There is a new movie out about a “Bad Santa.” Is
there any other kind? Generations have grown up under the spell of the
“Good Santa.” We were told “Santa Claus is coming to town.” We heard it
from the highest authority; we were told he was real (wink, wink).
We saw him everywhere, in stores, in soft drink advertisements, and on
billboards. He has bored his way into the Western sub-conscious like a
virus infecting the cranial hard drives of three generations. (The
Santa America has come to know and love is not eternal- but was born
less than a hundred years ago in a marketing gimmick to sell post cards
and has grown into a multibillion dollar business.) The Apostle Paul
found out the hard way on several occasions, talk about religion all you
want, but don’t mess with the idol business. But isn’t it all just
innocent fun? Demonizing Santa is like humanizing the Virgin Mary, both
make people angry. We need only count the candy canes in our Churches
this Christmas to see how far we have wandered from the manger. Except
for the cavities they cause, I guess there is nothing wrong with candy
canes.
The drunken Santa in “Bad Santa” is closer to the
truth, I am afraid. We would rather imagine ourselves in a Norman
Rockwell painting (I too love Norman Rockwell), than in the
dysfunctional real one most endure. (If your life is a Rockwell work of
art, then pardon me- but for most, the Holidays are as much pain as it
is presents). Bad Santa is a depraved human being dressed in an
obligatory red suit of modern mythology. If Christmas were cancelled
(and if Osama has his way, it will be) the Western world would collapse
into another great depression. I don’t want to be blamed for that!
Forty percent of retail business is generated between Thanksgiving and
Christmas. Many stores would go bankrupt without Christmas.
This sounds so Scrooge-like it is annoying, but
that is what prophets are supposed to do. Preachers are not supposed to
tell everyone what they like to hear, but then, no one pays a prophet.
They made their generation uncomfortable with being comfortable with the
world. I don’t want to sound like a Jehovah’s Witness, but the sorry
spiritual condition of Christianity is never so apparent than it is at
Christmas.
To shield the children’s eyes from watching “Bad
Santa,” stagger across the parking lot is a natural protecting reflex of
a caring parent. However, there is no such thing as a “Good Santa.”
Exposing Santa as Satan’s assistant is a thankless job. Puck has been
outdone. Shakespeare could not have imagined a whole civilization
looking so silly and falling in love with an illusion. Most will
awaken from the enchantment sometime in January when the first credit
card statement arrives. Bad Santa! - id
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