Member-only story
Stop Lying About Santa
The jolly old man and his surveillance state are kind of terrifying — and sending kids the wrong message
Here we are again: Christmas is in full swing. Strung lights line city streets. Sugar cookies materialize at the end (or sometimes the beginning) of every meal. And, of course, all over the world, parents, older siblings, and chortling relatives merrily engage in what has become our most venerated Christmas tradition, at least in households where small children live: the perpetuation of The Santa Lie.
Let the record show that I am not some angry Scrooge. I love most Christmas traditions, both for the cozy feelings they evoke and the obvious good of abundant dessert. But I do believe it’s time that we ask ourselves whether systematically lying to children about an omniscient fat man who forces entry into every home on the planet each Christmas Eve is such a good idea.
We may find, considering the current moral state of the world, that the answer is a hearty, harrumphing, “No, no, no.” (Sorry.)
How did this bizarre myth even start? It’s difficult to pinpoint the exact origins of The Santa Lie, but it seems that the red-suited, sleigh-flying version first popped up in an illustrated poem some 200 years ago. The toll of sustaining the lie has only spiraled…
