As anybody who is on FaceBook or part of any “moms group” knows, whether your family  does or doesn’t do Santa can be a hot-button topic. I’m an Admin for a large homeschool moms group on FaceBook and we even had to create two separate threads {Pro-Santa/No-Santa} because the two camps could not discuss their differences nicely.  But, while we all know Santa discussions can lead to drama, did you know that there are several reasons that people claim for not doing Santa?

LYING TO OUR KIDS Not sure how or why the vast majority of the western world decided to band together to lie to our kids about this jolly, fat man and his magical capabilities. But, sure enough, you’ll find ALL walks of life agreeing to continue this childhood conspiracy. It does not matter where people land in the spectrum of most defining categories: finances, education, race, politics, gender, location, social beliefs…

Most people in the western world lie to our kids about Santa. And it’s not just us lying to our own kids. We actually EXPECT others to lie to our kids too. Phone calls are made to the principal if some bratty kid on the playground breaks the news to Santa-believers. It’s common practice for the Wal-Mart check out lady to perpetuate the lie to our kids by asking what they asked for from Santa. Classroom teachers cannot discuss their own religious beliefs with their students, but, by golly, they better lie to them about the fat man in the red suit. 

But, as bizarre as the lying is, that is not why we don’t do Santa in our home. 

JESUS IS THE REASON FOR THE SEASON Another reason, which is more often discussed in my circle of friends, is the fact that allowing Santa to be a part of Christmas takes away from the real reason for the season: celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. 

Now this reason can be {and often is} debated back and forth among conservative Christians even within the same denomination. The basic argument is that Santa and all of the gift-giving hullabaloo simply distracts from Jesus. And, anything that distracts from our focus being on the world’s Savior is not glorifying to God. It’s kinda hard to argue against that basic stance, though people do. 

But, that’s not the reason we don’t do Santa in our home either. 

SANTA IS CREEPY This one is only occasionally thrown out there as a reason not to do Santa but it certainly deserves a quick mention. After all, when you think about it, what Santa supposedly does in our lives is totally creepy and downright illegal. He “knows if you’ve been good or bad” and he sneaks into our homes while we are sleeping and leaves suspicious packages behind. If Santa isn’t a terrorist leaving behind explosive devices wrapped in red and green packages, then at the very least, he is a dirty old man watching our kids’ every action. In what universe is that NOT creepy? Apparently, this one. 

And, yet, even that is not the reason we do not do Santa.

None of the reasons above are why we do not do Santa. 

Our reason is very simple: Santa is not God.

Santa is not God but we give him god-like capabilities and ask our kids to believe them.

But Santa is not God. 

Santa cannot perform miracles.

Santa cannot read our minds.

Santa cannot control the physical capabilities of animals.

Santa cannot harness magic and make time stop enough for him to drop down chimneys across the globe in less than 24 hours. 

Santa cannot do any of that and yet we tell our kids he can.

But he cannot.

No man can.

Only God can.

And, Santa is not God. 

Now before you raise your voiceless thoughts at me and explain that believing in Santa is no different than believing in Super Man, mysertious wardrobes or toothless Night Fury dragons, let me stop you. Unless you are actually telling your kids that Super Man ACTUALLY EXISTS and will be saving the day just as soon as he changes clothes in a nearby phone booth* or that the closet has the true capability of transporting your kid to Narnia, then, no, it’s not the same thing. 

Our family firmly believes in the beauty of the imagination. Our son has read the entire Chronicles of Narnia and has watched every Star Wars, Marvel and HTTYD movie. He likes to build made-up animals with Legos and write creative stories about crazy creatures. He used to ask his 85 year old Gampen to dress up  like a puppy and command her to do tricks as if he were a dog trainer. Having, nurturing and using an imagination is not only a good thing, it’s a vital part of being a kid and growing into a functional adult. 

But when we tell our kids that there is an actual person who uses magic powers to accomplish all that Santa supposedly does, we are not simply supporting their imagination. 

We ARE making Santa into a god. 

We ARE equating Santa to the one and only true God. 

Santa cannot perform miracles.  Only God can.

Santa cannot read our minds.  Only God can.

Santa cannot stop time. Only God can.

How can we justify telling our kids that Santa is a real entity with God-like powers in the same breath that reads the Bible at bed-time and glorifies the fact that ONLY GOD can move mountains, perform miracles and save us from ourselves?

We can try to deny that it’s confusing to our kids, after all, you were raised with Santa and you turned out okay. Right? Me too! 

But, my brother didn’t. He’s a great person, dedicated father and a loving husband. But, he’s not a Christian. He’s not saved. Is Santa to blame? I don’t know. My brother certainly doesn’t point to Santa Claus when he repeatedly explains to my parents why he doesn’t “buy into that Jesus stuff.” But, perhaps deep-down somewhere there is a kernel of doubt that festers in his heart because what my parents said about God simply didn’t square with what they said about Santa. I don’t know. But, believe me, if that is even .000001% of the reason my brother isn’t a believer and my parents could go back and change their approach to Santa, they would.   

Why would we intentionally create a potential stumbling block for our kids when we can avoid it? Christmas can be plenty fun without doing Santa. Our family has loads of Christmas traditions and has made tons of wonderful memories. We enjoy all of the festivities with a giant {REAL} tree, too much food, loads of decorations, tons of presents and as many Christmas carols as Alexa can throw at us.

We even have Santa stuff in our home. We have stockings that are always overstuffed. We watch Elf and sing about Rudolph.  I have a collection of Father Christmas figurines from around the globe. We make and frost Santa shaped cookies. Santa is definitely a part of the holiday but we treat him like a fictional character at the center of a holiday story. That’s it. Why?

Our reason is very simple: Santa is not God.