"He knows if you've been bad or good, So be good, for goodness sake!”
A preschool girl was in the bank as her mother waited for a teller. It wouldn’t be correct to say the child was in the line with her mother. Rather, she roamed among the bank staff desks that were arranged around the lobby.
In an effort to keep her daughter in line, the mother said, “Why don’t you go over there and get a sucker from the nice lady and then come back to me?” The little girl got her sucker, but she continued walking around the room.
“Now be a good girl and get back on line. If you’re not a good girl, the bank will take your sucker away from you.”
It didn’t work. The girl continued her expedition as the mother remained in line.
This empty threat of the child losing her sucker calls to mind the songs, “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town” and "Here Comes Santa Claus.
Eddie Cantor was a comedian and singer in the old Vaudeville stage shows, early movies, and the golden age of radio. Cantor premiered “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town” on his network radio show at Thanksgiving 1934. J. Fred Coots, a co-author of the song, was a writer for Cantor’s show.
Children are warned to “watch out” and not to pout or cry because Santa is “comin’.” Then they get details of Santa’s great knowledge: He knows whether they are asleep or awake and whether they’ve been bad or good. He keeps a list and double-checks to see who’s been naughty and who’s been nice.
All in fun?
Probably so, but . . .
Doesn’t this sounds a lot like God?
Do you think the kiddos might equate the Jolly Old Elf with the Father Almighty, Maker of Heaven and Earth?
“Here Comes Santa Claus” goes an extra step, offering an outright sermonette regarding the Jolly Old Elf:
Tykes are encouraged to jump into their beds and cover their heads, after they hang their stockings and say their prayers, in anticipation of Santa Claus’s imminent arrival. He doesn’t care if the kids are rich or poor: He loves them all alike. He knows we’re all God’s children, and the biblical promise of peace on earth will come true “if we just follow the light.”
Both these songs have an element in common with the woman in the bank lobby: They attempt to manipulate children into obedience with deliberate misinformation. The mother’s tactics are a poor approach to discipline for a young child. The songs ascribing divine omniscience to Santa Clause contain faulty theology.
Both songs were written for popular commercial appeal rather than for Sunday school instruction. Still, they convey wrong impressions as they impute godlike knowledge to this mythical Bringer of Gifts.
Many parents use Santa Claus as an innocent game during their children’s formative years. But if there is more than one child, parents often try to preserve and protect the innocence of young children when the firstborn connects the dots after discovering brightly wrapped presents in a closet.
Still other parents consider Santa Claus almost as indispensable to proper observance of Christmas as Jesus. When I was old enough to doubt — perish the thought — my mother defended his reality: “He is the spirit of loving and giving.” And, since parents also are all-knowing, I’d better watch out — for my sake.
In the United States, it’s probably impossible to grow up without Santa Claus. We didn’t do Santa Claus with our sons. We simply gave presents. But, lo, and behold, our younger son imported the Old Boy from friends at school and church and the neighborhood. Then he, in turn, taught this tradition to his kids.
I know I’m fighting a futile battle. And I don’t really fight it. I mostly just grimace when I encounter this fol-de-rol.
Definition of fol-de-rol: nonsense.
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