Canto
XXVII
Gangster
Gospel
Canto XXVII
Petrus Romanus
Satanic Santa
As an Evangelical Christian, I've come across the familiar 'Santa' argument. This is when the proselyte claims a childhood belief in God which was dashed the moment they realized that Santa wasn't real -- and if Santa isn't real, then what else isn't real?
Of course, this is a false excuse on two levels. First, it doesn't logically follow that if the one thing isn't real, the other is also suspect. These children could easily have praised God and thanked Him for revealing the truth about Santa to them -- which brings me to my next point:
They never believed in God in the first place... The childish concept of God is no different than Santa or the Easter Bunny. He is an imaginary friend -- they 'pray' to him and have feelings inspired by this entirely pretentious 'relationship', but unless they truly are spirit baptized, it is always a superficial faith which doesn't bear the fruits of the Spirit or the moral underpinnings of a transformative faith based on fidelity, integrity and sanctity. Christ is God Omnipotent and a 'pretend friend' cannot resurrect.
So I debated in my heart, since the Santa myth engenders doubt in children (making it more difficult to convert later in life) -- and why would it? Because their parents told them it was true? Because the guy in the Santa suit in the mall told them it was true? Because the weather man on the local news tracked his sleigh route on radar? Because the entire universe affirmed the reality of Santa before declaring it a joke, often followed by classmate teasing and smirks from older siblings (all of which become psychic pathologies precluding future faith?) Is it moral to tell children about Santa, the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny and other such myths and legends?
And what about the neighbor's children who already believe? Is it right to dash their hopes? Or do we (as Evangelicals) have a responsibility to bring people into the Faith in such a way as not to frustrate them or cause unnecessary disunity within their family -- even if that means permitting them to persist in their temporary delusion while not expressly validating it? Children (and the adults who act like them) must be brought into Truth carefully, else they trample the pearls (though the line between tact and dereliction is at times razor thin) -- not to mention the fact that the Traditional date of Christmas itself began as a Pagan Holiday! but before we put this issue before Yahweh, let's first ask Yahoo:
YAHOO ANSWERS
(Religion and Spirituality)
QUESTION:
Moral Quandry: Is it right to tell a child that Santa is real? If so, then why; If not, then why?
RESPONSES:
1) Learning that santa was not real came as an angry shock to me at about 8 years old or so. God's word the bible is full of instructions to tell the truth. The big question is where did christmas come from? Check out where christmas came from! The custom is mentioned in the bible as some form of idol worship. Read Jeremiah 10:1-6. This sure sounds like the christmas tree. Note verses 3 and 4 where it talks about futile customs.
Check it out for yourself. Don't take my word for it.
Food for thought.
Source(s):
New King James Bible
2) You are asking if lying is right. Do you want her to believe you about other things after she grows up?
We told our kids some silly things to see if they could catch them, but if it seemed they believed them, we told them the truth right away. That way they developed the habit of thinking for themselves. But we certainly wouldn't cause them to spend their formative years believing in an old man with a long white beard that lives in a white fluffy place far away, and who sees and judges all their acts and rewards the good ones. On Christmas, yet. No telling what irrational beliefs that could lead to in later life! ;o)
3) think it's a moral quandary only if you believe in the real "reason for the season". As a Christian, I regret the whole Santa thing...all it did was give my daughter someone else to be thankful to for the gifts! She was 10 when I started making Christmas about Jesus and celebrating His birth. She says she'll not make Santa an aspect of Christmas with her kids. But, more specifically, I don't think you're asking the religious aspect, just the "moral" aspect. For that answer, I'd say "no" to Santa and get all the credit for your child's joy on Christmas morning!
4) I wouldn't personally lie to my children about anything.
My parents never did.
It helps with trust and the entire relationship.
You can just tell them that Santa is like the symbol of Christmas to make it more enjoyable for everyone. Kids love stories. Nothing wrong with giving presents and watching Rudolph and Frosty on TV.
That's what Christmas should be all about, not some stupid, cruel, scary, violent, hateful fairytale like the bible.
Why would you want to lie to your children and mislead them about what's real and what's not, especially when you don't have to?
They will still love and enjoy everything about Christmas either way.
Just my opinion...
ADDED: Christian people, isn't it a "sin" to lie?
Just checking.
Oh well, you lie to them when you tell them that your god is real too, so I guess it doesn't really matter, does it?
5) no it is not right to teach children to lie . So don't tell them that its jesus's birthday either as he was not born dec 25. this date was taken from the Pagan calendar
6) Duh, Santa is real you dipsht! The guy just goes under the codename "parent/other" when he's not busy conjuring up some Christmas magic!
7) No that is a lie,from Satan change the letters around.
Santa Satan
8) Why not? We dont know everything and Santa could be minutely symbolic for God.
People seem to forget that our Lord Jesus spoke in parables and the whole book of Revelation is said to be symbolic from the beginning. Parables help teach those who cant handle the reality or understand it. Kids cannot handle or understand the reality of Jesus, so you have to teach them little parables along the way. What no one remembers old nursery rhymes? Are those evil too?
Yes, and all the hypocrites will thumbs down me. They know so little about the world but seem to think they know everything about God and the spirit.
9) I can only answer for myself, friends, and my 9 siblings. We loved Santa. But when we got old enough to start doubting and ask our parents about him we were happy to be told the truth.
10) Yes, you should.
I still remember the joy of believing in Santa Claus when I was a child, and I am so glad that my parents enforced this tradition.
With this, I can appreciate Christmas more, through my parents' love and generosity in Jesus Christ.
11) I think it's okay. Sooner or later each kid needs to learn how to figure out what is bullcrap on their own. Santa and the Easter Bunny are good for that.
12) If a parent is going to tell their children that Santa Claus is real, then they have absolutely no right to ever punish that child for lying.
13) I don't get the mindset that lying is okay if it's fun.
14) My mom told me Santa was fake from the start; but she believes in Jesus Christ. Go figure =/
15) I think so, yes.
Children are so happy and excited at Christmas. When they find out the truth, and all of them do eventually, it is not a dramatic event.
The real lie is telling children that Jesus was born of a virgin on that day.
16) No. Christmas is about Christ and the birth of Jesus not some fat ol' jolly fellow that doesn't exist.
17) no it is not,
18) It exites them!!
And a happy new year! Well, thanks to all the respondents -- some answers were nice (others naughty!), but I'll let the reader draw their own conclusion.
As for me, well... of course I wouldn't condone lying to children for any reason, but what's the lie? After all, there is a real Catholic Saint Nicolas, he did historically give gifts to children on Christmas, and insofar as his legacy continues to inspire us to give gifts to children (millions of children the world over) -- even in countries where people don't have chimneys, well... I'll just leave it right there!
HO HO HO!!
The Night Before SEXmas
'Twas the night before SEXmas
And all through the Whitehouse
A sexy intern was stirring
In a blue cocktail blouse.
The stockings was hung
And so was the President
According to Monica
'Dat sh*t was bent!!'
The first lady was sleeping
All snug in her bed
While Ole Saint Bill was gettin'
Some serious head!!
There wasn't no kerchief
There wasn't no cap
So onto that blue dress
Ran out all of his sap!!
Snapping that thong
Like a sugarplum vision
Thank God she wasn't an Israeli spy
On a top secret mission!!
And just when you thought
You couldn't take any more
We come to find out
He tried to use her ass as a humidor!!
Now Hillary knows
Tammy Wynette had it right
Merry SEXmas to all
And to all (yup, you guessed it!)... a very SEXY goodnight!!
Dr. Mindbender
Life is desire;
Death is fear.
To live is to consummate;
To fear is to desecrate.
A loving person desires something to occur;
A fearing person desires something not to occur.
When a man desires something to occur, he hopes.
When a man desires something not to occur, he mopes.
Hope magnified is ecstasy;
Fear magnified is anguish.
When a man fears anguish,
he will consummate his own fear
in order to 'control' the very anguish he so fears.
He will yell obscenities in public
to dispel the fear of being ostracized.
He will stutter and stammer
to dispel the fear of misspeaking.
He will engage in deviant sex acts
to dispel the fear of becoming a deviant.
He will commit suicide
to dispel the fear of death:
(Is 66:4) I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear: but they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not.
Fear is inward;
Love is outward.
Fear is about yourself;
Love is about another.
Fear is a spiritual problem,
not a behavioral one.
You can transfer a man's fear from one object to another.
But channeling one's fear not a cure;
it is 'behavior modification'.
Brainwashing is a technique
whereby you transfer one's subliminal fears
into an object you control, in order to control them.
Brainwashing is a form of torture.
Is it moral to use brainwashing in warfare?
No. You cannot wish another man to fear.
Is it wise to use torture to break an enemy?
No. If they didn't crack during Jihadi training camp,
they won't crack under you.
Does the information acquired by torture prevent further attacks?
No. They're attacking us because we're torturing them.
Is it moral to preach Jesus to Guantanamo inmates?
Yes, and the information acquired by Christian converts
is reliable upon pain of death.
Does Amerik.k.k.a have its head up its ass?
Yes. And we've been caught with our pants down.
Religion is not 'behavior modification';
Idolatry is.
Religion is not brainwashing;
Religion is not transference;
Idolatry is:
(Ex 32:8) They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
Psychomeds cannot save us.
Save us from what?! Yourself?! Jesus can't even do that!!
Jesus saved you from the wrath of the father;
None but yourself can heal your mind.
Psychomeds cannot restore your sanity.
What sanity?!
The APA definition of clinical insanity is so ambiguous
as to include almost everyone (except homosexuals!)
The mental illness designation
is a social stigma and a horrible abuse of authority.
Nobody knows what sanity is,
and nobody believes they are insane
(unless they're a criminal defendant!)
Faith is not insanity;
Religion is not idolatry;
Truth is not psychology;
The golden rule is not a golden calf:
(Ex 32:17-28) And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said unto Moses, There is a noise of war in the camp. 18And he said, It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome: but the noise of them that sing do I hear. 19And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses' anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount. 20And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strawed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it.
21And Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them? 22And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord wax hot: thou knowest the people, that they are set on mischief. 23For they said unto me, Make us gods, which shall go before us: for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. 24And I said unto them, Whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off. So they gave it me: then I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf. 25And when Moses saw that the people were naked; (for Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies:)
26Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the Lord's side? let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him. 27And he said unto them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbour. 28And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men.
There are two kinds of people in this world: those who are prepared to die for their ideas, and those that aren't. But if you are not prepared to die for your ideas, then be prepared to die for mine:
(Dan 9:11) Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him.
Life and death are absolute;
Love and fear are absolute.
There is no life and death;
There is no love in fear;
Fear casts out love.
The physiological sensation of fear is anguish;
But the sensation of love is euphoria.
There are infinite gradations of anguish.
as they are infinite gradations of euphoria.
Anguish tinged with sadness becomes anxiety or depression;
Anguish tinged with joy becomes vainglory.
Anguish tinged with anger becomes ire.
There is no limit to a person's anxiety.
You cannot ever be truly 'scared to death',
but you can become so scared
as to impede vital organ function.
People experiencing heightened states of anxiety
have jumped out of windows, shot themselves,
hung themselves and slit their wrists to escape the terror:
(Rev 9:6) And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.
Only Christians fear.
Non-Christians don't sin,
but rather, they become sin for us.
If a non-Christian says he fears,
he is mimicking us.
They know not what they do.
Only the truly wicked are received into paradise.
There is no sinner that does not repent:
repentance is sin:
(Gal 2:17) But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin?
I am the Devil.
I drink God's blood.
I obey no law, but the lawlessness of grace:
(1 Cor 6:12) All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.
There is no hormonal difference between sinner and demon;
but there is between sinner and saint.
If a saint lapses back into sin, he is (physiologically) a sinner;
but if a sinner is renewed to faith, he becomes hormonally sanctified.
It is biologically impossible for a sinner to live;
It is biologically impossible for a believer to die
(even if his parents were unrighteous):
(Jer 31:29-30) In those days they shall say no more, The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children's teeth are set on edge. 30But every one shall die for his own iniquity: every man that eateth the sour grape, his teeth shall be set on edge.
Faithless Judaism hedges its bet on flesh over faith;
but when the house folds, they will all be forced to ante up:
(Jer 31:31-34) Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: 32Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord: 33But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
A phobia is the result of self-induced brainwashing.
Children experience nightmares and develop phobias
in an attempt to control their surroundings.
If you can channel your fear onto a rodent,
then you can vicariously control that fear
through avoidance of the rodent.
Of course, there is an inherent problem
with the technique of psychological transference
-- you can't always control the rodent:
(Is 59:5-6) They hatch cockatrice's eggs, and weave the spider's web: he that eateth of their eggs dieth, and that which is crushed breaketh out into a viper. 6Their webs shall not become garments, neither shall they cover themselves with their works: their works are works of iniquity, and the act of violence is in their hands.
People are capable of developing all kinds of phobias.
I once knew a woman who was afraid of TV sets.
Others are afraid to leave their houses.
Regardless, there is no limit to the terror one can experience
when confronted by the object of their fears.
Some create psychic talismans to ward off anxiety;
The man who fears to enter a room,
opens and shuts the door 27 times
in order to ward off the anxiety.
Of course, there is a big problem with psychic talismans
-- there's no flawlessly-crafted talisman or flawlessly-executed ritual:
(Ex 20:25-26) And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it. 26Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon.
Religion is not a cult;
but cult leaders (and psychiatrists) manipulate peoples' fears
in order to elicit behavioral responses.
People rescued from cults
are in a constant state of terror and confusion.
They have been wrenched away from their talismans.
They need the gospel of Jesus Christ, not re-conditioning.
Children must not be reunited with cult-member parents:
(Matt 19:13-15) Then were there brought unto him little children, that he should put his hands on them, and pray: and the disciples rebuked them. 14But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven. 15And he laid his hands on them, and departed thence.
In moments of clarity and zeal, you are in the Spirit;
In moments of doubt and anxiety, you are estranged from God.
(True religion brings us closer to Ultimate Reality;
Fear distorts Reality):
(Is 35:3-4) Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees. 4Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you.
Psychiatrists believe that you can overcome a phobia
by 'facing your fears';
They see fear as a behavioral problem.
But love doesn't prove itself
by confronting temptation;
Love proves itself by avoiding temptation:
(Luke 11:4) And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.
True theology is an open, honest and intellectually rigorous investigation
into the nature of Ultimate Reality.
(not like science):
(1 Ki 3:9-12) Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people? 11And God said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life; neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies; but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment; 12Behold, I have done according to thy words: lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee.
Elegy
Elegant elegy
Elevated to a level of excellence
Far exceeding the delicate eloquence
Of my elemental dialectic
But El Shaddai
Raised up high
On Golgotha, doth cry
'Eli!... Eli!...
WHY?
Navigation
LORD JESUS CHRIST,SON OF THE FATHER,SEND NOW YOUR SPIRIT OVER THE EARTH.LET THE HOLY SPIRIT LIVEIN THE HEARTS OF ALL NATIONS,THAT THEY MAY BE PRESERVEDFROM DEGENERATION, DISASTER AND WAR.MAY THE LADY OF ALL NATIONS,WHO ONCE WAS MARY,BE OUR ADVOCATE.AMEN.
LORD JESUS CHRIST,
SON OF THE FATHER,
SEND NOW YOUR SPIRIT OVER THE EARTH.
LET THE HOLY SPIRIT LIVE
IN THE HEARTS OF ALL NATIONS,
THAT THEY MAY BE PRESERVED
FROM DEGENERATION, DISASTER AND WAR.
MAY THE LADY OF ALL NATIONS,
WHO ONCE WAS MARY,
BE OUR ADVOCATE.
AMEN.
