Course, that's a lot of what's celebrated
Symbolically at Christmas
The idea of the lights on the trees
Is the return of illumination, right?
Because the sun is starting to come back
All these things are layered on top of one another
And so, it's, it's, it's a remarkable
It's one of the things that's really made me so struck
As a consequence of studying Christianity
Is that so many
Levels of meaning
Stack on top of one another
In an isomorphic manner
And support one another
You know, there's a cosmic story
That's associated with Christmas
Which is the death and rebirth of the sun
I mean the, the actual solar orb
And
Symbolically at Christmas
The idea of the lights on the trees
Is the return of illumination, right?
Because the sun is starting to come back
All these things are layered on top of one another
And so, it's, it's, it's a remarkable
It's one of the things that's really made me so struck
As a consequence of studying Christianity
Is that so many
Levels of meaning
Stack on top of one another
In an isomorphic manner
And support one another
You know, there's a cosmic story
That's associated with Christmas
Which is the death and rebirth of the sun
I mean the, the actual solar orb
And
Christmas was complicated for me
There's a personal element to it
There's a very vicious streak of familial depression
That runs in my family
My father was quite prone to that
[Chorus]
So, Christmas could be a dark time
For us
Christmas could be a dark time
For us
Although i-it, it, it was also
All of the positive things it was supposed to be
At the same time
My father had
Seasonal effective disorder
Of course, we didn't know what the hell was going on
When I was growing up
Nobody knew what that was
There's a personal element to it
There's a very vicious streak of familial depression
That runs in my family
My father was quite prone to that
[Chorus]
So, Christmas could be a dark time
For us
Christmas could be a dark time
For us
Although i-it, it, it was also
All of the positive things it was supposed to be
At the same time
My father had
Seasonal effective disorder
Of course, we didn't know what the hell was going on
When I was growing up
Nobody knew what that was
One of the arguments we hear
Coming from the new type of atheist
"When I was a child, I believed in Santa Claus
When I was a child, I believed in the tooth fairy
But then, one day, I grew up
And I realized that Santa Claus doesn't exist
I realized that the tooth fairy doesn't exist
And in the same manner, one day, I grew up
And I realized that God doesn't exist"
(God doesn’t exist)
I've always found that line of argumentation rather funny
Because, to me, it seems
Completely absurd
To say, Santa Claus doesn't exist
Because, obviously, Santa Claus exists
There are Santa Clauses everywhere At Christmas
There are guys who dress up as Santa Claus
There are Santa Claus decoration, ornaments
We have stories, we have song We have of all these things
Which celebrate Santa Claus
Coming from the new type of atheist
"When I was a child, I believed in Santa Claus
When I was a child, I believed in the tooth fairy
But then, one day, I grew up
And I realized that Santa Claus doesn't exist
I realized that the tooth fairy doesn't exist
And in the same manner, one day, I grew up
And I realized that God doesn't exist"
(God doesn’t exist)
I've always found that line of argumentation rather funny
Because, to me, it seems
Completely absurd
To say, Santa Claus doesn't exist
Because, obviously, Santa Claus exists
There are Santa Clauses everywhere At Christmas
There are guys who dress up as Santa Claus
There are Santa Claus decoration, ornaments
We have stories, we have song We have of all these things
Which celebrate Santa Claus
Uh, an example of how a very ancient, uh
Folk way
Can be incorporated into our culture
Without us even realizing it
Is provided by discussing Amanita Muscaria
If you go to the Encyclopedia Britannica
And you look up Santa Claus
They'll tell you that it has do with Saint Nicholas
And it got started in the 11th century
But when you look at
The Santa Claus story
It's a perfect, uh, uh, mythologem
To analyze from this point of view because
[Chorus]
Look what's going on
With Santa Claus
Look what's going on
Folk way
Can be incorporated into our culture
Without us even realizing it
Is provided by discussing Amanita Muscaria
If you go to the Encyclopedia Britannica
And you look up Santa Claus
They'll tell you that it has do with Saint Nicholas
And it got started in the 11th century
But when you look at
The Santa Claus story
It's a perfect, uh, uh, mythologem
To analyze from this point of view because
[Chorus]
Look what's going on
With Santa Claus
Look what's going on
Question
"I was wondering what you thought of Santa Claus
If it's a healthy thing for parents to practice
What's the psychological impact of lying to your child."
Look
I think lying
Is the wrong way of thinking about this
Santa Claus is a game
It's a game of
Pretend
And children play games of pretend all the time
You know, so
I don't see any harm in it at all
Now, ya know, ya don't wanna
Prolong that belief beyond its natural end point
But it's a, it's a massive game, and it's a lovely game
And I don't believe that there's anything harmful in it
In the least
[Chorus]
Santa Claus is a game
It's a game of
Pretend
Santa Claus is a game
It's a game of
Pretend
"I was wondering what you thought of Santa Claus
If it's a healthy thing for parents to practice
What's the psychological impact of lying to your child."
Look
I think lying
Is the wrong way of thinking about this
Santa Claus is a game
It's a game of
Pretend
And children play games of pretend all the time
You know, so
I don't see any harm in it at all
Now, ya know, ya don't wanna
Prolong that belief beyond its natural end point
But it's a, it's a massive game, and it's a lovely game
And I don't believe that there's anything harmful in it
In the least
[Chorus]
Santa Claus is a game
It's a game of
Pretend
Santa Claus is a game
It's a game of
Pretend