The Sun, The Importance of Reason, and Santa - Reader comments at The New York Sun

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Reader comment on:
Yes, Virginia ...

Submitted by Rev Keith Wright, Dec 22, 2007 04:45

No, Virginia...there is no Santa.

Virginia, this is a time of year when many in the world celebrate the day the Christian church took the holiday, "Sol Invictus" and created the Christmas holiday, Christmas. The origin of this holiday, thusly, had nothing to do with the birth of Christ.

Virginia, as the masthead of the sun states, "The journal for people of reason." Lieing is wrong, Virginia. To tell a child that Santa is a make-believe figure based on a real person is one thing...insisting to children that Santa IS real, is another...and very wrong.

Use your reason, Virginia...as impossible as the fables of Genesis, the New Testament, and the Easter Bunny are, so is the mythical Santa.

The Santa myth teaches it is ok to lie sometimes...like saying that Jesus existed, or God talks to people, or touching the TV screen will cure your inoperable cancer.

A religion which requires its followers to lie to themselves to accept fantastic claims and then asks those same followers to lie to their children is inherantly evil.

Virginia, if you want to have fun with a pretend Santa, then have fun...but Santa isn't real, and it is wrong to state otherwise.

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Other reader comments on this article

Comment	By	Date
still the best editorial written..and of course if it is in the sun its true, merry xmas [MORE]	robert	Dec 25, 2007 16:48
I was hoping to see this article here today. It's one of my all-time favourite pieces of writing. The Sun... [MORE]	Perilous	Dec 24, 2007 20:21
Virginia O'Hanlon, aged 8 when she penned her concerned enquiry to the all-knowing New York Sun, was a student in... [MORE]	Katya	Dec 23, 2007 05:41
To: The Editor I heard about this when I was a child, but should be pleased to learn anything about the... [MORE]	Nancy Joyce Jancourtz	Dec 22, 2007 08:24
Ms. Jancourtz, The Kitsap Sun (WA state) has just published an article about Virginia's letter and its response. According to the... [MORE]	Marcia	Dec 23, 2007 18:41
No, Virginia...there is no Santa. Virginia, this is a time of year when many in the world celebrate the day the...	Rev Keith Wright	Dec 22, 2007 04:45
The task that faces every child is learning about the world—a job that can never be completed. The task that... [MORE]	George Jochnowitz	Dec 21, 2007 23:31
This is one of the most beautiful pieces ever written about the spirit of Christmas. ....George Townsend Linden, NJ [MORE]	George Townsend	Dec 21, 2007 13:07
Needed more than ever today when the politically correct, crowd devoid of any passion or interest except to insyre the... [MORE]	Stephen Struk	Dec 21, 2007 11:41
Santa Claus represents love and generosity. Let this be, for always. When children see Santa Claus that will remind them... [MORE]	paul	Dec 22, 2007 18:38
i think this christmas story ranks close to the top of the list of all christmas stories. it has been... [MORE]	richard rumph	Dec 21, 2007 10:33
This Editorial was read to me, as part of our traditional Christmas celebrations, all through my childhood and it is... [MORE]	Katherine	Dec 21, 2007 03:19

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