Tiresome holiday myths.

• Author: Puterbaugh, Dolores T.
• Position: PARTING THOUGHTS - Essay

IT IS THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN; so we can expect the operose drumbeat of silly statements that continually punish us during the winter holidays. In a desperate attempt at self-defense, I proactively take on some of the worst:

There is no such person as Santa Claus. You may have heard a quiet giggle as I thought, well, that is silly. There is, too, a Santa Claus. Ask any small child. They are not good liars and they understand more about some things than grownups do. They also are unconcerned about seeming clever and cool, which I suspect leads many big people to deny the existence of Santa, God, and Lucifer. Santa is not a fake. Strictly speaking, as almost everyone knows, he was St. Nicholas, a bishop from what is now Turkey. During the Christmas season, a great many people take delight in imitating his legendary generosity, and others stir in the gift-giving of the Magi as part of the tradition of exchanging presents. To attest that St. Nicholas is not real is as silly as saying that Mother Teresa of Calcutta is not real. She, like St. Nicholas, has passed on and yet thousands of people persist in imitating her virtues. Some of us believe that life persists after corporeal death, and so, Santa Claus, as we affectionately call him, is very much alive.

Jesus was a socialist. With all due respect--meaning very little--I sigh and roll my eyes. Anyone asserting this is gravely mistaken. Jesus certainly was not a socialist. Whether the national socialism of 1930s Germany or the worldwide socialism envisioned by Soviets Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin, socialism invariably attempts to replace God with the state. The individual is subjugated and individualism rejected. Jesus called each of us into personal relationship with Him and, in mm, challenged each to take personal responsibility for others. Socialism defers any responsibility for others to a monolithic state. Some of us actually believe we are personally responsible and cannot punt our obligations for our neighbors to an anonymous bureaucrat.

Mary and Joseph were homeless and that is why Jesus was born in a stable. Now my eye-rolling develops into a sort of tic. The whole world (per Caesar Augustus) was to be taxed so everybody had to go to their hometown and pay their due. It was not necessary for Joseph to bring Mary along; he could have left her with family but, for whatever reason--perhaps a protective measure due to the scandal about the precohabitation pregnancy--he elected to bring...