God as Santa

The best analogy I can think of to describe most of humanities' belief in an all-powerful creator is the story of Santa.

As children, most of us seriously and honestly believed in Santa Clause. We truly believed that there was a man with the ability to keep tabs on our "naughtiness" and "niceness". We believed that once a year, this man had the ability to travel to millions and millions of homes in one night and bring us toys. We wrote him letters, asking for this or that (a form of praying I would say). When we saw the gifts under the tree with the name "Santa" on it, we were very excited (it's a miracle! How did he know I wanted Air Jordan sneakers?!).

But inevitably, either through our parents or through some kid at school, we learned the truth; that Santa was simply a made up figure who brought about joy to kids every year. Some of us might have been momentarily disappointed or even distraught for a time, but we always got over it. After all, it is kind of stupid to think that there is a jolly fat man who rides around flying reindeer, isn't it?

Critics might say that there is no harm in children believing in Santa, and I agree to a point. It is okay when you are 8 years old, but no 20 year old should honestly believe in Santa Clause. Much is the absurdity with grown, intelligent adults believing in their form of Santa Clause.

I compare children's belief in Santa to humanities' belief in god. In many of the same ways, believers truly and honestly believe in a being "up there" who keeps tabs on our lives, who we pray to, and who performs miracles from time to time.

The only difference is, unlike with children and Santa, humanity never is told or inevitably finds out that god does not exist. Just like Santa, god was a fictional figure, a part of a grand tale created by a young species still lost in their world.

If only humanity could start to follow the trend of every single child who eventually comes to the conclusion that Santa does not exist, we would certainly be at least partly better off.