A terrible, terrible thing has been done.

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I can certainly understand why the legislature banned the letters, yet I do agree that people need something to believe in.

Santa Claus, Chris Cringle, whatever, emphasizes the importance of goodwill and sharing among people. Also, through the stories, children learn that good behavior brings it's own rewards. These are all very valuable lessons for a child to learn and they are important concepts for adults to understand.

Actions like this by the South African government make you wonder if they saw this. (Shell, don't let your kids see this one.)

 

@Rastor

That Santa is pathetic. I think that he saw 'Reindeer Games' once to many.

(PS to all, in case you didn't know, 'Reindeer Games' is a movie where crooks dress-up like Santas to rob a casino)

 

Why is children being disappointed such a bad thing? Any child who has his or her heart broken because s/he doesn't get everything that they wanted for Xmas is a spoiled brat.

As for poor children who don't get anything, I think their parents or guardians are best-equipped to handle any "Santa" disappointment. They've got FAR bigger problems anyway. And fantasy is even more important to poor children than to overpriveleged ones. If you take that away, they have nothing left. The imagination equalizes us all, it gives us hope. Without imagination people born poor will stay poor, and people born rich will think they deserve it.

Every child should get a present for the holidays. And they should most definitely not get everything they ask for. I can't stand parents who blame Pokemon cards because they just HAVE to get their kids all of them.

There's another issue here. We're talking about a country banning a belief. Personally, I think the real reason for the ban is that South Africa doesn't have the resources to handle a flood of Xmas mail. If that's the case, they should have said so honestly.

I don't know if there's a God, but I still pray for peace. My heart is broken when that prayer isn't answered, but I still do it. And I believe it enriches me as a human being. I'm not talking about religion - without imagination and hope, what are we? Worthless lumps of flesh, basically.

 

The existence of something to believe in is what actually drives people on. Living a life contained purely within logic and laws of physics is pathetic - what's the point?
The inevitable is all around us, and yet we persevere because we believe in something. Whether what you believe in is possible or not is beside the point. If you want to catch a planet, hook up a spaceship and start catching stars.
Whether also that realization or disappointment will destroy these anyway is doesn't matter because it's all part of the process.

What the South Africa government did was destroy an essential part of developing hopes, goals or dreams and it won't strike me as odd if 50 years from now suicide and crime cases in that continent increase proportionally.

This is speaking from experience and a personal point of view.

 

I wasn't going to enter into this again, but I think it is important to note that telling children to believe in Santa Claus is far from the only way to have any sort of spiritual belief or goals. To me it even limits the attainment of these goals by re-inforcing negative attitudes and behaviourial patterns within yourself and others, depending on how it is approached- it may do the opposite, all I'm saying is that it it usually does not and is approached in the same way.

Just a fantasy on itself serves little purpose other than to aleviate stress- which can be very useful it is true. You must act on it, or learn something from it, or develop such a thing within yourself.

You like wizards? Find out how to become one. You like Dragons- go find out what they are and how you can meet them. You support generousity or kindness, then live like that. Mis-placed fantasy can be as big a hinderance as a lack of one, even bigger in some cases if you never do anything about it, or never learn anything from it.

Also, we do not always need a constant focus for such general attributes as love, hope or imagination- these can be applied to anything, and are as much a part of us as are anger, logic, and toenails.

Neriana, while I agree with your point totally that the parents and other environmental factors can be to blame for encouraging these negative aspects in the children, this is what advertising a place to write your letters to so that you may recieve your presents can encourage. It also may not, but the parents can tell their kids individually how to ask for such other less material things, it may even be to Santa. Also, I personally was not saying that it was bad if the children don't get all the presents they want, only that they are being led to believe by society that they should, and that they are less good if they do not.

Both Neriana and Scythesong have here commented that South Africa is banning a belief, or banning hope or imagination. It is doing no such thing, all it is banning is for the postal service to advertise a place to write letters to (which I think was done so that they could easier sort through all the mail they would get anyway). Those kids can still believe in anyting they want, and express it any way they want, and the parents can teach them whatever values or stories they choose (allthough I think it is irresponcible to actually mail such letters through the post, it is a waste of resources and someones time, they can let the kids tell Santa some other way).

However, I would like to agree with you now Jaguar, and conceed that I have been wrong and too general in my statements. A crutch may be a bad thing, but as you have said it may do even more good, as a focus and helping hand to reach these things where our own diligence might not, and it is better to work towards these thigs in some way then not at all. It only becomes bad when you become dependant on it, that is what I meant to say.

You are right, one day of charity and goodwill is better than none.

 

I think you covered it pretty well Manus. My words were not specific enough but I feel no need to write more because you pretty well voiced what I was trying to say.

 

@Jaguar:

Uh...yeah. It IS for His sake - that's why we call it Christ-mas!

 

Belief in Santa Claus may cause changes in behavioral patterns, but the fact I'm stressing is that the belief in something is what causes one to strive harder.
Yes, fantasy by itself is useless, which is why one must learn to be able to do something about that fantasy. To make that possible, a fantasy must be there in the first place - one must first learn to fantasize.

You like Wizards? Dragons? As time goes by one will obviously learn that magic doesn't exist, so one must learn to channel this into other fields, which is why games like Baldur's Gate and Diablo were born (beliefs-games-money).

Logic is simply what keeps us from going too far - but it's not supposed to be there to keep us prisoners.
I didn't comment on the banning of a belief - I was making a statement of what consequences could be, and that they will certainly take their toll.

Santa Claus is one of the few things that poor Christian children have left to believe. In the world they live in, Christmas is the only time of the year where there life at least *seems* to get better.
All the others have been wiped away by poverty, cruelty, and the rapid industrialization.
Maybe this will convince them to take a more realistic approach to life, but the results of these vary and altogether tip towards a negative effect.

 

@Grey Magistrate

Funny. Very funny.

@Scythesong Immortal

Who knows man. Belief is a very tricky thing. WHile I still believe that all kids should be allowed to believe in Santa, I suppose that there are those that could take the belief to far. And I have pity for them, but I hope that they are few and far between.