Most Americans do (believe in both angels and Santa). According to a recent article 97% of Americans believe in angels and 86% of people believed in Santa as a child.
Apparantly, the more educated a person is the less likely they are to believe in angels. Only 87% of people with High School diplomas believed in angels and only 73% of people with college degrees believed in angelic beings.
I found it surprising that 36% of people think that Santa "enhances the religious nature of the holiday." HOW CAN HE? Please tell how this works. Christmas is about Christ's birth, not Santa giving gifts. The article says that Santa represents a "selfless giving attitude" that helps the season. Christ, whose birth we "supposedly" celebrate preached and teached a "selfless giving attitude."
This article is encouraging in informing us that almost all people believe in angels, but the problem is the term "angels" is not defined. Their opinions are quite vague.
Personally, I don't support Santa Claus. We don't encourage Santa in our family Christmas traditions even though we are in the minority. We believe in remembering and celebrating Christ's birth.
Apparantly, the more educated a person is the less likely they are to believe in angels. Only 87% of people with High School diplomas believed in angels and only 73% of people with college degrees believed in angelic beings.
I found it surprising that 36% of people think that Santa "enhances the religious nature of the holiday." HOW CAN HE? Please tell how this works. Christmas is about Christ's birth, not Santa giving gifts. The article says that Santa represents a "selfless giving attitude" that helps the season. Christ, whose birth we "supposedly" celebrate preached and teached a "selfless giving attitude."
This article is encouraging in informing us that almost all people believe in angels, but the problem is the term "angels" is not defined. Their opinions are quite vague.
Personally, I don't support Santa Claus. We don't encourage Santa in our family Christmas traditions even though we are in the minority. We believe in remembering and celebrating Christ's birth.
1 comment:
A couple of weeks ago the daily devotion email from Purpose Driven Life had some balanced advice you might consider. see following quote (I have enjoyed your foray into blogging btw, I'm not ambitious or creative enough to follow your lead however)
Gold amidst the glitter
by John Fischer
In the little town of Bethlehem, the most important birth in all of human history took place on what we now consider the first Christmas. It was sparsely attended by some bleating farm animals and a handful of shepherds who wouldn’t have been there had not the sky lit up with a multitude of heavenly hosts only minutes before, praising God and inviting the shepherds to the stable. What an invitation! With the exception of that outburst, however, no one else knew. Oh yes, there were some astrologers from the East who figured out what was going on by studying the stars and some ancient manuscripts, but they didn’t make it to town until at least a year or two later when the baby was a child. Why such an uneventful welcome for such an auspicious event?
It’s God’s way. He’s always been quiet about his work on earth. “How silently, how silently, the wondrous gift was given/So God imparts to human hearts, the blessings of his heaven.” He’s even pretty quiet about the way he works in our lives. Silently, he came into the world; silently, he comes into our hearts. No fanfare. No welcoming committee. God has never been into self-promotion. He lets his work speak for itself.
And that would be you and me. Believers are the result of Christ’s coming. It is all about good news and glad tidings for all people. A Savior has been born and he has been born for us. Or as the angel announced it: “The Savior -- yes, the Messiah, the Lord -- has been born tonight in Bethlehem, the city of David!” (Luke 2:11 NLT)
It occurs to me there are two ways to take all the fanfare and glitter of this season. We can see it as the over-commercialism of Christmas, or we can take all the lights, and gifts, and decorations, and parties, and bells, and carols, and Christmas specials on TV -- even Santa and reindeer in the front yard -- and bank them all as celebrations of the birth of Christ. We can even take the conversion of old Scrooge as the joy of new life and forgiveness of sins.
There’s no law against sanctifying the secularization of Christmas in your own heart and mind. It’s what we make of these things that count, anyway. Every single light can represent another soul secured in eternity as the result of what Christ has accomplished.
There was no room available for the Son of God when he came the first time. Let’s make sure there’s room in our hearts this Christmas, and don’t let anyone take away what is good about the glad tidings of Christ’s birth!
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