Tears, Outrage After Teacher Denies Santa Claus's Existence...

by Elsewhere 41 Replies latest jw friends

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  trevor

  For most children Father Christmas is just a fantasy figure which they grow out of believing in. The reason the church has gone to so much trouble to include Father Christmas is less innocent. It is not accidental that Santa clause is presented as a Father.

  Young minds come to believe that all good things come form this Father at Christmas if they are good. Of course they grow out of it. But their minds have been primed to believe in a mystical father figure. A Father who they have strong emotional reason to believe in because they associate the belief with pleasure. It is one small step to then replace this Father figure with another Father who will reward them.

  The Father at the church will be pleased to confirm the existence of an invisible male deity whom they can call the Father. For those that believe it is good for young minds to be primed to believe in a male Father deity this is seen as a good thing. For those who believe that such beliefs will separate them from their true identity in later life, it is not such a bright idea.

  Children should have fun and many will think that only spoil sports would examine the psychology of this myth so deeply. That is what the church wants you to think!
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  SixofNine

  lol, that news article reads like an Onion parody. Then again, so does the debate about the article!
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  AlmostAtheist

  Some good thoughts on this got hashed out last year when I was debating the Santa issue with Gina. Here's the thread on it, good stuff from all sides (good enough that I switched sides):

  Should I teach my kids about Santa Claus? (Lie vs. Harmless Fantasy)

  Dave of the "Harmless Fantasy" class
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  Scully

  Our years as JWs made us leary of teaching our children that Santa Claus brings presents at Christmas. So we decided to tell them that he was a make believe person, like Cinderella, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, Bambi, Barney the dinosaur, and a whole whack of other cartoon characters.

  We also told them that sometimes people do things that are fun that are really playing pretend, like leaving cookies and milk out for Santa or sprinkling oatmeal and red sugar sparkles on the snow for the reindeer to eat.

  The kids have never had an issue or a breakdown from knowing that it's just make believe. And I don't feel like I'm teaching them to believe in something that isn't real. I teach them about God the same way... that it's make believe and some people really believe in God because it helps them in some way.
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  Eyebrow2

  the teacher obviously has no respect for parental authority. When my oldest was younger, we were JWs and he never believed in Santa, and he was instructed not to tell kids at school santa was fake. If someone asked him point blank that would be different.

  Personally, I think this person should rethink teaching at that grade level.
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  MungoBaobab

  Children aren't like people for crying out loud! They don't care that everyone they trust is condescendingly using their vastly greater life experience to outwit them at every turn. It's not the least bit disturbing that the parents in the article go so far as to leave fake bootprints to fool their child- they're just playing make believe! Except of course, for the fact that the child doesn't know it's make believe.

  Spoken with the greatest bit of sarcasm, of course. Mad props to Scully for really getting it: preserving her kids' dignity while fostering a sense of wonder.
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  Benjamin Belial

  Teaching kids reality instead of fantasy? Damn, what will people do next.
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  greendawn

  True children need some imagination some fairy tales for a normal psychological development, can't be always a "matter of fact" attitide.
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  Benjamin Belial

  Telling kids fairy tales is one thing. Telling them the fairy tales are real is something totally different. Kids grow up with no grip on reality and you wonder why. Maybe it's because you spent their formative years feeding them lies about tooth fairies, easter bunnies, santa claus, (Jesus), and other fictional characters with magical powers.
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  willowmoon

  “She yelled at me, ‘Why did you lie?’” recalled Jamey’s mother, Elizabeth. “‘Why didn’t you tell me Santa Claus died?’”

  Children can recognize hypocrisy at an early age. Adults who tell them not to lie, then contradict themselves by lying, are hypocrites. And that's one of the messages the children hear -- that they can SAY it's bad to lie, but it's okay to DO IT anyway.