Dear Editor,
I am for protecting, clothing and feeding our children, but I am totally against lying to our children.
During the Christmas season our children are told fibs about some chubby Caucasian man flying around the world, dropping off gifts. This man knows whether you have been “naughty or nice.” Why do we fill the heads of our children with this nonsense? We talk about protecting our children from abuse and violence, what about protecting them from lies? What about raising our children in truth and honesty?
Further, it is in my opinion that this ‘worship’ of Santa Claus (SC) is a form of idolatry. We have our children pleading with SC for gifts. Then they thank him for whatever gifts they receive. We have images of SC throughout our homes. We sing songs praising and even glorifying SC. Shouldn’t all praises, worship, glorifying, exalting be for the Most High, Creator of all things? Didn’t our Creator say that he doesn’t want his glory to be shared with others?
Parents, you work hard all year round to provide for your children. The Almighty gives you the life, strength, knowledge and wisdom to earn for your family, so how then can you tell your children that SC brought the gifts for them? Again, it takes away the glory from our Creator and gives it to another ‘being.’ Man can easily make something into a god and worship it. It is recorded throughout the books of history. I saw a local advertisement encouraging our children to write letters to SC in the North Pole and to be sure they post it by a certain date. I wonder how much it costs to send a letter to the North Pole? Our Guyanese children are in for a major disappointment because there is no snow here for this person to land his sled. Tsk Tsk Tsk.
What is the difference between an adult physically taking advantage of a six year old and an adult unnecessarily and intentionally deceiving a six year old to get them to behave in a certain way, for example, “Go to bed early because Santa knows when you are awake.” In both cases, are we not taking advantage of the innocence of that child?
A few years ago, in Australia, a teacher lost his job because he told his young class that there was no such thing as Santa Claus.
Just think about it.
Yours faithfully,
Montgomery Chester
