The case against Christian parents telling their children Santa is real

Kate Orson is convinced that lying to our children about Father Christmas undermines faith in God

For an alternative view see here.

When my daughter was a toddler, I was a non-believer who’d just trained to be a parent coach. I remember reading online in some gentle parenting groups about how some parents were not doing Santa because it’s lying to our children and breeds mistrust.

I remember mentioning it to my husband and asking what he thought about it. He was against the idea as he saw Santa as a way of feeding the imagination and bringing magic into childhood. So, we introduced the idea of Santa Claus, and I didn’t think much more about it, until, nearly a decade later when I became a Christian.

Is it a ‘good lie’ because it’s a lie that comes ladened with gifts, with fantasy and joy? I don’t think so

For those intervening years I thought that the worst part of Santa was the way children are manipulated into good behaviour or ‘Santa won’t come.’ I’d read research on rewards, and how they aren’t the best way to instil good behaviour as they destroy intrinsic motivation. So, our Santa wasn’t one who provided presents in return for good behaviour, and I was always quick to debunk this idea when we came across it in the books or stories I read with my daughter.

When I became a Christian when my daughter was aged 10 I quickly realised ……