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True. Santa gave me presents every year for about a decade, but God never gave me squat. No
comparison. |
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Yeah. Let's use the Easter bunny instead. Why compare God to temporal things? |
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Yes it is idiotic to do that of coarse. |
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Why would you want to, they have nothing in common. Funnily enough because neither truly exist, in
the sense that there is one ultimate Santa or god |
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Idiotic to compare them let's see
look 1
God proportedly created the world and looks after our immortal souls Santa brings us presents.
Look2
God tells us we can't do certain things because they are "wrong". Santa tresspesses into our homes
eats our food and drinks our milk.
Guess it's all in how you look at things. |
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I wouldn't say idiotic. I'd say not a good parallel. Why? Because "God" is proven by the existence
of nature and Santa is imaginary. There was a jolly old "saint" Nicholas, though, right? |
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Santa Claus was invented by a marketing guy to sell more junk at Christmas time. Do not try to
compare an advertising scheme to the Creator of the universe, please.... |
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God and Santa represent two completely different ideals of Christmas.
Santa represents society's gradual slide into consumerism, whereas God represents pure morals and
kind, generous behaviour. God is the ultimate good guy, Santa just brings toys without batteries. |
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I am with you, there are no similarities between a fictional character who randomly gives toys to
every gullible Christian kid in the world and god. |
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Yes, it is idiotic. We know that Santa Claus is loosely based on a real person, albeit changed
dramatically by Coca Cola for a marketing campaign.
God is just a complete fantasy with nothing to back it up. |
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I'm not a hugely religious person, but As you and I all know Santa is a fictional character... And
MOST people refer to god as real so to those of you who think this then yes its a dumb comparison. |
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Um, you think? |
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"Invisible man in the sky who controls everything and made everything and was always there" vs.
"Jolly fat man who rides a sleigh pulled by flying reindeer to deliver presents to good
children."
Honestly, Santa seems more believable when you phrase it like that. |
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Exactly the opposite. Drawing comparisons means that you are not an idiot. It shows that you
understand something beyond its face value. |
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Why not you believe and wake up one morning and say it's gone |
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Why not they're both imaginary. |
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Both are fictional characters told to people of lower intelligence or of limited capacity to reason,
in order for those people to behave in socially acceptable ways.
They serve similar purposes and can be compared or even substituted in some cases. |
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Neither exist, so it's a fair comparison. |
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The whole premise of this debate misses the point. Those who compare faith in a God with belief in
Santa are making a point themselves. They could just as easily be saying "Easter Bunny" or "little
green men". All you are saying, Mark, is that you believe in a god, and disagree with those who do
not. You could have been a lot more direct and said just that. The Santa comparison is just a tool
to make a point. By the way, There's a monster in my closet, which is just as provable as the
existence of an omnipotent, omniscient creator who is intensely interested in human affairs, and can
break the natural laws of the universe for those who get on their knees and beg him to. |
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I think it's a perfectly valid analogy.
Your premise that god is the creator of the universe is not sustainable. |
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Well, it seems by comparison that the wrath of God, as sapeins call it, has done more damage over
time than Satan, therefore
without Satan nations would have long ago
declared God as unhealthy for humanity.
\So we need Jesus as the promoter and
Satan as the definitive underdog. |
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Maybe it's not so idiotic afterall. The reality is that somebody brought the gifts under the
tree--this is not fantasy. Now, the mistake is that the correct identity of the agent of the gifts
is not santa, but parents, etc. (sorry for those who still believe in santa!)
Now, the gift of creation and life are kind of like Christmas. It is a gift. Who or what is Santa
of the universe. The naturalist/atheist may declare santa is really the physical world--molecules,
natural laws, energy, chemical, electrical and physical reactions, etc. The theist claims that the
gifts of creation and life are really not such a fantasy as the naturalist thinks. Life and
creation have too many characteristics of a mind and agent behind it all, based on good evidence.
So, the Santa for the theist is not only the giver of the physical creation and natural laws, but
also the Being behind all the rest of existence which best explains everything. In other words, the
naturalist santa is really like the santa in the department stores and the theist Santa is more like
your real parents. |
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I quite like the magic gumball machine comparison for god. That is an even better one.
There is a comparison to make between god and Santa. It interests me to see how kids believe about
Santa and the magical and wonderful things he can do. They believe because they have been told, no
just by their parents, who they naturally trust, but everyone around them that Santa brings the
presents. The children see the presents that have appeared overnight, they have been told about
Santa, that's proof. Santa exists, he brings presents on Christmas morning.
They are not to know that there are other forces at work. They only stop believing when told by mum
(who they still trust) that it was all a ruse. |
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I had never come across this comparison before but, now that you raise it, it sounds pretty good to
me. In the view of most Christians, God really is a kind of Santa figure.
Are you a pointless empty void? Santa\God will bring you a universe for christmas. Are you a planet
barren of life? God will bring you amoebas swimming in the waters, birds chirruping in the trees,
and, of course, the fully realised forms of men and women who don't need to evolve in any way.
Are you a lonely person because your beloved relative is about to die of some disease? Santa will
bring you a cure. And if he doesn't, it must mean that either you or your relative were "bad" and
therefore didn't deserve one. |
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01 May 2008 01:39
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