We preach of Zion, but continue to march deeper and deeper towards Babylon.
This was the first year that across the country, Thanksgiving Day turned into a day of Shopping. Instead of Black Friday.. we now have Grey Thursday. Employees of the big department stores had to work, since the store opened for the first time for thousands and thousands of shoppers to buy gifts for Christmas right after having Thanksgiving Dinner..
I didn't write about this sooner, but I felt I still needed to post something about this. I am sure there is a huge range of opinions out there on Santa Claus. Sure he is a good-intentioned symbol of love and giving. But I have come to the conclusion that he is probably one of the biggest deceptions in this world that we tell our children. We go to great lengths to do all we can to make our children believe in Santa.( leaving behind crumbs of cookies that are left out, making reindeer tracks in the snow, etc etc) I think more effort goes into teaching our children that Santa is real than we do in teaching our children that Jesus Christ is real.
Sidenote:
It has almost been a year since The Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints held the red ribbon cutting ceremony for the opening of their multi-billion dollar mall. On that day, the First Presidency and Presidency Bishopric along with the Utah's Governor and other high officials exclaimed, "Let's Go Shopping!".
How fitting then to build at almost the exact spot of the ribbon ceremony, a 30-foot-tall "Santa workshop" as the location for Santa Claus to welcome the children to sit on his lap. (See below middle). It was advertised in the news that Santa would magically appear on the rooftops of City Creek Center on November 15 before joining the crowds near his "Lantern cottage " where he will visit with families through December 24, 2012. (See below video).
Here is the video of Santa Claus's grand arrival to the LDS Shopping Center at City Creek.
Addendum: For those who are deaf, a "Sign Language" Santa was available at City Creek Nov. 29 from 2-6 p.m., so deaf children can visit with Santa. Also if you wanted to take pictures with Santa with your pets you could come on December 6, from 6-9 PM. Also, to make these convenient so you didn't have to stand in line, you could register at the check-in booth and then receive a text message when it was your turn. All of this information was from the City Creek Center website.
I would like to write more about this, but I think I will leave it at that for now.
22 comments:
3 Nephi 13:21
21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
I live almost 2,000 miles from SLC--
in a largely rural state, in a small town--which is the 'shopping' town for a large rural area--
there is a mall here, albeit small, and I am not even aware that there was a Santa Claus 'station' there this Christmas; I was in the mall a few times in December and saw nothing--
There has been absolutely nothing like this in my area, an area where there are very few LDS but a large Catholic/Lutheran population--
I say this, because those who are experiencing this kind of thing might think it is 'worldwide', and it's not--
This is astonishing to me. In a time when many of the 'saints' are crying out for Jesus to come, how can people cry out for Santa to come?
I felt as though I were watching a Barbaric ritual, something from an entirely different world--
And it's in Salt Lake City, Utah.
How very sad.
My wife and I have tried to share a few things we had learned about where the tradition of Santa comes from, as well as Halloween. Who would have thought that our own family would become so offended for sharing, just barely, some of our thoughts about this. We haven't celebrated Halloween or Santa (we do celebrate Christmas) for the last couple of years, and it's felt really good. However, we've encounter our share of judgement and attacks.
People should look more into what they hope for, what they praise.
I'm glad that in Spain, we celebrate the "Wise men day" as a remembrance of the day in which some Magi went and worshiped baby Jesus and brought Him presents. How is Santa related to the celebration of Jesus' birth? Exactly...
Hopefully your research uncovered the tradition that the Santa figure came from the British Isles and harkens back to when Jesus Christ visited His other OTHER sheep. He visited every pocket of Saints in the world at that time... Japan, Afghanistan, who knows where all. Hopefully we won't, in our Latter-day Saint arrogance, throw out every tradition we or the correlation dept. didn't approve.
We studied section 1 of the Doctrine and Covenants yesterday in Gospel Doctrine class. My wife and I both thought of City Creek while reading this:
They seek not the Lord to establish his righteousness, but every man walketh in his own way, and after the image of his own god, whose image is in the likeness of the world, and whose substance is that of an idol, which waxeth old and shall perish in Babylon, even Babylon the great, which shall fall.
No; there is no santa tradition in Japan, though there is a tradition of a visit from a greybearded man who taught--
This comment came via email: (with permission to post)
We have NEVER had Santa in our home, not even on wrapping paper. In fact, the last two years we haven't really even put up a tree. People think that's terrible, but I told our kids the best gift we could give is TRUTH. A neighbor (primary president) came over and thought it was so weird that we don't over-celebrate Christmas. She said, "At what age do you tell your kids the truth about Santa?" I said, "I never lie to them about Santa so I never have to re-tell them the truth." Her counselor, with her, said, "I think that's horrible that you'd rob your children of their childhood and believing!" I said, "The only robbery is to use their childhood to have them believe in something that is not real or true." They thought it was "essential" that kids experience Santa. I told them I thought experiencing a counterfeit was never "essential".
They thought I was a nutcase, and the counselor said, "You're the kind of mom we hate because your children will end up being the ones who ruin it for the rest of our kids." I told her my children have never spoken about Santa with any kids, and have been taught to only answer the question "Do you believe in Santa" with another question, such as "What do you think?"
My children know that Christmas is pagan at best. That the pope's original uniform is what the Santa outfit is mimicked from. And most importantly that Dec. 25 is Nimrod's birthday, not Christ's. They know that there is never a commandment in scripture to celebrate the birth of someone and exchange gifts. Real kings do not require such. They know that ancient Israel tradition is to celebrate Christ's death as the real gift, not his birth.
Oh, wow...
I usually enjoy this blog, but some of these comments are a little over-the-top, in my opinion.
Santa Claus is fantasy...like dragons or unicorns. Do you go around telling your kids that they can't pretend there are unicorns?
We don't worship Santa in our home, either, we worship the Lord, but a little fun fantasy and magic added to a "pagan" holiday is harmless.
Maybe my wife and I will end up in hell for this, but I see no harm in the "magic" of Christmas with a Santa Claus. Sorry, folks, but I think there are more important dragons to slay.
anonymous 9:29 a.m.--
the point is that it should be a parental decision. Some of our children insisted on Santa Claus, even though we never 'taught' Santa; others of our children were terrified of 'him'--
A family ought to be able to make its (their?) own choice about this and not have to bend to the pressure of outsiders. Be honest; nobody insists that *your*/*our*/*my* children believe in dragons, and not all children can handle fantasy to the same level.
Nobody has ever insisted that *we* at church have a party that centers on dragons or unicorns--
What you do is your business. I have never condemned or criticized anyone who 'celebrated' santa claus, and I don't laugh at those who don't--
There can be a considerate neutral ground--
Your response is proof that this really is a problem in the current LDS (American) culture--
one that causes angry reactions--
and--
continued from just above--
I don't think the concern over the youtube/video sketch shown from the LDS mall in downtown SLC is so much whether or not families choose to have the santa tradition in their homes--
as it is the connection with calling someone down--
to me that was bizarre--
Calling on santa to come down? Really now--
That isn't even part of the santa myth--
Fireworks in the sky--
*shaking my head*
No, what happened in downtown SLC was, to use a common modern cliche, "over the top"--
I find it very interesting that all the letters in 'SANTA' are all the same letters in 'SATAN'. We know that the adversary will mimic our Lord to try to deceive us, so at times I often wonder if the whole Santa thing is merely a distraction to keep our focus off of what is truly important about this holiday. We desperately need to teach our children more about the Savior and a lot less about Santa.
To me, Santa represents Babylon.
I find it very interesting that all the letters in "GOD" are all the same letters in "DOG".
Really? I think we can do better than this.
I was one of those mean old moms, also. But my kids grew up knowing that I would not lie to them.
Anon Jan 6, 8 p.m.
That is really sad that you choose to strain after the truth that Jesus (and other holy men, actually) visited all over the world so you can mix it with a fat elf who gives rich kids toys no matter how mean and nasty they are. A man, by the way, who fosters greed and debt, if you looked at it dispassionately.
Good for both of you for not lying to your children. I didn't lie to mine either. In fact, my mother did not lie to us, so I guess it got passed down.
I concur. Angry reactions like this seem to show how much we worship our idols.
Perhaps we SHOULD have 4 special holidays for faeries and elves, dragons and satyrs where someone dresses up like one of them and gives presents to children. You know, a special place in the church for the person to visit, and for parents to insist that these creatures are real, that they are all-seeing like God. And we should bend over backwards (including making lots of movies) about how even the most skeptical adult became a believer.
And we should have irate parents who really stress out if someone suggests that, perhaps, these things are make-believe.
First Anon, I have noticed that and thought it a bit apropos, since he is the great imitator. And does not Satan imitate God? Dressed in red and white. White for purity. Red to represent the atonement he wrought. Um. Wait a minute.
Of course, live backwards is evil - and sometimes it sure seems like life is not good.
Blogger, I commend you for your courage. It seems nothing sets off opposition like refusing to follow the crowds' holy icons - and not believing in Santa sure causes anger and rage in some people. They, it seems, have to defend their idolatry. It reminds me of how people in history have predictably acted towards true prophets sent from the face of God.
You know the story of Abraham watching his father's store and busting up the idols? To have it make more sense in our day, insert "Santa figurines".
In any case, we "had Santa" as I was growing up, when we could afford it. But we always knew it was Mom and my oldest sister who put the presents out.
When I had kids, they took turns "playing Santa". It did not take away any "fun" from them. We were not ogres, not evil, not vile, and on and on because we taught the children the truth about Satan. Um, Santa.
If I could do it over again, would I have left the whole Santa thing out? Maybe. Maybe I would have ignored Christmas if I could have resisted the whole cultural thing. But we had plenty of fun knowing Santa was no more real than the faeries and dragons brought up earlier. See, that was the difference. We were never lied to about any fantasy, and it got passed on.
And one of my daughters created an anti-Santa page on facebook. Two years in a row. Evil, aren't I, to raise a child so rebellious that she does not like Satan . . . um, Santa?
Oops. Unicorns, not elves.
At least in Spanish and Portuguese, I believe Santa means Saint.
At least the mall could have had a Nativity set.
I never emphasized Santa to my kids. I guess it is because that is how I was raised. I always emphasized Christ. I never shopped on Black Friday or after Christmas day. I put more emphasis on presents during birthdays. I don't know if my father was right or wrong - during Christmas he fought against a Christmas tree in the church building because it came from pagan beliefs. I could see his point. He also fought against a person dressing up as Santa to make an appearance during the ward Christmas party at the church building.
I believe you are correct, Steve.
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