.

What causes the most frictions are the practical aspects of religion that aren't part of the National Curriculum such as Nativity plays or writing letters to Santa that are done out of tradition or because they are perceived to be enjoyable, rather than learning about religions during RE lessons.

yep...in fact maybe RE should be taken off the curriculum completely, afterall ,all religions are just lies, so teaching any children that anything in any religion is true is wrong.

If a teacher started telling white British notionally Christian children that certain aspects of other religions are true then made the children participate in activities related to them, it would result in plenty of furious parents. There are even parents nowadays who request that their children do not visit mosques and temples and synagogues as part of RE.

I just had a yummy Lindt santa with my tea, and was slightly saddened about unwrapping the red foil - so pretty. But the chocolate was a yummy sweet treat.

I wrote a letter to father Christmas, on the request of my mum. We don't believe any more, but it is tradition and part of the fun of the season.

Lighten up people!

longman said:

Are you looking forward to King Charles?

I would rather look forward to Charles becoming king than Santa delivering me presents.

At this point I must protest. The Queen's silence on anything political, while something decided for her, is something she has adhered to. Even when her family were causing her acute embarrassment, she maintained that reserve.

I'm not sure whether it is necessarily a good thing, but for historical reasons that's the way it is currently done here. And her ability to carry it off, despite considerable pressure to waver, has been one of the most distinctive and creditable features of her reign.

I'm not sure King Charles (or King George as is more likely the name) will be disposed to be as restrained. But if he continues to meddle after he becomes King you really will see very quickly why it has been deemed inappropriate for our monarchs to intervene.

I wouldn't say I was a Royalist (there are plenty of things I don't like), and I certainly don't approve of this country's adoration of overly wealthy Dukes and Earls, whose favours to local city fathers don't in my perception lead to virtue, but I do admire the Queen for her steadfast composure.

So I shall be greatly saddened when her days end.

But then, I'd also miss Santa.

A country is only as strong as it's leader, this ignorant selfish woman has not spoken out about anything political in 60 years, a sign of weakness. She is not powerless like people are led to believe, she has world status and a platform to speak but choses to keep it zipped in order to protect her luxurious lifestyle.

A weak leader makes weak people makes a weak country.

Are you looking forward to King Charles?

I think you will find plenty of people who hope it's the "doddery old woman's" last Christmas!

What got me was "doddery old woman who reigned over the complete demise of my country"

"my country"

(delusions of grandeur Arran........)

longman said:

Why do people put those red "santa stop here" signs in their windows or at their front doors, Arran?

Or those Santa legs sticking out of their chimneys!

Two pieces of tat to spend money on. The real purpose of Christmas nowadays is to make and spend money and it has spawned a Christmas industrial complex making things that there would otherwise be very little demand for. Compare this with the military industrial complex.

There seems to be a trend that the more religious people are the less they spend on Christmas. A local religious family is happy with a get together over a few mince pies whereas a local atheist family must still be paying off their Christmas debts the following November. 

@Paull, I am under no illusions as to what goes on in this country, or the world.  I also practice decent values and have never believed that Jesus was born on 25th December etc., I also have a healthy skepticism for the materialism of it all.  Yet I choose to participate in the occasion, because it's fun and magical for my children and my husband gets a rare day or two off work to spend with the family and we get to eat chocolates together, raise a glass and watch lots of films.  You are over-serious and imbuing people with negative qualities they don't possess.  There is no harm in Christmas or in allowing your children to celebrate and believe - as many posters on this thread have testified to.

(were you chased by a rabid Santa as a child?!)

Bah humbug......the whole of christmas is a lie, Jesus wasn't born on December the 25th, there is no religious reason to give each other presents, the tree, the decorations, father christmas, the turkey, sprouts, christmas pudding, hanging up your stocking, cranberry sauce, christmas cards, etc,etc... all are just products of commercialism that is drummed into everyone in order to get them to comply with the whole 'go on it's christmas' mindset.

When someone says 'merry christmas' they may as well say (in a robotic voice) 'I have been programmed to comply with the christmas lie' and answering back 'merry christmas', is like saying 'yes, so have I'.

Christmas has nothing to do with Jesus and his teachings, in fact it's just one big excuse to indulge in avarice, gluttony, greed and lies the very things Jesus taught to watch out for therefore to comply with the christmas lie is sheer hypocracy because it is doing the opposite of what Jesus taught.

Then you get a message from some doddery old woman who has reigned over the complete demise of my country and it's once great empire, who has done nothing whatsoever but sit back and watch the british empire crumble and Britain become taken over by non British people, she has sat by and has watched the entire country become riddled with corruption from the police force, to the press, to politics and business, yet every year she makes a speech about how great our country is while not mentioning the most important things about how year after year Britain has less and less influence, power and status and is becoming poorer and poorer and weaker and weaker, yet she has never once spoken out about any real issues because she is just a powerless puppet being fed lines and not wanting to say anything controversial for fear of jeopardising her life of luxury all the while our country has been plundered from within and is barely a shell of it's former once great self.

Yes, this is all 'bah humbug', obviously 99% of the people disagree with this because they are programmed to do so and view anyone else who does not comply as some kind of scrooge rather than a bearer of true good tidings.

The greatest blessing in the world is to tell people the truth, to wake them from a world of lies and to get them to think for themselves and make their own judgement based on facts. However, just like Socrates himself, when one tells the truth one is made to feel like the enemy rather than the true friend, one is despised instead of loved and one is outcast instead of welcomed. If christmas were indeed a celebration of the life of Jesus then one should take notice of the most important teaching taught by Jesus when he said "watch yourself", by this he meant watch your actions and your words, are they right or wrong ? what are the results are they good or bad ? But nowhere can you find anything about the teaching of Jesus at christmas or indeed anyone who cares about the true teaching because they are all far too busy indulging in their own illusion of christmas, the one they have been fed.

Santa Claus is a lie, one lie is a drop of poison, the more the mind is poisoned the more gullible people become until finally they believe things that are scientifically impossible such as virgin births, walking on water, turning water into wine and feeding 5000 people with 3 loaves and 5 fish, all lies created by the church to gather followers by making Jesus seem extraordinary ...because telling the truth (Jesus was a great man who could see and wanted to expose the lies around him and wanted to wake up people to the truth and get them to live righteously) meant less popularity.

Or those Santa legs sticking out of their chimneys!

Why do people put those red "santa stop here" signs in their windows or at their front doors, Arran?

Well my children were happy with what Santa brought them.  So I don't have any explaining to do.  Have you not heard about letters to Santa, or Christmas lists?

Life is all a big con, but we all have to live with it.

Now, did Santa really deliver presents to your kids? If they found no trace of a present they wanted under the tree this morning, or ended up with the wrong item then how do you seriously explain this to them?

It's all a big con if you ask me...

i guess it is time for me to end my association with this thread. i have enjoyed my involvement and would like to thank arron for providing such a stimulating and thought provoking topic.

i am sure to take something with me, i am also sure to understand a little more of the views of others and that communicating our differences can be healthy.

good luck to all, hope to find you on another thread soon.

rob

i have to ask paull, who do you mean by 'you'.

or did you mean 'some people' get drunk, over eat and get into debt?

i do agree a lie is a lie, i also believe firmly that some little white lies are harmless.

i also respect and try to understand the opinions of others and like you i can disagree with the differing views of some.

santa isn't real, but my 5 grown up kids bare no scars from my little white lies when they were young. the experience hasn't harmed them in any way not even when they discovered i hadn't been completely honest. they understood it was all part of the festive game. 

i am a person of unreproachable integerity, priding myself on my honesty and being trusted by just about everyone i come into contact with. talking to my brood about santa doesn't make me bad.

respect

rob