The following piece was written by my college son and published in the newspaper. I thought it was thought provoking. The newspaper has received quite a few comments on this.
Santa vs. Satan
It is a complicated, biased, horrible train of thought. On the one hand stands Santa Claus himself. We normally drive the thought into our child’s mind that Santa Claus, Ole’ Saint Nick, is the saint of the modern times. Santa Claus brings presents, which in turn bring joy to us all. Perched on the other hand is the darkened figure of Satan. The red-clothed devil appears with a pitchfork and breathing fire through his nostrils. With a quick switch of letters; a move of an A here, a switch of a T there; and a bounce of an N over here transforms our lovely characters into a surprising conclusion. After the scramble we realize the Divinci Code of Christmas: Santa Claus and Satan are the same being!
It makes perfect sense and is now understandable after all this time. Growing up, running to the Christmas tree to open presents was always the highlight of the month of December. The distraction of presents kept us from realizing the true meaning of Christmas. Christ. Instead of praising the birth of our Lord, we instead worship the red-stained fattened figure of Santa Claus. Trying to gain our praise, worship and…our souls. Since the creation of time, another figure has tried this trick. Sound familiar?
A fat red figure slips down our chimney’s every winter, while we are all sleeping soundly, not noticing the temptations…I mean presents…that are put all over our homes. We can never catch this character, or even see him for that matter, but his evidence is left all over. A faint remembrance of another such person tickles our minds, yet the fond memories of presents dominate our thoughts. Temptations, in the form of presents for those who “believe in him” and a habit of showing up untraceable are familiar. Sound familiar?
Now for the red costumes. We have always seen our favorite fat fellow every December 25th in a red coat large enough to capture his large figure. This man of gluttony, temptation and giver of selfishness dons a cap of red, pants of red and boots as dark as his heart. Red is a symbolic color. It represents many things- anger, heat, fire, danger and…the great man downstairs. Sound familiar?
It is a hidden subtleness that is represented underneath the cloak of happiness. The happy fat man that brings us all joy is more than just happy and fat, he’s the devil. It is time to let the children know the truth of this dishonest secret that has been held since Satan has overtaken the identity of Saint Nick.
Santa no more, Satan has no power here!