De la esquina cristiana de Parenting

Allí usted es... el alcohol de Navidad estú en el aire, usted estú haciendo compras, usted estú consiguiendo listo cocer al horno las galletas de Navidad con su poco una, y usted toma el sol en el resplandor del encendió maravillosamente el úrbol de Navidad. Los anillos del timbre, y allí son sus amigos, sus amigos religiosos, con su descendiente de oro-golden-haired, listo para el playdate. Usted puede decir algo es incorrecto, y una vez que ocupen a los cabritos, sus amigos, sus amigos religiosos, le sienta abajo para una charla. En ninguna hora plana, se produce una biblia y le demuestran que usted estú poniendo a su niño en el peligro de los fuegos del infierno, y usted usted mismo estú cerca de tener una cita para weenie-asa peligrosamente con el anti-Christ usted mismo. El Papú Noel y las otras atavíos de Navidad, le dicen, es mal puro, saber pagan, y un trabajo sly para engañar a los innocents lejos del dios.

Usted es cortés y usted no demuestra a sus amigos, sus amigos religiosos, la puerta. Usted ofrece las galletas, pero en las miradas que marchitan que sus galletas del reno ganan, usted siéntese abajo rúpidamente. En el hoyo de su estómago hay un cierto principio de la duda a roer, después de todo, Navidad es cumpleaños de Jesás, y no había hombre gastricly dondequiera desafiado en un juego rojo cerca de ese manger. Ademús, usted se siente divertido sobre el convencimiento de sus cabritos sobre Santa de todos modos, porque usted realiza que las longitudes a las cuales usted debe ir a continuar esta creencia llegan a ser mús elaboradas por el año. En el mismo tiempo, usted recuerda sus en-leyes que alquilaron el traje de Santa ya, y usted sabe que el grandpa es listo jugar Santa para el cabrito cuando usted viene encima.

Con sus amigos, sus amigos religiosos, con desaprobación mirúndole, y con la biblia en la tabla de café toda sino accusingly señalar en usted, y con su niño, que usted ama mús que la vida sí mismo, en el cuarto siguiente, usted estú preguntando todo que usted sostiene querido, y el alcohol de Navidad estún amenazando desaparecer. ¿Cuúl es el padre cristiano a hacer?

Continuado de arriba.

Estoy alegre usted pedí. Primero de todos, agradezca a sus amigos, sus amigos religiosos, por su consejo. Ofrézcales algunas galletas no-ofensivas, húgalas con la tarde, y después agite angelicalmente adiós como ellas y su descendiente de oro-golden-haired salen en el extremo del playdate. Después, cueza al horno algunas galletas con su niño, tenga cierta diversión, escriba algunas tarjetas de Navidad, y una vez que su joven se remeta en cama, salga de su biblia y hechemos una ojeada lo que realmente dice:

Papú Noel iguala Satan Claus

Sus amigos religiosos pudieron haber hecho este punto. ¡No estún sola! Estados de los ministerios de la Dial-$$$-Verdad en un artículo de Terry Watkins: ¿"usted notó siempre cómo es fúcil debe transformar" Satan "" de Santa "? Movimiento justo la "n" al extremo.

Continuando en esta vena, el autor cotiza el salmo 99:3 en la ayuda para la suposición eso: "nuestro inglés redacta" a santo, santifica, et el al "viene" de santa ". Los sonidos como mí de Satan "seré como" el plan mús alto estoy en él otra vez."

¿Así pues, su afecto para las galletas de Papú Noel le transforma en una freza de Satan? No. Consigamos verdaderos: los anagrams son muchos de diversión (y una gran manera de mantener a los cabritos ocupados la parte posteriora del coche mientras que viaja), pero al intentar reclinar su fe y teología en anagrams, usted se encontrarú en la arena que cambia de puesto (no roca). . And we all know that the wise man built his house on the rock. . Still not convinced? . Ok, at the risk of sounding blasphemous to your religious friends, what is the anagram of "God"? . See? . Not a good thing to base theology on.

. Lying to your Children about Santa will make them question the Veracity of God

. This is a big one. . No Christian parent wants to be a stumbling block to their child's budding faith. . On the other hand, will the Santa Claus story truly prejudice a child to disbelieve in God? . The answer is a resounding "maybe." Not what you were hoping for, but truth be told, it is quite possible that a child will learn to distrust a parent when s/he realizes that a story mom or dad staunchly held to be the truth, suddenly turns out to be a lie. . Additionally, it is quite possible that a child may be angered by this deceit and by being led on. . On the other hand, when children view the average television fare these days, they see the folks dressing up as Santa Claus, and somewhere along the way the kids are able to make the connection pretty early on.

. Santa Claus is an Example of the Paganization of the Holiday

. Bad news for your religious friends here: Christmas is a holiday born of Pagan lore. . Sometime around 10-4 BC, probably on the evening of the Feast of Tabernacles (October), in a stable where Passover lambs were raised in the city of the shepherd David, a boy was born to a virgin who was descended from said shepherd. . At an angel's command, the boy was named Jesus. . It is fairly well established that Jesus was not actually born on December 25, but that this date coincides with the old Roman Calendar's feast of Dies Natalis Invicti Solis -- the Day of the Birth of the Unconquered Sun (Saturn), which incidentally coincides with the Winter Solstice. . The Roman church chose to celebrate the birthday of Christ on 12/25, thus mixing the age old pagan traditions with the relatively new Christianity as a way of 'converting' souls to Christ, and making the celebration more palatable to the pagans. . As you can see, Christmas was never a purely Christian holiday to begin with.

. Seeing Red?

. By now you are probably wringing your hands. . Whoever claimed parenting was easy? . Here are some suggestions:

1. . Only you know your child; I don't, and neither do your religious friends. . God gave you the privilege and obligation to raise your child. . It is your duty to train your child in the way s/he should go, so that when s/he is old, s/he will not depart from it. . It is up to you to impress God's commands on your child and to talk to your offspring about God at home, on the way to the grocery store, while waiting at the doctor's office... . (Deuteronomy 6:5-7). . Ask yourself, would telling your child that Santa Claus is real jive with these Scriptures? . Would it cause problems for your child, in keeping with the warning of Matthew 18:6?

2. . If you do decide to tell your child that Santa Claus is real, don't go the n-th degree to keep this belief alive. . A child should be able to overcome a little disappointment relatively unscathed if they find out that this is a game that adults play, but if the lie is kept going with more and more elaborate schemes and protestations, there will possibly be a backlash.

3. . So you have told your child Santa was real but s/he is beginning to question the story and now you want to "fess up" ... . but you are biting your nails and dreading the talk. . Don't; instead, simply tell junior that when s/he was little, s/he loved to play "pretend" and "dress up." Explain that when s/he was little, s/he enjoyed pretending that Santa Claus was real, and that adults love to play "pretend" and "dress up" for the Christmas holidays. . Tell your little one that s/he already knows that Christmas is really a celebration of Jesus' birthday, and that folks everywhere have invented fun ways of celebrating this wonderful day. . So yes, Santa Claus is not actually a real person, but he represents the things that are good and worthy, such as kindness, generosity, and fun...just like God.

4. . Instead of saying that Santa is real, just tell your child that adults like to play "dress up" during Christmas, and like to play "pretend" with kids. . Explain that Santa is not real, but just a fun game we play during the holidays. . You can still have pictures taken with Santa (it's ok for junior to know that it's just someone playing the part), bake Santa cookies, and have Santa Christmas cards. . I can tell you from personal experience that children love to be included in the grown-up game of "Santa" and will love to "pretend" to believe Santa is real.

. Still wondering what to do? . Easy! . Read your Bible and pray. . Understand the full impact of Deuteronomy 6 and Matthew 18, and then decide for yourself how to best parent your child with respect to the Santa Claus persona. . Personally, I choose door number four.