To the uninitiated such a question is no less than bizarre. However, to those involved in Christian vs. Atheist polemics it is one of the deepest of questions…in a manner of speaking.
What has come to be known as Santa Syndrome, is indicative of the fact that very many Atheists reject God at a very early, prepubescent, age and generally do so in reaction to rebelling again parents, being put off by strict religionists, etc. Essentially this results from childish emotional reactions and not intellectual conclusions. This has the unfortunate result of Atheists growing up with undeveloped and childish conceptions of God which they tend to never revise.
Examples of this are ubiquitous and can be seen in a myriad of Atheists correlating God to a sky daddy, an invisible friend, fairies and amongst many others: Santa Claus.
Now, in short, correlating God—let us specify YHVH—to a sky daddy, invisible friend, fairies, Santa Claus and even the Flying Spaghetti Monster and the Invisible Pink Unicorns is fallacious. Consider, as one mere example, that YHVH is a philosophically necessary being whilst none of the others are.
You can find a theological consideration of the Flying Spaghetti Monster and the Invisible Pink Unicorns at this link.
Some Atheists insist that the correlations hold because, for one, they cannot disprove God any more than Christians can disprove Santa Claus.
Can one disprove something? That is, can one prove a negative? Well, of course. For example, according to an ordinary definition of “foot” and “arm” one can prove that there is not a foot at the end of one’s arm: no foot exists at the end of our arm (unless you have had some unfortunate surgery snafu, that is). Yet, granted, some negatives are more difficult to deal with than others such as the viewing of material bodily appendages.
Let us break this down into the two Santas: 1) the historical personage, the legendary figure, and 2) the mythical.
In short, the historical Santa or, rather, Saint Nick (Nicholas of Myra) was known for his Christian charity and is not at issue.
It is the mythical figure upon whom is the focus and this figure’s outstanding and unusual characteristics are that he is said to 1) live in the North Pole, 2) manage a group of elves (a sweat shop?) who manufacture all Christmas toys for all who receive them worldwide, 3) possesses the ability to discern who has been naughty or nice (a styled omniscient), 4) travels at astonishing speeds so as to make deliveries to each and every household worldwide which contain, the presumably nice, kids who will receive toys and perhaps 5) fuels his physical activities, such as climbing down and up chimneys and arranging toys under Christmas trees, via a night of gorging the likes of which a competitive eater has never imagines as he consumes vast amounts of cookies and a lion’s share of milk. These appear to be the basics and enough for us to proceed.
Now, we must keep in mind that we are considering Santa Claus within the context of that which is generally promulgated about the mythical figure as is. That is to say, once we deal with the character as is it is no use and not logical to say, “Oh, well, but if we tweak this, change that and add this assertion about Santa then…” This would be a mere attempt at side stepping the conclusion via artificially plumping up the issue at hand.
Let us note that even this mythical Santa is not thought to be anything but human. That is, he is not a divine being, does not possess supernatural abilities (withstanding travels and movements at astonishing speeds not withstanding).
Tantamount to the other mythical figures with whom some Atheists correlate God, Santa is not a philosophically necessary being. This means that nothing is contingent upon his existence: not the universe, not life, not anything…as we shall see.
A human being is a contingent being as thus cannot have created the universe or life. In fact, a living being such as Santa is contingent upon his parents. In turn, his parents are contingent upon their parents. Their parents upon their parents and so on back through time. However, this is not an infinite regress as it leads to a non-contingent being: a being for whom life is intrinsic and not extrinsic, it is ontologically a part of its very nature, essence and being and not something which was bequeathed upon it.
1) Lives in the North Pole.
We have explored the North Pole via satellite imagery and on the ground expeditions and have not uncovered any evidence of Santa’s residence or factory like instillation.
2) Manage a group of elves who manufacture all Christmas toys for all who receive them worldwide.
The various toys can be traced back to their place of origin which turns out to be various factories around the world. Moreover, they are proved to be the product of human designers, manufacturers, etc.
3) Posses the ability to discern who has been naughty or nice.
Sadly, in our era of self-esteem at all costs there are no naughty kids. Also, as per the next point, any such determination is not made by, nor reported to, Santa.
4) Travels at astonishing speeds so as to make deliveries to each and every household worldwide…
Santa actually does not possess any powers of super-speed flight as it is his reindeer who are said to be able to travel thusly. While we have observed many herds of reindeer, none have been seen to travel faster than normal—and none have a nose so bright so as to guide a sleigh at night.
Despite admittedly falsified radar tracking, no object, such as a very fast sleigh has been tracked on radar. Moreover, it has been proven that it is children’s parents who purchase toys and place them under trees—which brings us to the next point.
5) Fuels his physical activities…via a night of gorging [on] vast amounts of cookies and….milk.
Parents are the ones who consume the cookies and milk.
While the mythical Santa’s origins are traced back to the historical figure his mythos and especially his personal fashion is traced back to an advertising campaign by Coca Cola who introduced the rotund, mostly red attired character in 1931 AD.
It has been proven that mere human administrated corporations and parents are responsible for each and every activity attributed to Santa. Manufactures produce toys, parents purchase toys, parents place toys under trees and consume the cookies and milk. Parents play upon their children’s desire of toys by appealing to Santa’s ability to discern their status of naughty or nice.
Moreover, there certain claims about Santa that would be simple to verify such as his residence and travels which not only have not been verified but, as just stated, are explained via the activities of humans.
One reason that some fallaciously correlate Santa and God is that they likewise claim that there are certain claims about God which not only have not been verified but are explained via the activities of humans (such as in miracle hoaxes) or the mechanical working of nature. However, this is one reason why we must distinguish generic “G,” “o,” “d” from YHVH. Because some theologies may very well have been discredited such as those which claim that there is no material realm but all is a delusion, those who claim that there are gods who specifically and actively make rain, cause the growth of trees or what have you.
However, YHVH is a transcendent personal being who exists outside, beyond and with no reliance upon the material realm. This rational being created a rational material realm wherein, in a linear manner, cause is followed by effect—this was the very foundation upon which Judeo-Christians established the scientific method. Moreover, supernaturalism is the default position as life, the universe, nature cannot account for themselves.
In short, Santa has been investigated and found to be a myth via observation, reproducible experimentation and finding causes which effect that which he claims to do. However, even though YHVH has been investigated, He is found to be not be mythical but is a philosophically necessary being who having brought about time, space and matter is timelss or eternal, spaceless or omnipresent and immaterial or spirit. Moreover, He is seen to possess characteristic of personhood such as volition in having brought about a plan. Lastly, life, the universe and everything is based upon information and the only known source of information is mind and it is this mind which we call YHVH.
In the beginning [time] God [a preexisting, transcendent being] created [volitionally infused with information and energy] the heavens [space] and the earth [matter].
Think about how many people grow up disillusioned about God due to the emotional havoc caused by finding out that Santa is not real and that their parent lied to them about it.
Think about how Santa is said to takes flight into the heavens, reside in the north and possessed godlike characteristics.
Now, consider what Satan stated as recorded in Isaiah 14:1-13:
I will ascend into heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;
I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north;
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,
I will be like the Most High.
Santa stands discredited whilst YHVH stands accredited.
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