Satan Claus?

Tonight, I rant.

I'm in a bit of a mood right now for a lie in which I have partaken for the sake of limiting arguments. That lie is about a fat guy in a red suit. I seem to hate that guy more and more as time passes. My feelings toward him go up and down, but tonight they're not particularly good.

Whatever the origins of the Santa lie may be, today for me he just represents the world's Christmas. That overindulging and materialistic corruption of something that is supposed to be focused on the Lord Jesus Christ, yet seems to have him completely missing from the picture. The Lord of Lord and King of Kings is replaced by trees, snowmen, wreaths, bells, candy canes, lights, and this dude with his pet reindeer.

Now I see nothing wrong with some traditions like decorating the tree, putting your presents under it, making special treats, and so on. Those can be some fun family moments -- as long as they don't take away from the truth of Christ coming into the world.

What bothers me about Santa is that he's, plain and simple, a big fat lie. We tell our children that there's this magic man that flies around giving children toys. That's pretty stupid. What kind of lesson does that teach? Parents think its funny to lie to their kids? Yay. How could that possibly help when you try to tell them the truth about other things?

You know what's a better lesson? Mommy and Daddy gave you these presents because they love you. They give much because they've been given much by our great and glorious God, especially the greatest gift of all, which is salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ.

Start adding extra crap around the truth and eventually the truth gets really hazy. I wonder if its coincidence that Santa and Satan have the same letters in their names. Interesting.

End rant. I'm done.