General Chat / Snow

Come to think of it, you know what I hate about Christmas? Santa Claus. Honestly, who do parents think they are, lying to their children. I didn't believe in him when my mom told me about him when I was three, but I was forced to pretend to to my brother and sister for years. But, seriously. What's wrong with telling kids that their parents bought them their presents? Why lie?

The snow stopped for the night.

I think you missed the point, Mr. Enns. Santa Claus, at least after you realize "who" he is, is more about giving a character to Christmas.
I don't think Christmas would have that big of a hype without a figure-head. Actually, most huge holidays work like that, at least that I can think of.
Thanksgiving = Pilgrims
July 4th (America, of course) = Uncle Sam
Mother's/Father's = Parents
Etc = Etc

Pilgrims = Real = Truth
Uncle Sam = USA Gov't = Real = Truth
Parents = Real = Truth
Christmas = [Santa Claus] = Fake = Lies
Easter = [Easter Bunny] = Fake = Lies (and it doesn't even make sense, either)

Why not have BABY JESUS and RESSURECTED JESUS as the "Figureheads."

Anyways, it's not supposed to snow here for about a week, temperature's are above zero (that's above 32 for all y'all Americans), and the snow is, partially, melting.

Uncle Sam isn't based on anyone real, but Santa is. That's got to help his truthiness at least a little.

And on topic, it rained again, but not as much.

Let me rephrase that.

No one "believes" in Uncle Sam, that is to say, honestly thinks that he exists.

Santa Claus, whether or not he was based on a real person (I have read articles saying that St. Nicholas himelf is actually a myth), is not, in and of himself real, and people do honestly believe that he does exist in reality.

I simply fail to see how anyone can justify lying to their children about this, when almost all ethical systems that people have hold lying in contempt.

On topic, it's now raining fairly heavily. I'll be going to my grandparent's on my mom's side in a few hours for Christmas dinner.


Kevin Enns Ist Krieg

Again, I think you miss the point. Santa is just a face to a special day.

And besides, Christmas has nothing to do with Christianity in any way other than when Protestants (I think) revived the day for a winter celebration. It's just like Valentine's Day: there is no religious significance (in great amount, that is) to almost any culture in the world. In fact, Christmas was a revived holiday based upon a Pagan festival a couple nights long for the winter solstice where men would give each other alcohol, get smashed, and have sex with each other.

Isn't Santa a little better than drunk men having sex as a person little boys and girls can look up to? Corporations need a happy, family-friendly face they can put to stuff in order to make more money 'cause families spend WAY more money than any other demographic.

And remember, little kids believe a lot of things. We tell them Santa is real, not to lie to them, but to create magic for them when they come down the stairs the next morning and see all these presents. I mean, what's wrong with that? None of us are truly screwed up in the head for believing, at one point Santa may have been real. I remember I tried to sneak into a corner of the living room in order 'see Santa' even though my pop told me to get back to bed. I think you may need to stop viewing Santa as a lie and more like magic. Heck, it's why people go to Disneyworld/land; they come to experience happiness and to have fun. It's the same with Santa. 'He' makes us smile.

Edited by Rhynos, 24 December 2008 - 06:02 PM.

And remember, little kids believe a lot of things. We tell them Santa is real, not to lie to them, but to create magic for them when they come down the stairs the next morning and see all these presents. I mean, what's wrong with that? None of us are truly screwed up in the head for believing, at one point Santa may have been real. I remember I tried to sneak into a corner of the living room in order 'see Santa' even though my pop told me to get back to bed. I think you may need to stop viewing Santa as a lie and more like magic. Heck, it's why people go to Disneyworld/land; they come to experience happiness and to have fun. It's the same with Santa. 'He' makes us smile.

Ditto

still no snow.

hit -3*c the other day which is extremely cold for me when we tend to only get around 8 or 9*c

steve, i imagine you got some up there. we've got about 8 inches so far, and it's supposed to come down on friday, too.

And besides, Christmas has nothing to do with Christianity in any way other than when Protestants (I think) revived the day for a winter celebration. It's just like Valentine's Day: there is no religious significance (in great amount, that is) to almost any culture in the world. In fact, Christmas was a revived holiday based upon a Pagan festival a couple nights long for the winter solstice where men would give each other alcohol, get smashed, and have sex with each other.

I think I read somewhere that Jesus wasn't actually born on the 25th of December. The end of December means a lot of things to a lot of different cultures, so in order to get the Pagans to convert to Chatholicism, Jesus' birthday was moved to Dec. 25th. Then the catholics said, "Hey, guess what? Our savior's birthday just happens to be the day you guys get hammered. Why don't we just combine the two celebrations?" And that's where things like Christmas lights (Pagan bonfires) and Christmas trees (pine trees decorated with handmade doodads) came from. And you're right, Rhynos. For the longest time, Catholics hated Christmas because people "sinned" on that day (gluttony and drunkeness were rampant on Christmas).

Santa, on the other hand, comes from the Greek Saint named Nicholas, who gave out gifts to good children. The dutch adopted this idea, and then ironically, a US clergyman decided to write a poem about a man who drove a sleigh pulled by flying reindeer and delivered presents to good children. Unfortunately, there was no real description of the jolly saint, so the poem was later rewritten to include the description of what we now know as Santa Claus.

steve, i imagine you got some up there. we've got about 8 inches so far, and it's supposed to come down on friday, too.

oh yeah dude, totally. i'm freezing right now. too cheap to turn the heat up, too. oh well, fuck the winter.

i heard there's supposed to be more tomorrow. how exciting.

Finally! Snow at last! Should be gone in two hours, though.

Wooo the UK has snow. God I hate snow.

Germany has snow, too =D

Woo we got snow 15cm!!! that's really much for us!!!

yup, same here. seems like whole germany is white. i like

10-15cm here.
Way too late for my ending Christmas Holidays.

yup, same here. seems like whole germany is white. i like

Are you from Germany, Posix?
There's still snow around here. We got free from school!

We had about 3cm and it lasted 2 hours if that