Santa Claus: Why Santa is not there to punish children

Today is Black Friday. Many parents like to turn everything into a way to discipline a child. Most parents threaten "coal for Christmas" for the "bad" children. In my house growing up, it was a symbolic punishment. I fought back by asking for coal for Christmas - I was a weird child. The fact of the matter is that the Bible prohibits the every punishment of children.

It says in Colossians 3:21 KJV:

Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged.

The Greek root word translated "provoke...to anger" is ερεθιζο (Latin: erethizo) and refers to damages or offenses, namely the slightest of personal offense perceived by a child, including, but not limited to, the slightest of offensive touch or speech perceived by a child, stemming from entitlement. This commandment was intended by the Apostle Paul, and understood in its original context, as a moral statute prohibiting all forms of punitive parenting, including, but not limited to, any punishments, reprimands, or other controlling demeanor towards children. In the Old Testament, punitive parents were put to death by way of bloodletting, after punishing their children one last time. Parents who punished their children were charged with kidnapping, with "kidnapping" being defined under the Law as the slightest of damages or offenses stemming from hostage-taking - child punishment was seen in biblical times as holding your child hostage merely for things that they did wrong, thereby treating your child as a quartered slave. Paul here was lifting up the Law in order to convict a group of Greek Christian parents who brought their pagan custom of spanking and punishing children into the church. Paul, contrary to popular legend, was anti-spanking, and opposed any and all punishment of a child in his secular writings. Paul may not have gotten along with the women in the church, but he sure loved children, and took in a few orphaned children in his time. Indeed, Greco-Roman fathers used the scourge of cords in order to punish their children, but NOT the Christians among them - the Early Christians were hated largely for being "too soft" on their children.

The Santa myth, as it is commonly applied by parents, contains threats that provoke children to anger, meaning threats of punishment to children. All children are deserving of gifts from parents. Even if the Santa-threat is symbolic, it still is a threat, and such threats offend children. Usually, such threats come with the entitled intent of behavioral control.

Entitlement is denoted in the New Testament is πλεονέκτης (Latin: pleonektés) and refers to, officially speaking, want, to the point of imposition. "Imposition" includes any form of control in parenting. Parental entitlement is defined as, officially speaking, wanting things from children, to the point of imposition. Making threats to withhold toys on Christmas day is a form of entitlement, as it imposes controlling demeanor onto a child.

For most parents in this country, coal from Santa is the one you don't bring out. But, why even threaten it? The only point is to use a child's benign wants against them, and turn Santa into a want imposed on a child, namely the unrealistic want for children to "behave". If this imposed entitlement leads to the child perceiving offense from the threats.

I don't do Santa at my home, and I have religious evidence for it. Santa Claus comes from the myth of Norse god Odin. But, also, as a child advocate, I think the tradition is steeped, from the beginning, in behavioral modification for children. The moment that your child shows the slightest of personal offense, you have abused them.

If you do celebrate Santa, don't create a naughty list. Santa has one list - the list of gift recipients. Santa should do away with the naughty list, as that is intended to scare children, thus provoking them to anger. A provocation to anger comes from entitlement, and parental entitlement is want as a parent, imposed on the child. "Imposed" can include any attempt at being fearmongering as a means of trying to control children's behavior. Once your child takes offense at any level, it is a provocation to anger, and thus child abuse. But, even if the child doesn't visibly get offended, they could resent you for the threat from Santa, and that alone is a provocation to anger.

My trauma from Santa-conditioning did not hamper my belief in Santa. I, however, had behavioral problems that could have constituted as oppositional-defiant disorder. My parents used Santa as a vain threat. But, they never said anything about what I have to work for being there all along. So, I had reason to believe Santa would leave with nothing but coal for Christmas. It isn't a huge part of my trauma, but it does count as part of it. I oppose Santa today on theological grounds, meaning Santa is a direct copy of the Norse god Odin. The damages from Santa-threats were short-term damages that gifts under the tree reassured come Christmas morning. I was actually late at losing my belief in Santa Claus, but now I see the Truth - that Santa is usually there for parents to control their children with fearmongering, with Christmas morning usually a form of trauma-bonding. 

Some parents actually do take away presents, usually on Christmas morning, and usually by taking away a toy that they are "ungrateful" for. Children do not have the natural capacity to be grateful until around age 6-8, and then, they show the kind of manners that parents show. If a parent imparts a good Judeo-Christian example, those good habits will show in their children, in which case it is good to encourage good behavior. If they aren't playing with the toy right, let them play however they want to play, any way or no way at all. They are only little once. So, who is the one who is ungrateful in that exchange? 

The depraved and entitled parents who provoke their children to anger will not inherit the Kingdom of God! Let them be cast forever into the lake of fire and burning sulfur, which is the second death prepared for Satan and his accomplices! Let them descend into the abyss which is the ever-burning Hell of fire and torment, suffering God's Wrath day and night forever and ever! Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!