Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post

meembo · 11-13-2003, 07:22 PM

Santa Claus really does exist because people believe in him. Just because you can't punch Santa in the face doesn't mean Santa doesn't have a face. Kids know Santa's face, in a real Platonic way! In fact, Santa is a very powerful force in American Christian culture.

You might argue that Santa isn't a person -- then I think you're getting closer to the real argument. Why then do parents perpetuate elaborate stories about Santa? Not because they "know" Santa personally, but because they understand and respect what Santa means to their children and what Santa represents (love, family, generousity, magic, etc). Insisting that Santa doesn't "exist" because no male specimen can be produced is a cynical attempt to cut off the ideal of what Santa represents at the knees, and that's brutish and careless, not the way I choose to get to understand something.

One needs not see Santa in his underwear to see and understand Santa's place in our society. God is likewise, though of course the paternalistic metaphor goes far deeper than Santa's love and generousity. I don't think God is a thing, a noun (neither is love, for that matter) but is an understanding of what is good and superior and ideal to us. We know the dialectic nature of good and bad -- that's hardly deniable -- and from that understanding alone we begin to understand what God is. Saying God doesn't exist to me is like saying air doesn't exist because we can't see it -- it's a sophomoric arguement that ignores what we already sense, if not understand.

I will never be an apologist for the existence of God. I think philosophically God exists. I see powerful good forces in action in the world, and I see that as the grace of God. I see plenty of stuff that science in my life can't begin to touch, yet I feel science and intellect is perfectly in synch with faith if you let it!

11-13-2003, 07:22 PM	#35 (permalink)
meembo Junkie Location: Connecticut	Santa Claus really does exist because people believe in him. Just because you can't punch Santa in the face doesn't mean Santa doesn't have a face. Kids know Santa's face, in a real Platonic way! In fact, Santa is a very powerful force in American Christian culture. You might argue that Santa isn't a person -- then I think you're getting closer to the real argument. Why then do parents perpetuate elaborate stories about Santa? Not because they "know" Santa personally, but because they understand and respect what Santa means to their children and what Santa represents (love, family, generousity, magic, etc). Insisting that Santa doesn't "exist" because no male specimen can be produced is a cynical attempt to cut off the ideal of what Santa represents at the knees, and that's brutish and careless, not the way I choose to get to understand something. One needs not see Santa in his underwear to see and understand Santa's place in our society. God is likewise, though of course the paternalistic metaphor goes far deeper than Santa's love and generousity. I don't think God is a thing, a noun (neither is love, for that matter) but is an understanding of what is good and superior and ideal to us. We know the dialectic nature of good and bad -- that's hardly deniable -- and from that understanding alone we begin to understand what God is. Saying God doesn't exist to me is like saying air doesn't exist because we can't see it -- it's a sophomoric arguement that ignores what we already sense, if not understand. I will never be an apologist for the existence of God. I think philosophically God exists. I see powerful good forces in action in the world, and I see that as the grace of God. I see plenty of stuff that science in my life can't begin to touch, yet I feel science and intellect is perfectly in synch with faith if you let it! __________________ less I say, smarter I am Last edited by meembo; 11-13-2003 at 07:26 PM..