Values

I am not really very fond of christmas. It makes people behave in ways that are not “normal". Here’s a few examples of what I mean.

My wife and I decided right from the beginning that we would tell our children the truth about Santa Claus. We could not bear the thought of lying to our children. It seems that even though people think lying is bad, it is OK when you lie to your kids about Santa. “It keeps the ‘Magic’ alive". So now, we want our kids to believe in magic, and a fat guy who nobody knows that gives you stuff for no discernible reason. Are we trying to teach our kids to not worry about stuff like working hard? As long as you behave, you get presents. You don’t have to work for anything. I have always taught my kids to avoid strangers, and the ones that try to give you stuff are the worst of that lot. We want our kids to feel that christmas magic (also known as greed) so we lie to them, but that’s OK. Someday they have to grow up, and will inevitably discover the truth, so then their feelings are hurt. We as parents seem to be OK with hurting our children too (in the name of christmas). I fail to see the benefits. I would rather teach my children what christmas REALLY is and move on from there. A kid will still have lots of fun getting, but then also will have fun giving, because now the kid understands where presents come from, and so will appreciate them more.

Why is christmas the time for being nice to others? Why do we have to be nice to others at christmas time? What I am really asking is, why can’t we be nice to others the whole year ’round? If a person would benefit from my help, I am not going to wait until christmas to give it to them. That would be, in a word, stupid. The fact is, there is a huge fuss made over the fact that the christmas season is the time for generosity, implying that it doesn’t exist until the christmas season.

Also, now it’s the christmas season, not christmas. The last time I checked, christmas was on one day. It seems that christmas season starts in Canada around the middle of october and ends somewhere in January. I base this on when the stores start promoting christmas. I know that in the United States, they at least try to wait until after Thanksgiving, but I wonder how successful they are with that.

I’m not even going to get into the religious aspects of christmas. Most people do not bother to remember the origins anyways, and those that do, and attend midnight mass, etc, sit in the church like drones, eager to get the hell out of there so they can go back home. On the other hand, it is almost like as if christmas has become a religion of it’s own, where the churches are the department stores.

I guess what I am saying is TELL THE TRUTH, and quit being so greedy and self absorbed.