By Justin Ahrens, December 22, 2008

In David Foss’ Dec. 7 letter to the editor titled “Stop worshipping Santa Claus,” he states that Santa Claus gives us nothing, he is a worthless character of our imagination, and we must discontinue the lunacy of worshipping him because he is a fictitious character. The admiration of Santa Claus is offset by the increasing disregard of Jesus Christ according to Foss. I ask, though, what if we stop worshipping Jesus Christ?

Why does he not fall into the same category as Santa Claus? Santa is always watching over his people, checking if they are naughty or nice so that on Christmas Eve the nice can receive their presents and the naughty can instead receive coal. Jesus is also always watching over his people, evaluating their decisions and sending the good to heaven and the bad to hell. Santa is always there in the North Pole, waiting for the letters and wishes of the people, so he can give false hope to the people that they will receive whatever is on their wish list.

After all, everyone knows that Santa Claus is a fictitious character that was created to put a face on Christmas in order to generate popularity and revenue.

How is this not similar to the face that was applied to the Bible to generate a following and a purpose to the text?

Santa and Jesus are just byproducts to provide people with a bit of happiness. Foss concludes, “We must discontinue the lunacy of worshiping Santa Claus.” I say: we must evaluate the lunacy of worshiping Jesus Christ.