No Santa Claus! Heaven forbid! He lives, and he lives as long as the memory of Dennis Kucinich lives on in the hearts of men.
When we talk, as we are forced to do every year, about the "war on Christmas," we generally focus on the efforts of the ACLU and their ilk to continue their assaults on the symbols of the holiday. From coast to coast lawyers are lining up to snatch away the visions of sugarplums that might otherwise dance in the heads of American children.
Of course what adds to the frustration of Christmas-loving Christians is the way in which the celebrations of other faiths, particularly Islam, have gained in exposure; most notably that our last two presidents have seen fit to bend over backwards in recognizing Muslim holidays. While over in the retail world, stores like Best Buy disdain to use the "C" word but take the occasion of Thanksgiving to wish our Muslim brothers a "Happy Eid al-Adha."
Now the word is out that even Santa Claus is under attack. Some folks on a school board in Massachusetts have compared the use of his image to that of a Swastika. It may have leaked out that the venerable star of stage, screen and the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is actually a religious symbol; that his cap represents a bishop's miter and the tasty candy canes he hands out to the kiddies are patterned after the crosier carried by that holy man.
Most folks of a certain age understand that, at least in this country, Santa is now the means by which parents keep their kids in line and Madison Avenue sells its wares; kind of like the way liberals invent things like Anthropogenic Global Warming. However, much like the child who saw Mommy kissing Santa Claus, some folks are beginning to pull on the proverbial beard.
Over one hundred years ago, a sweet, trusting, little girl wrote a letter to a newspaper — when such organs were still deemed trustworthy — seeking to have her doubts about Santa allayed. Now may be just the time for another such missive:
Dear Editor: I am 18 years old. Some of my conservative friends say there is no Santa Claus. But my journalism teacher says, "If you see it on Fox News, it isn't so." Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?
Virginia O'Hanlon
115 West Ninety-Fifth Street
Dear Virginia, your conservative friends are wrong. They have been affected by the propaganda of an anti-statist mindset. They do not believe anything except what they are told by the vast right-wing conspiracy. They think that nothing can be true which is not the product of their almighty pens. In this great country of ours Virginia, all conservative minds are little as compared with the boundless world of academia about them, as measured by their attempts at grasping the whole of truth and knowledge through something as silly as their so-called religious faith.
Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as the right to abortion in the Constitution and conservative bias in the media. Alas! How dreary would be the world if there were only Fox News and no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no viable windmill energy! There would be no blind faith in the New York Times then, no Dan Rather to make tolerable this bourgeois existence. We should have no reliability in science, except for dull facts and figures. The utopian light with which liberalism fills the world would be extinguished.
Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in Al Gore! You might get a few thousand scientists to suggest that bogus data was invented to support the claims of global warmists, but even if it could not show that temperatures are rising, what would that prove? It's the same with Santa! Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus.
Our most important policy goals are based on things in the world that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn or Barack Obama's birth certificate? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there! None but cold-hearted conservatives demand this kind of verification of that which we hold sacred.
You may tear apart our agenda to see if any of it is workable or even constitutional, but there is a veil covering the liberal world which neither Rupert Murdoch, nor even Sarah Palin can tear apart. Only by dreaming, hoping and community organizing can we maintain the protection of that curtain and all the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all our world there is nothing else so real and abiding.
No Santa Claus! Heaven forbid! He lives, and he lives as long as the memory of Dennis Kucinich lives on in the hearts of men. A year from now, Virginia, nay, three years from now, he may continue to make glad the heart of America.
Lisa,
An interesting ‘tongue-in-cheek’ response to a Christmas Classic.
I absolutely adore the Christmas Season! Nothing gives me more pleasure than wishing all my progressive aquaintances a hearty “Merry Christmas’! I find it puts a healthy red glow on their faces.
This editorial, originally published over 112 years ago, is actually one of my favorites. For any readers that don’t know of the story; I’ve taken the liberty of posting it here.
“Is There a Santa Claus?” was the title of an editorial appearing in the September 21, 1897 edition of the New York Sun. The editorial, which included the famous reply “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus”, has become an indelible part of popular Christmas lore in the United States.
In 1897, Dr. Philip O’Hanlon, an assistant on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, was asked by his then eight-year-old daughter, Virginia (1889-1971), whether Santa Claus really existed. Virginia O’Hanlon had begun to doubt there was a Santa Claus, because her friends had told her that he did not exist.
Dr. O’Hanlon suggested she write to the New York Sun, a prominent New York City newspaper at the time, assuring her that “If you see it in The Sun, it’s so.” While he may have been passing the buck, he unwittingly gave one of the paper’s editors, Francis Pharcellus Church, an opportunity to rise above the simple question, and address the philosophical issues behind it. The entire editorial is reprinted below, exactly as it Ran in the New York Sun in 1897
Is There A Santa Claus?
We take pleasure in answering at once and thus prominently the communication below, expressing at the same time our great gratification that its faithful author is numbered among the friends of THE SUN.
DEAR EDITOR: I am 8 years old.
Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus.
Papa says, “If you see it in THE SUN it’s so.”
Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?
VIRGINIA O’HANLON.
115 WEST NINETY-FIFTH STREET.
VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men’s or children’s, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.
Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.
Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that’s no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.
You may tear apart the baby’s rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, VIRGINIA, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.
No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.