...to tell your kids (future or now) that fictional characters, like Santa, Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny, Sacred Spirit of Elvis, exists? Maybe really young kiddies need to know the truth instead of being caught up with false hopes. Maybe they need to use reason instead of following fairy tales in real life. But, I would use the fictional people and tales, and play along with them, when I have kids just for the hell of it. I mean, I remember when "Santa" brought joy and happiness during my early childhood. And the kiddies seemed quite jovial and cheerful meeting the cheap-shopping-mall Santa (whatever happens to their "letters to Claus," I don't know.) I mean, the voice of logic eventually comes to kids (around 6, 7 or 8 year old?), and no one actually gets scarred for life when exposed the truth.

Anyway, this brings me to my question and purpose of thread. In a society where speaking the truth is a virtue, there really isn't anything morally wrong in planting untruths into the mind of somebody without the intention of harm?

The Spirit of Elvis IS real! Dont spread your propaganda around here!

Personally, I think it's wrong.

Also -- if you have to ask if it's lying or not..it probably is. Just imho.

I remember one year, a drunk or something swirved off the road, through the ditch, across our front lawn and into our living room... in winter, we had to renovate and the living room was where we kept the tree, my brother asked when we were getting a tree and my mom without thinking kinda told him, we aren't getting one this year.

he was crushed and at school the next day he got into a fight with another kids who was talking about his tree, he was angry that Santa would not come cause we had no tree. needless to say, my dad bought a tree that night

It's a fun thing for kids to beleive in sata and the likes... It's fun and it's great to play with the ideas and stuff, it's mean to say stuff like santa ain't coming cause your a bad kid... thats not nice at all... but if your questioning the morality of it? I donno, I think it's a thing that all children NEED to be told...

I remember one of my last years that Sanata brought a gift, it was the Jurassic Park playset with the command center and electric fences (well... not really electric.. duh) and I was like "WOW, santa actually brought it!)

it's obvisouly lying... your telling the kid that someone is bringing gifts and they realy aren't, but it's fun to beleive and kids will eventauly realise that it's pretend and they may be saddened for a while, but they get over it, cause the next year they open their gifts, it won't matter if santa brougt them or not... the family being together is good enough.

Is it really "lying"? Yes.

Is it wrong? I don't think so.

i think its cool. santa was real til i was like 7...i found my sister's unwrapped presents. i said to my parents 'hey i saw that before in a box somewhere' (we moved around christmas time, my parents had boxes laying out and w/some of our presents in them) they then explained that the presents were from them, not santa. I wasn't traumatized though.

Well it is misleading yes, but its not intented to be malicious. If anything, its intended to be good (be good or santa will bugger off)
sooo .... I doubt its bad.

Sure go ahead. I mean why not? Churches do it every sunday.

Holy. Flamebait. Batman.

<3

QFT.

OH, THE IRONY IS UNBEARABLE!

*shifty* What irony?

Technically santa does exist. However not in the way you guys think.
Isn't "his" main purpose to bring joy to others?
Obviously santa doesn't exist, but your parents do. They bring joy to you by bringing you gifts. Thus fulfiling santas purpose.

It is not ok to plant untruths even without the purpose of
lying to them.
They grow up, and if they find out santa doesn't exist well...
I'll let your mind imagine it.

Also, what does happen to the santa claus letters?

A Large Incinerator

<3

It sparks imagination and holds at least some amount of innocence in the mass commercialism this bismal holiday has become. I say let'em believe, granted they find out the truth eventually. But you know, just like everything else you have to use your imagination for...it doesn't have to be real, to hold something worthwhile.

I would think not sparking the imagination like that would be more wrong than considering the lie wrong.

I mean, how many kids don't understand that wrestling is fake? But they still put on the shows.

Is it really necessary for you to try and **** up a decent thread? Does your life really demand that you ruin things?

Agreed ^^

I was always told that Santa wasn't real

Hee. If he hadn't, I would have said something similar. ;

Santa, Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny, God.

Yummy fun stuff I don't feel like dealing with later.

Yes it's wrong. It's a lie. Just as much joy from one special holiday fantasy can be brought on any other days of the year.

I dunno what it's from, or what the exact wording is but:

"I'd rather live 30 minutes of wonderful than a lifetime of nothing special."

There's a short period of time in a person's life where magic, REAL magic, is possible. Why on Earth would you take that away?

It's not magic, it's the blood from the truths that were raped long ago.

Abused as a child were we?

Santa is sickeningly sentimental chicken-soup-for-the-soul garbage, revealing a perverted nostolgia for childhood in those that perpetrate it.

There. I said it.

On a related note, my parents never told me that Santa existed, which made various other adults' annual attempts to mess with my mind infinitely more entertaining.

It's not lying it's make believe.

So wait a second, Santa...doesn't exist?

Statistics show that if you lie to your children about Santa Clause being real, they are more likely to turn out to be gothic.

SANTA IS REAL!!!! STOP RAPING MY CHILDHOOD!!!

...wha?

This looks like a good place to post this.
Do you have some kind of addiction to trying to turn everything into a debate?
That aside... Tu Quoque fallacy. :p

Anyway...

It not really a good idea to get your kids in the habbit of accepting their fantasy as a reality. Nor is it a good idea to belittle and take advantage of a child's trust because they're "just a kid."

I don't try to start debates. I simply point things out. Anyone that debates my statement is the one trying to start a debate.

You totally brought it up... out of nowhere.

I brought it up because someone is talking about a holiday celebrated by a majority of christians, a holiday that "celebrates" the birth of christ, and they asked if it was right to lie to people if it is not to harm them.

How is that bringing it out of nowhere?

The fact that you don't agree with what I said in a joke I made doesn't mean I was doing it just to intice a debate. I was doing it because I thought it was ironic and funny.

...except no large, organized religion worships Santa, the Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, or Elvis.

Oh, and just so you all know, the ghost of Elvis is real.
How do I know?
Because we rocked out in my garage.

...just like I said in the ghost thread.

STOP BELITTLING TEH GHOST OF ELVIS!

omg tell him I said "hi"

I'm sure there's atleast one church of Elvis.

wow

LOL Bill, I was thinking that the WHOLE time I was reading the first few posts... LOL... that's awesome.. I was JUST about to post that too.