People Think It's Funny That . . .

[jlaw172364]

. . . Their Children Don't Like Sitting on a Costumed Stranger's Lap.

http://blog.sfgate.com/parenting/2012/1 ... re/#9071-1

[justdrew]

[barracuda]

Round yon virgin mother and child, holy infant so tender and mild.

[JackRiddler]

Keep the MERRY, dump the MYTH. This is the now-infamous billboard near Times Square, bought by atheists.org. An embarrassment to the cause. Can you count all the ways in which this is counterproductive and just wrong-headed?

[crikkett]

[Allegro]

Good ^^^ One, crikkett! That’s hilarious.

...Can you count all the ways in which this is counterproductive and just wrong-headed?

Well, at the moment, no, but here’s an instance of wrong-headedness, I think.

If a group of vexed activists are claiming Jesus’ life was a myth, then are those activists presuming we dump all the music whose lyrics and texts portray his life, too? Are we able to conceive how much music that would be? Like billions and billions of pieces of music?
See Allegro .

Okay, here’s another. The fellah, Saint Nicholas (not to be confused with you or Santa Clause), wasn’t a myth, however, according to Wiki, Santa is a figure with legendary, mythical, historical and folkloric origins. So, some atheists are suggesting two myths played against each other in the billboard: one represents merriment, and the other suffering Jesus. What devoted and staunch Christians want their suffering in Jesus name mocked? Yes, the billboard could be thought a mass of contradictions, if the viewer is of such thinking.

Money spent for the billboard’s art work and construction and installation was financially advantageous for some.
A year’s end deductible.

_________________
See Israel and Iran: A love story?

[JackRiddler]

Myths are stories or metaphors that tell us how to live in the world. So the Jesus of Christianity is a myth, whether or not he was a historical person. In fact there are different Jesus myths, given the variety of Christian belief. But most people think myth is synonymous with falsehood. The ad will confuse many people, since Santa Claus is an acknowleged myth whereas Christ is widely thought of as a real person even by people who don't believe in his divinity. The most important point to me, however, concerns the meaning of the Santa myth, of which there are actually two. The first Santa myth is the fairy tale told to small children (as part of a vast conspiracy involving most adults) to pretend there is a magical man who lives at the North Pole and visits every house in the world to deliver Christmas presents. Whether or not you think the practice of this deception on children is acceptable, its importance fades compared to the other myth of Santa, which is practically constitutive of American society: Santa is the most recognizable symbol of the myth of overconsumption as a path to happiness and the good life. If you stand at this billboard and look in any other direction, you will see many other billboard Santas, pimping for Macy's, Target and other consumerist temples. This is an endorsement of consumerism as much as it is supposed to be a rejection of faith-based belief. Hooray for Capitalist Santa Claus, boo on Big Questions. I don't know if that was intended or merely the product of naivete about the meaning of Santa Claus. The latter wouldn't surprise me, given the atheist activists I know. They're a pretty literal-minded bunch. The billboard has little to do with atheism or, obviously, skepticism, and it highlights my problem with the present-day atheist movement as it has emerged under Harris, Dawkins, Hitchens, et al. These are upholders of the systemic status quo who have hijacked a movement that was once liberatory. To say nothing of how appallingly ineffective this is for the outlay. It will insult many and convince no one. The simple-minded binary opposition of keep and dump fails to make atheism look smart or thoughtful, which is one of its most important attractions. I would never have designed anything around these two pictures -- a phony Coca-Cola Santa vs. a high-art sculpture of Jesus -- but if I'd been forced to do so, the right caption would have been obvious: "You don't believe he's real - Why do you believe HE is?" Jesus may not too often speak for me, but Santa absolutely doesn't.

[jlaw172364]

"The first Santa myth is the fairy tale told to small children (as part of a vast conspiracy involving most adults) to pretend there is a magical man who lives at the North Pole and visits every house in the world to deliver Christmas presents. Whether or not you think the practice of this deception on children is acceptable . . . ."

As a child, I recalled the discovery of being deceived as a child to be vaguely horrifying, although it was in a different context. I recall doubting the Santa story almost immediately, as in, as soon as I heard that a fat man could slide down a chimney, leave presents for me, then go up it again, and then do this for every good child in the world, all in one night. It sounded utterly implausible to me, so I would try and sneak down to witness it. When my parents prevented me from witnessing it the first time, I was then 90% sure it was all BS. The third attempt succeeded, and it resulted in me witnessing the parents placing the presents undetected.

Years later, I found the adult acceptance of this "harmless" deception more horrifying than the actual deception itself. Most adults don't question why they do what they do. They just do it because other people did it to them, or their friends are doing it. Nobody thinks these things through at all.

Santa is basically the Judeo-Christian God dumbed down for children. He rewards the "good" (obedient) children with presents and punishes the "bad" (disobedient) children with a lump of coal through the list derived from his omniscience. Naturally, goodness and badness equates with obedience and disobedience to parental rules, and not so much morality.

My first reaction to these picture was, "Those kid's expressions look hilarious! Haha!"

Then, I caught myself, and thought, "But those kid's are making those expressions because they're upset. Also, many are so young as to not understand what is going on. Kids get separation anxiety. Santa can appear scary, like a clown. This experience may be traumatizing them. And the parent is memorializing it. And this memorialization is being disseminated for other people to laugh at. Also, this whole ritual is completely pointless and gratuitious. It's totally something created by corporations to stimulate business during the holiday season. People do this as a "tradition" because they are completely brainwashed. And then you have to wonder about the guys that sign up for the privilege of having hundreds of kids sit on their laps."

I know this seems a bit stupid, but some of those photos were quite unsettling.

[Nordic]

It's not stupid; I feel the same way. What kind of parent would force their child through such an upsetting event for the sake of a goddamn photograph? I never once considered putting my boy through that because I knew he would be one of those screaming crying children.

It's really pretty sick. The whole thing is sick. Our society is sick. Sick as any serious drug addict hell bent on certain self destruction. Santa is the God of Economic Consumption.

[jlaw172364]

@Nordic

Well, I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels that way. I think I can dimly recall feeling unsettled by sitting on certain adults laps. Like I was picking up a weird energy or something. I don't recall crying on a Santa's lap, but I don't recall finding it to be an enjoyable experience, more like something to be politely endured.

And I also just remembered that I watched a clip on Youtube of "The Woodsman" where Kevin Bacon plays a paroled child molester, and he asks a girl if she'd like to sit on his lap, and then he elicits from her that she's alreadying sitting on her father's lap, and then in these photos, you have a bunch of lap sitting, and it just now all seems even more unwholesome.

I feel like I'm turning into a paranoid puritanical church lady, but the stuff you read about on the internet will do that to you.

[justdrew]

people like rituals and will go for whatever they can get. but I think it's getting more rare really. and yet, it's probably not fair that the creepy drunk santa dominates out collective imaginations, same goes for clowns.

[JackRiddler]

Now this is an effective advert for atheism, and a perfect play on the Santa vs. Jesus theme.

[harry ashburn]

"Jeeeezus loves Hooters, this I know...Victoria's Secret told me so!.... He controls the public meme.... and his logic make me scream! ..Yes Jeeezus loves 'em.....Yes, Jezus loves 'em...."

[justdrew]

good read I just found from a link in another thread...
http://ovo127.com/2012/12/24/trevor-blake-the-story-of-the-first-christmas-2012/