David Huntwork

Did You Lie to Your Kids at Christmas?
Preparedness: Hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst
Wikileaks War
The Rise of the Tea Party
Why I Signed The Manhattan Declaration
Boycott The One
Into a Twisted Future with Gary Wolf
We Shall Not Go Quietly Into The Night
Dancing Under the Ugandan Skies - A Book Review
The 99 Most Memorable, Interesting and Outrageous Political Quotes of 2008
Obama's Natural Born Problem
The Giggle Monster Lost His Giggle (A children's story)
Victory at any Price
The History of the Huntwork Clan
Palin and those "scary" Christians
Our "Little Barracuda"
Civility at Saddleback
The Top Ten Reasons Obama Should Not Be President
The Coming Fascist State
You're to Blame for Everything
Hillary's Close Call
The Jerry Springer Party
Christianity, Obama, Identity Politics and Liberation Theology
Tis the Season to be PC
I Am NOT An Animal
The Sad Saga of Amanda Marcotte
The Left attempts to define Political Correctness
In Defense of Blackwater and the Modern Day Merc
Some Thoughts on the Senate Sleepover and the Iraq War
The Salt Lake Shooter and Sudden Jihad Syndrome
Successes and Setbacks in the "Long War"
The Rise of the Anti-Jihadists
The Little Boy and the Magic Snowman (A Children's Story)
Exploiting Children in the Name of Climate Change
Workshop of the Second Self: A Book Review
The Mystery of 9-11, Dr. Graham and Jamal Khan
2996: A tribute to the victims of 9-11
Myths (and Truths) of the Illegal Immigration Invasion
Out of Control Teacher Reinstated after Anti-US Rant
Alternating Worlds: A Book Review
Defending Christmas
The Execution of Terri Schiavo
The Saga of SpongeBob SquarePants
Civility at Saddleback
Embedded Reporters: A Bad Idea
Death of a Monster: Yasser Arafat
Immigrations Unarmed Invasion
Post 47 and RAthERGATE
September 11th: Lives Lost and Lessons Learned
An Alliance of Evil
The Holy Land - A Book Review
The Nature of the Enemy
The Embracer: A Book Review
Final Battle of the Culture Wars
They Say Trevor Made a Mockery of MLK Day
Did You Lie to Your Kids at Christmas?
The Twists and Turns of the Jessica Lynch Story
Valley of the Dry Bones
Rush and Race
What's Wrong with the Caucasion Club?
The Seductive Temptress
A Just War
Living the Bill of Rights
The Institutionalism of Liberalism
Triumph of the Bush Doctrine
New Alliances for a New Century
The Real Reason for the Iraq War
The Family Historian
There Once Was A Little Brown Bug (A Children's Story)
Happy Birthday Ronald Reagan
The U.N. Agenda
Powell the Pacifist

From the moment a child is born there is probably no greater universal truth pounded into their head by society and culture than of the existence of a fat jolly man dressed in red who brings good little boys and girls presents each year and is rarely complete without his eight tiny reindeer. It is the one great myth that is inescapable.

Stores, malls, songs, programs, teachers, relatives, as well as friends and neighbors rigorously propagate and enforce this little piece of fiction. While mostly harmless and enjoyable, the story of Santa Claus is unknowingly used and abused by many well-intentioned parents who otherwise are upright and honest. They insist on lying to their children that Santa Claus is real.

My wife and I have three young daughters and from the very first, we agreed that we would not lie to our children; that to instill proper values and traits in our children would require us to be consistent and honest with them. What we would tell our children about Santa Claus was to be based upon the idea that we wanted them to always trust us and that their faith in us to lead them on the path of truth would not be compromised. Most parents would agree and do attempt to instill such basic principles into the hearts and minds of their offspring. Then why do they insist on perpetuating the lie, that Santa Claus complete with chimney tricks and bag of toys is real?

The main argument seems to be that it would be taking the fun out of Christmas if children did not believe that Santa Claus brought them presents on Christmas Eve. As if the basis of Christmas should be a falsehood and that children would find this special time of gifts, goodwill, carols, and family a shallow shell without an unquestioning belief in Santa Claus.

What little extra fun they may have had as small children with such a story is usually far exceeded by the bitterness and anger that an older child feels when they discover the inevitable truth. It is often a harsh experience to discover that the magical Santa Claus and all the hype perpetrated in the most complete of conspiracies is nothing but a big, bold, naked lie. Even I was surprised at the deluge of stories of disillusioned, supremely disappointed, and frankly, pissed off children who suddenly realize those they trusted the most have misled them.

The next reaction children usually have is to question everything that they have ever viewed as true. What else have they been lied to about? Everything they have been told or taught is suddenly under a cloud of doubt and suspicion. The sting of the discovery that they have been lied to usually has some nasty and unexpected results. Christians should be especially concerned as they are susceptible to their children suddenly doubting the existence of God. Why should He be viewed any differently than Santa Claus? Just another mythical character portrayed as the truth by their parents.

Though such reactions are not universal, they are far more common and consistent than most would like to believe. As I conducted my usual informal field research for this column, even I was surprised by the consistency of the stories of the Santa reaction by my friends, customers, and acquaintances. Very few, it seems, have chosen the path that will not result in angry children, shattered trust, and a questioned belief system. How many times do we tell our children that it is wrong to lie but then by our actions signal that it is ok in certain circumstances or if it is about certain things?

Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, and the Easter Bunny should not necessarily be banned from the household and Western culture but properly presented as the silly make-believe characters that they are. Santa hats and tooth fairy pillows exist in the Huntwork household but not to the extent or at the expense of losing my childrens faith and trust. I humbly urge that you make it your New Years resolution not to lie to your children about Santa Claus next Christmas.

My children fully understand that Santa Claus is a made up character and I am secure in the knowledge that they have not had one less iota of fun or enjoyment this Christmas than any other child. The visit to the mall Santa and the occasional whimsical story or comment about Santa Claus was still very fun but he is understood to be pretend. He should not be seen as any different from a character in a cartoon, a person in a play, or a star of one of my imaginative bedtime tales; fun, enjoyable and entirely fictional.

Christmas should be a time to cherish and spend time with your family and friends as we commemorate the birth of Jesus the Messiah, the Savior of this world. He is the reason for the season and children should be properly taught that Christmas is not a season for greed and fairy tales but commemorating the Truth and cherishing the things that matter the most.

"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free."

- President Ronald Reagan

 ”I will not cede more power to the state. I will not willingly cede more power to anyone, not to the state, not to General Motors, not to the CIO. I will hoard my power like a miser, resisting every effort to drain it away from me. I will then use my power, as I see fit. I mean to live my life an obedient man, but obedient to God, subservient to the wisdom of my ancestors; never to the authority of political truths arrived at yesterday at the voting booth. That is a program of sorts, is it not? It is certainly program enough to keep conservatives busy, and Liberals at bay. And the nation free.”

—William F. Buckley Jr.

"Liberals want to regulate just about everything: where we live, what fuels we use, what car we drive, whether we can drive or be forced to use government mass transit, where we send our kids to school, what doctor we see, and even to what extent we express our approval or disapproval of others’ lifestyles. It’s hard to find something liberals don’t want to regulate. Is that a world you want to live in?” 
 

"At such a time in history, we who are free must proclaim anew our faith. This faith is the abiding creed of our fathers. It is our faith in the deathless dignity of man, governed by eternal moral and natural laws. This faith defines our full view of life. It establishes, beyond debate, those gifts of the Creator that are man’s inalienable rights, and that make all men equal in His sight. "

Dwight D. Eisenhower

"And if we elect a government that subverts or weakens or ends our war against terrorism, we can count on this: We will soon face enemies that will make 9/11 look like stubbing our toe, and they will attack us with the confidence and determination that come from knowing that we don’t have the will to sustain a war all the way to the end."

- Orson Scott Card

"In response to skyrocketing gas prices, liberals say, practically in unison, 'We can’t drill our way out of this crisis.”' What does that mean? This is like telling a starving man, 'You can’t eat your way out of being hungry!'  'You can’t water your way out of drought!' 'You can’t sleep your way out of tiredness!' 'You can’t drink yourself out of dehydration!' Seriously, what does it mean? Finding more oil isn’t going to increase the supply of oil? It is the typical Democratic strategy to babble meaningless slogans, as if they have a plan. Their plan is: the permanent twilight of the human race. "

-Ann Coulter

"If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen."
 
-Samuel Adams