It must be Xmas, here comes this story again....

[Gob]

A trainee vicar who told primary school children Father Christmas does not exist has apologised for her "insensitive, off-the-cuff remark".

The Rev Margaret McPhee made the comment at a carol service at St Mary's Church, Stalham in Norfolk for Stalham Academy pupils on Monday night.

A parent on Facebook said she had "spoiled the magic" of Christmas.

The school said Mrs McPhee had promised "she will not be making any such comments in the future".

During the carol service, the curate asked children what they thought was the meaning of Christmas.

When a child answered "Father Christmas", she told them he was not real.

One parent said on Facebook that Mrs McPhee had "put me off taking my children to church just in case something else gets said".

But another showed support and posted: "I bet this Rev is feeling terrible. No-one spoils the magic of Christmas on purpose for children."

In a statement, Stalham Academy said it had received an "official apology" from Mrs McPhee..

The Ven Jan McFarlane, archdeacon of Norwich, said: "Margaret is a sensitive and sensible priest who let slip a comment which she immediately regretted.

"She apologised swiftly and wholeheartedly and regrets any distress her comments may have caused."

[Lord Jim]

[rubato]

You shouldn't punish people for telling the truth.


yrs,
rubato

[MajGenl.Meade]

Sí, hay que castigarlos para obtener la verdad !

¡Viva la de-evolución


- El Supremo J

[Lord Jim]

Oh great, now we're going to be treated once again to rube's annual hating on Santa...

[MajGenl.Meade]

One parent said on Facebook that Mrs McPhee had "put me off taking my children to church just in case something else gets said".

"That's right - now just pull it"

[Big RR]

You shouldn't punish people for telling the truth.


yrs,
rubato

Come on rubato; especially when it comes to kids there are a lot of true facts that no third party has the right to tell them. Such as his grandfather will die in few days and is in unrelenting pain, or his mother is a prostitute, or his father is not the person he think he is, but is a guy on death row, ... Whether you support the Santa myth or not, it's not your (or any other third party's) business to "tell the truth", especially if it is not even asked for.

[wesw]

rr is on the right track.....

[Joe Guy]

In this scene we have rubato talking to his 3 year old nephew, Chubato.

Chubato: Hey uncle rube what is it like to be a grown up?

rubato: Well Chube, as this graph on the wall indicates, assuming you reach adulthood without discovering that you have a genetic illness that will render you helpless and in constant pain with the need to be fed through a tube for 80 years - and ruling out that you don't get murdered while you're a child by your parents, killed by a car, bus or falling tree branch and thousands of other daily dangerous possibilities, you will eventually become a grownup.

Being a grownup means that you will no longer believe in stupid things like Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny or God, and that anything you do can hurt you if you're a moron.

As a grownup you will hopefully be educated and find work that you will be forced to depend on for at least forty years if you're fortunate enough to stay healthy. As a young grownup you might meet a beautiful women who you will marry, but eventually her face will droop and her body will begin to sag and she will get mad at you for no reason and ask you if her pants make her butt look big - which seems bad at the time but only gets worse.

You might even have children of your own who will put you in debt for the rest of your life, but that's your problem.

In the meantime, by the time you reach your early thirties, you will stop developing and begin to die. You can look forward to pains you've never imagined and operations that you swore you would never have - not to mention having to go to a doctor every year and have him stick his finger up your ass. Eventually, something kills you. Hopefully, it's not too painful but there are some great painkillers that you might want to experiment with in order to know what to expect.

rubato: Any questions Chube?

Chubato: Is there anything at all that I can look forward to, uncle rube?

rubato: One word, Chube.... Painkillers.

[MajGenl.Meade]

[BoSoxGal]

My feelings are mixed on this issue.

I've heard lots of adults say that learning Santa wasn't real was a profound experience in their childhoods, because they felt betrayed by their parents.

I wonder if parents ever think about that?

In this case presented in the OP, the sister is trying to put the focus of Christmas back where it belongs - on Christ. In that regard, her motive and intentions were exactly right, and she shouldn't be punished in any way. I'm sure she feels badly - obviously she's said so - but it's a ridiculous thing for parents to get up in arms about.

I found out Santa wasn't real from friends before asking my parents if it was true that he wasn't. Should those kids be punished, for either a) knowing that truth before me, or b) being raised with the truth from the start?

In all honesty, I wish we could get rid of Santa altogether. This 'myth' of childhood that supposedly brings so much happiness, actually creates a huge amount of stress for poorer families - and even middle class ones who get caught in the frenzy of gift-giving that then carries on into adulthood.

The whole commercialization of the holiday season makes me really sad. Why can't we just have parties and good food and celebrations of religious and/or pagan beliefs, without all the STUFF?

I'm not a Grinch, but I stopped participating in the whole gift-giving thing a long while ago in favor of giving to charity at Christmas. Imagine if ALL kids were raised to know that the gifts as Christmas come from mum and dad, etc., and were bought from the store - they might have more modest expectations instead of expecting anything their heart desires because some guy who lives with elves at the North Pole - where he apparently has access to endless resources - will bring them anything they ask for.

I think there are many, many adults for whom Christmas is a miserable time, because of the stress related to keeping the 'Santa myth' alive.

[wesw]

well, my son figured santa out on his own, the day after he caught the tooth faery (me) under his pillow.

I explained that santa is a spirit that lives within us all, including him. doing good things without taking credit. kinda like someone said in the random kindness thread about anonymous charity. don t let the left hand, know what the right hand does, you know?

[rubato]

Hey, I'm sorry, I didn't know that this group all thought that Christmas was about buying cheap shiny shit and playing a year's long trick on gullible kids.


I think Christmas is a nice opportunity to give gifts to people we care about and would like to tell them that we love them the rest of the year but we're too inhibited to do so. It is a ceremonial time when its ok for you to give and for them to receive without complications. Christmas is a time when you can give and there is none of the social awkwardness about it which would happen otherwise.


BtB we have given away 3 + cases of honey so far. There are a tick under 2 left but with any luck we'll manage to give most of them away.


yrs,
rubato

[Jarlaxle]

I figured out Santa when I was maybe eight. The floors creaked, and I wasn't always the heavy sleeper I now am.

Liz never had Santa.

[rubato]

You shouldn't punish people for telling the truth.


yrs,
rubato

Come on rubato; especially when it comes to kids there are a lot of true facts that no third party has the right to tell them. Such as his grandfather will die in few days and is in unrelenting pain, or his mother is a prostitute, or his father is not the person he think he is, but is a guy on death row, ... Whether you support the Santa myth or not, it's not your (or any other third party's) business to "tell the truth", especially if it is not even asked for.

I don't think there is an honest comparison between telling a child that Santa Claus is not real and telling a child that his mother is a whore. But that's just me and my liberal education talkin' here. You are making a wildly false comparison.


If my neighbors were teaching their children that Obama was not a US citizen and was trying to subvert our way of life I'd clue them in on that too. If they were teaching the perfectly charming and harmless myth that only white people go to heaven I would tell the children that heaven is a myth invented to manipulate them by fear and they should never trust anyone who does that.


I think we should treat kids with more respect and give them the intellectual tools they will need to protect themselves from manipulation.


yrs,
rubato

[BoSoxGal]

BtB we have given away 3 + cases of honey so far. There are a tick under 2 left but with any luck we'll manage to give most of them away.


yrs,
rubato

Let me know if you'd like me to PM you my snail mail address.

[Lord Jim]

If I had a a loud mouthed ignoramus neighbor who insisted on coming up to my kids to spread moronic garbage ("the Pole's weren't victims of the Nazis" "The British have had a fourth rate since the American revolution" "it's unusual for seals to bark" etc., etc, ) and bigoted crap (like "The Christians invented genocide", "The Nazis were Christians" "all bad things come from religion" etc, etc, ) I'd go to court to get a restraining order to keep that ignorant old bastard away from my kids, and I'd warn all the rest of the parents in the neighborhood about him. (I might even put up some posters with his name, picture and address)

And if I caught him anywhere near my kids again, I'd call the cops and have his presumptuous, misanthropic moronic ass tossed in the clink. (That's assuming that I was able to restrain myself from hauling off and smacking him in the mouth.)

A guy like that is a menace to children and shouldn't be allowed near them. Kids need to be protected from people like that.

[wesw]

I hope rube finds it in his heart to forgive whatever wrong was done to him by children. kids can be mean and stupid. that s life. most of them grow out of it.

people get picked on, the hard part is getting over it.

pm me if you want to talk rube. I may have some experience that may be helpful.....

[rubato]

BtB we have given away 3 + cases of honey so far. There are a tick under 2 left but with any luck we'll manage to give most of them away.


yrs,
rubato

Let me know if you'd like me to PM you my snail mail address.

PM your address and I'll put you on the "honey list". It is lower viscosity than usual, but the flavor is very nice. It is less likely to crystallize in your climate.


yrs,
rubato

[rubato]

I hope rube finds it in his heart to forgive whatever wrong was done to him by children. kids can be mean and stupid. that s life. most of them grow out of it.

people get picked on, the hard part is getting over it.

pm me if you want to talk rube. I may have some experience that may be helpful.....

I'm glad that LJ has his intellectual equal here to support him.

yrs,
rubato