by JackRiddler » Wed Dec 26, 2012 5:30 pm
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.
Last edited by
JackRiddler on Thu Dec 27, 2012 3:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.
We meet at the borders of our being, we dream something of each others reality. - Harvey of R.I.
To Justice my maker from on high did incline:
I am by virtue of its might divine,
The highest Wisdom and the first Love.
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