Do you believe in Santa?

Do you believe in Santa? A tough question when it comes from a child.  Thinking about it I came to realise that although Santa may not fly through the sky and mysteriously drop presents under every tree Santa is bigger than that.  Santa brings us all together for one night to give thanks for what we have.  Santa helps us forgive those that have done us wrong.  Santa brings good cheer.  Santa helps us remember those that are not with us any more.  Santa also lets us adults remember what it is like to be a child again.  We get to see the wonder and amazement as they stair in to the sparkling Christmas tree.  The excitement of coming down the stairs to find a present with there name on it.  This is what Santa does.  So staring down at my son I answer him.  "Ya I believe in Santa."

Edit. I Put this to paper back in 2012 when my then 7 year old son asked me if I believed in Santa. 

The day I stopped believing in Santa, I was probably about 7 years old. I also had a younger brother, so I didn't admit it, even though I knew it, until I was about 12. There is something magical about imagination, and Santa requires imagination. I like a little magic. So yeah, I do believe in Santa in the same sense that you do. 

Potential flounder material: 

FWIW, I'm a Catholic who has really been struggling with my faith and belief for the  past few years. For some reason, my "belief" in Santa helps me accept my Christianity in the sense of it lets me be comforted by the Church, but at the same time acknowledge and not ignore it's issues both on a literal sense (i.e. the Church's legal issues) and on a spiritual sense (i.e. I'm not sure that I "believe", but I want to believe so I do). 

Yes!

So often today we see traditions jettisoned, but the folklore of Santa is rich in a history of benevolence and generosity.  He is to children an accessible figure that lends a magical air to the Christmas holiday.

Of course, it is most important to teach the "reason for the season," and that Christmas is an observance of the birth of Christ Jesus.

Yes, who am I to argue with Neil Degrasse Tyson?  

 

Seriously though I don't think a fat man in a red suit is sliding down all those chimneys in one night I think that it's good that there's still a little bit of good cheer and kindness left in an increasingly cold and heartless society.   Whatever the cause I'll happily take it.  

Yes , Virginia, there is a Santa Clause.

1988RedT2 said:

Christmas is an observance of the birth of Christ Jesus.

Saturnalia. 

1988RedT2 said:

Of course, it is most important to teach the "reason for the season," and that Christmas is an observance of the birth of Christ Jesus.

Except that it's not. Christmas, Santa, and December 25th (or the biblical equivalent) have nothing to do with the bible or Christianity. It is a pagan holiday that has been moved to coincide with a Roman holiday. 
So no, I don't believe in Santa. My kids don't either. 

Edited because I got two thoughts crossed as I typed early in the morning.

DrBoost said:

..... moved to coincide with a self-centered human's date of birth. 

....... 

Edited to soften tone see responses below:

^ ^  ^ ^

I can't let this one go un-checked.  Your opinion is incorrect from both a historical, political, and spiritual basis.  No matter what you think about Jesus, there is zero basis to describe Him as self-centered.

In response to dean1484:

yes, I believe in Santa, for much the same reasons as you listed above.

Additional edit:  Dr. Boost was not implying that Jesus was the self-centered one.

Yes. Except idk where the whole sleigh and reindeer thing came from. santa wears brown, and drives a truck that says ups on it, and delivers presents year round. Sometimes he wears blue and it says USPS. Sometimes purple and FedEx. Recently Santa has started wearing something called prime. He can be white, black, Asian, Portuguese, a lot of times around here he appears Hispanic, and half the time, he's not even a he! Santa truly is a mysterious being. 

berkeley yeah I believe in Santa!!!

Indy-Guy. I mis-typed my response. A human ruler moved holidays around to combine Roman (Pagan) and Christmas ideals around so he could meld them together. I thought it also coincided with his (the ruler) birth date, but I was incorrect on that part.

If you do research, it's VERY easy to see that christmas did not originate with Christ or his birth (I am a Christian). I don't think there is a Christian religion that thinks it does. I think they all agree on the Pagan origins. 

Now, you would think that if it were important for Christians to celebrate the birth of Jesus, we'd have that direction in the bible. Instead, he tells us to commemorate his death, but never his birth. Ever read about Jesus or one of his followers attending his (or any) birthday celebration in the bible? Me either.  

Christ’s birth date is not known. Never mentioned in the bible. The gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) do not indicate the day or the month of his birth, but based on the events (flocks in the field at night, among others), it is believed that Jesus was born in the fall, not winter. 

According to a widely accepted hypothesis, the birth of Christ was assigned the date of the winter solstice (December 25 in the Julian Calendar, January 6 in the Egyptian), because this is the day the sun begins returning to northern skies. The pagan devotees of Mithra celebrated the dies natalis Solis Invicti (birthday of the invincible sun). On Dec. 25, 274, Aurelian had proclaimed the sun-god principal patron of the empire and dedicated a temple to him in the Campus Martius. Christmas originated at a time when the cult of the sun was particularly strong at Rome. The Catholics wanted in on this. It was Pope Julius that officially sanctioned Dec. 25th (Pagan Saturnalia) as Christ' birthday because he thought if he blended the two faiths (Paganism and Christianity, something the bible condemns at Ex. 20:5, Deut. 12:32) he would gain converts. That is where the christmas tree, mistletoe-holly, and the lights come from (originally candles). 

M’Clintock and Strong’s Cyclopœdia says: “The observance of Christmas is not of divine appointment, nor is it of N[ew] T[estament] origin. The day of Christ’s birth cannot be ascertained from the N[ew] T[estament], or, indeed, from any other source.”

I could go on, but I'm not trying to change anyone here. I did want to clarify my mis-type earlier. In no way was I meaning that Christ moved anything around to coincide with his birth.     

In reply to DrBoost :

I do not disagree with your statements, and I did not want anyone to get hung up on the actual date, which is surely irrelevant.  Heck, the Russian Orthodox church celebrates Christ's birth on January 7.  My point being simply that Christmas is the observance of the birth of Jesus Christ, and of that fact we should all be aware.

Doesn't hurt to believe.

In reply to DrBoost :

Thanks for the clarification.  I've gone back and edited my post.

It's human nature to celebrate the birthday of the ones we love.  We do it in my family for our children and my parents did it for their children as do many, many other families.  So it does seem logical to celebrate Jesus' birthday in some capacity. 

The date of celebration and it's accuracy to the real actual date of His birth don't coincide as you indicated, but there is Biblical accounts of celebrating (angels rejoicing in the presence of shepards) on his birthday.

To most folks, I take it too far. But I don't celebrate christmas because it's rooted in Pagan rituals. People have made worshiping pagan gods more palatable by masking the origins and veiling it with Christ.   
I remember his death (as he asked us to do) because that's the date that matters. That's why it is recorded in the bible. His birth was important, but it had no real significance, his death provided the ransom. Had he given in to the temptations of Satan, his birth wouldn't have meant anything. 
all that being said, I don't go around telling people "you're wrong because you don't believe what I do!"  In fact, I rarely pipe up in threads like this one. Not sure why I did today. 
 

Dr. Boost... Are you JW? 

Nothing like sucking all the fun out of the room.  Remind me to never invite Dr. Boost to a Christmas party. 

In reply to stuart in mn :

AMEN

Reminds me of something I saw on Penn an Teller's show "Fool Us" or whatever it's called.

Contestant does a thing with balloons and says if you don't believe in magic, to give a child a balloon and watch their face, and that is magic. Of course I'm sure I butchered it so here is a link.

Anyway, that's where my mind went.

iceracer said:

In reply to stuart in mn :

AMEN

How is having knowledge sucking the fun out of the room?  
the literal answer to the question is no, I don't believe Santa Clause. Some say they do in spirit because of the good feeling they get through the giving of gifts (if I'm understanding correctly).  
i get that. But when people say that christmas is all about the birth of Jesus, now and again I'll explain. It's almost like trivia. Most people don't know the origins of the date or the symbols used. Some find it interesting, some dont care either way, some mistakingly think I'm telling them to stop celebrating it. I'm not. 
 

yes mtn

but I'll check out now. I wasn't trying to offend, just answering the question and a point that was brought up. If anyone has questions or wants to tell me that I'm a bad person for not believing, just IM me. 
carrry on. 

Yes. Believing in things and finding out they're not real is a vital part of growing up. 

Nope, but my son does.  He's 4.  I would like to change that soon, but I need to discuss with his mom.  I like the celebration & time with family, but I don't care for the lying or bullE36 M3.  I really hate the consumerism that surrounds this holiday.

To me it has nothing to do with any religious figures.