Father Christmas for the non-Christians

[PrettyCandles]

We're a mixed family - dh baptised but non-religious (can't pin him down to agnosticism or atheism, but he definitely does not consider himself Christian), me Jewish, children Jewish - and part of our compromise is to celebrate Christmas in a non-religious way. Last year we did stockings for the first time, dh's POV was that Father Christmas was just an excuse to give more pressies. Now, for teh first time, ds is asking who Father Christmas is, and what Christmas is about.

Anyone in a similar situation? What do you tell your children?

father christmas isn't particularly christian anyway is he? I tell my children the christmas story but I kind of see the presents as a western tradition and the story as a bit of religious education.

my kids can believe what they want. I jsut told them soem people believe this, etc.

Father Christmas has little/nothing to do with Christ. Some argue he was invented by Coca-cola, which isn't quite right, but he's certainly a product of capitalism, not christianity.

Both DH and I are atheist, although he is baptised. We go for Father Christmas, the Easter Bunny, and (I'm sure) the Tooth Fairy.

I always thought Father Christmas was a christian thing. ie St Nicholas.

Here is an article on the subject, from a Christian point of view. There is a Christian connection, but Father Christmas isn't really strictly a Christian thing - lots of hardcore Christians object to the whole thing, in fact.

I described FC as a present-sharing fairy. Last year we put a bag of home-made mincepies in each stocking when we hung them up, for FC to take to the children that didn't have any. This year I've asked ds to choose a toy that is still in good condition but that he is willing to give away for FC to take to children that don't have any toys. He sees me using recycling and giving things to charity shops. FC is relatively easy to explain non-religiously. But I'm a bit stumped over explaining Christmas non-religiously.

DS1 gets all the Xian stuff at school, so my struggle is, how do I find a middle ground between "no dear, that's all rubbish" and going along with it?

Hmm, I'd just explain that some people believe that a long time ago, etc etc.

I think you should be honest, assuming your children are old enougth to understand, and explain that christmas is a christian festival but as you and your children are Jewish it is not something you really celebrate to any great degree.

It's a bit contentious, going down that route, as Christmas is dh's festival, and, in the interest of family harmony, I don't want to belittle his thing.

Just to confirm that FC is NOT Christian! He is a Coca Cola advert, they first did the red-suited and bearded man image for their ads.

I'm a Christian and we don't have FC in our house.

I know that FC is not Christian, but nonetheless he is a progression from Saint Nicholas, who was a Christian associated with Christmas-time, and FC is one of the main aspects of modern Christmas.

FC is a main aspect of modern Christmas - but not a Christian thing, per se.

I've read that FC is related to pagan traditions, for the darkest time of the year. It certainly hasn't got much to do with Christ.

Pagan traditions combined with Christian symbology (Saint Nicolas) as is all of Christmas really. But today's FC has little in common with Saint Nicolas and I don't think it spreads the Christian message very well.

Just as Easter and the Easter Bunny are a conflation of the Resurrection and the pagan spring festival of the goddess Eostre, so Christ's birth and Saint Nicholas (who were 700? years apart) have been conflated with various midwinter festivals, and all the factors are now so intertwined that it's difficult to separate them.