Re: Santa Claus WAS: meanings not in english

My family is mostly Christian, some more devout than others, but
none of them is anti-Santa (or anti-Halloween, for that matter).
Well, my cousin's born-again husband may be, but if so he's in
the minority.  I was raised Christian, and every year at Christmas
we would make a birthday cake for Jesus - but we also put out milk
and cookies for Santa.  I remember pretending to believe in Santa
longer than I actually did because I didn't have the heart to break
it to my mom that he wasn't real - there seems to be a small logical
fallacy in there somewhere. :)

My wife is Jewish by definition, but was raised without religion.
Her family observed the secular aspects of Christmas and Easter -
including raising the kids to believe in Santa and the Bunny -
because that was what the neighbors did.  My wife even went to
a summer Christian Bible camp one year because her friends went,
but she was unimpressed and never went back. :)

In any case, neither of us seems to have been terribly traumatized
by the experience.  Based on the evidence of many generations, I don't
think you can support a statement that people who were never taught
to believe in Santa turn out any less messed up than people who
were taught to believe in him.  :)

-Mark