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4
HYPOCRISY- THE
SPIRIT OFCHRISTMAS
"1 hate Christmas," said one depart–
ment store manager in California.
" I
bate the hypocrisy, the one-day
Christianity of Christmas;
I
ha te the
commercialism- and I'm part of
it."
A seasoned divorce lawyer wrote,
"Lawyers usually see an influx of
new divorce clients immediately fol–
lowing the Christmas and New Year
holidays. Too much holiday cheer
touches off lhe smoldering conflicts
that have been under control all
year."
A psychiatrist says, "At Christ–
mas, the lonely begin feeling lonelier,
lhe tension prone lighten up as pres–
sures mount and the illusion appears
of ecstatic happiness all just around
lhe corner. Chrislmas is the worst
season of the year for the mentally
ill."
Even the Better Business Bureau
warns, "Tis the season to be
wary"–
thal is, it's the season of shysters,
shoplifters and sidewalk salesmen.
They warn lhal lhose who plead for
charily should be investigated before
any donalion is
made-especia/ly
at
this time of year.
In a desperate effort to fit in with
the "spirit of Christmas," people
smile when they don't
feellike
smi l–
ing. They greel one another with old
pagan slogans. They get increasingly
concerned about the debts they are
mounting up. They get into more and
more of a hard-faced, bitter fighting
with their fellow Christmas shoppers
as lbe deadline approaches and lhey
desperately lry to snap up the last
few gifts from lhe counters which
they know are going to offer the same _
items the day after Christmas for 30
lo
SO
percenl off!
Far too many lry to get their
Christmas spirits from the bottle,
and eilher end up drunk wilh a hang–
over, or perhaps seriously injured or
dead as a result of overindulgence
while driving. So many so deeply
wish they didn' t have lo be involved
16
in this season but are forced to by
social custorn. Hypocrisy stands as
the hallrnark of this season.
5
1HATE TO LIE–
ESPECIALLY
TO
KIDS
A farnous physician says that the
Santa Claus myth is a fantastic web
of líes which can cause your child–
"when he finds out"-confusion of
rnind, possible schizoid splits in his
personality, or even a physical ail–
ment resulting frorn the emolional
leldown of "losing" so close a friend
(Santa). One psychology professor
even laid parl of the blame for the
generation gap and the hippie sub–
culture on lhe Santa Claus myth.
In the parent-child relationship
the
TRUTH
is the most priceless com–
modity that they must a lways share.
How many times have you found
yourself saying to your child- "Now
you be sure to tell me the truth,
young man (or young lady)"? We
even·want them to tell us ifthey have
done something
bad-wbich
is diffi–
cult for anybody to tell . We want
them to tell us about their grades in
school, about their friends and what
they do and think, whether they
broke a neighbor's window or took
money from mama's purse. We
preach over and over to them that
they must
always
tell the truth. And
then
we
proceed in nearly
every
holi–
day season of the year to manufac–
ture the most ridiculous fal sehoods
imaginable! Sober-faced and with
our hypocritical spirit of Christmas
wrapped around us, we tell them–
and even associate it with God and
Christ and tbe Bible-<>ne blatant lie
after another!
Is it any wonder we have a genera–
tion gap!
One of the biggest things that the
young people of today are accusing
the older generation of is hypocrisy–
and I'm afraid that 1 have to agree
with that cbarge for tbe majority of
tbe people who Jive as slaves to the
social system which surrounds us.
Thankfully, 1 determined,
before
my
children were old enough to talk to,
that I was not going to tell them any
lies about a fat man who dresses in a
red suit, flies in sorne magical way on
a sled led by a red-nosed reindeer and
somehow rnanages to squeeze down
my chimney on the dark night of the
twenty-fourth to deposit gifts for all
the good little children under sorne
tinseled tree that
1
have trucked in.
My children didn't bave to find out
that dad was lying about Santa
Claus. My children didn't have to
even think the thought in their minds
which has been expressed by a few
bold children- that thougbt:
"If
they
lie to me about Santa Claus, what
else will they lie tome about? Now .1
wonder about this wbole Jesus Christ
business!"
This doesn't mean that my chil–
dren never have lied-I certainly
don't pride myself on being a perfect
parent. But it does mean that they
could not excuse any lying they did
because they caught their mother or
father telling them big whoppers–
and doing it in the setting of religious
worship at that! They know mom and
dad don't lie, and this gives them a
special respect and a special contact
that is not only precious to my wife
and me as parents but wbich we feel
is a basic requirement and an indis–
pensable tool of cbild rearing.
lt's all too often tbat we run across
the syndrome of people not practic–
ing what they preacb. You can't ask
your kids to do what they don't see
you doing. You can tell your kids,
" Don't do asIdo, do as 1 say," but it
won't work! Children have to
/earn
to
trust their parents- but 1 never knew
an inveterate liar who could be
trusted. Being forced by society to
tell a package of líes at a time which
is so special in the minds of chil–
dren-when they are at their most
tender and impressionable age–
deals a crippling blow to child-parent
relationships and creates a giant
credibility gap between children and
adults-no matter bow much we
might pooh-pooh the idea.
As a child grows up, it leads to a
cynical turn of mind.
lt
gives him or
her a set of values which is cheap and
tawdry regarding the truth.
Yet it is a reward no parent wants
to miss to have bis children come to
him and ask any question they want
The
PLAIN TRUTH December 1979