Nicholas of Myra was a historical figure. Believers and I seem to agree that there were mythical details added to his story. That’s the difference between him and Jesus.
Ditto for me. Not believing in the EB/SC and my loss of faith (so to speak) were totally unrelated incidents that came years apart and had nothing at all to do with each other. Also, and this is probably at least partially related for most people, even though we all knew the meaning behind Easter and Christmas and we made damn sure to get to Church on those days, ultimately it was a day of hanging out with the family and giving/receiving gifts. If we spent the day reflecting religious aspects, things might have been different, one way or another.
I think that somewhat common. I mentioned to my sister that I got off lucky in that my daughter puts teeth she’s lost right outside her bedroom door. Sure beats trying to get my hand under her pillow at 11pm. She told me that one of the kids she babysits for is so terrified of the Easter Bunny that the he conveniently, for some reason, leaves all their gifts on the front porch and never has to come in the house.
[Really wish I could find that It’s Always Sunny Clip, but no luck]
Elwood P Dowd, let me give you one of my cards.
Not so fast there.
I woke up Sunday at 6 am (and promptly texted my brother, “I am risen”, as is my yearly tradition) and found a basket of candy, light sticks, tic-tacs, and a $25 gift card to my favorite bar, on the side porch.
Assuming it was from our neighbors, I thanked them that afternoon when I saw them in their garden. They denied any knowledge of the basket. :eek:
It would be impossible to drive up to our home without the dogs barking. At this point, although I’m an atheist, and until proven otherwise, I do believe in the Easter bunny. And he/she is awesome.
If Jesus was in the small consumer goods distribution game, this would be a more accurate test. It’s harder to compare “will I get jelly beans” to “will my immortal soul experience a blessed afterlife” though.
Simple. Compartmentalization.
Probably the same way someone can believe alien life exists in the universe, but they don’t believe the movie Independence Day depicts true events.
My answer: of the three, Jesus is the only one who actually existed. You are comparing something that probably didn’t happen to someone vs. two fictional characters. Okay, maybe you can make the case that comparing the real St. Nicholas to Santa and comparing the real Rabbach Jeshua ben-Joseph (if I heard the name correctly) to the biblical version of Jesus, but I don’t see it that way.
Yeah, I used to wonder that folk would fervently believe in some irrational, unprovable stuff, but not others. I believe Shermer addresses it to some extent in How We Believe, but it is a while since I read it. Why does someone believe in christianity, but not fortune telling? Or ESP? Why not Scientology? Or John Smith’s Angel Moroni? What do christians have in their favor other than age and numbers? How could ANYONE express the belief that THEIR religin is true, and someone else’s equally unprovable beliefs are not?
[QOUTE]If the Jesus story had come explicitly from people making up stories, then those who follow him would consider him fake, too. But the Gospels describe him as a historical figure.
[/QUOTE]
I’m pretty sure people are capable of making up stories in which they describe characters as historical figures.
My wife has said that the most influential person in history was whoever had the bright idea to hide the body! 
Not sure what God or Jesus has supposedly done that hasn’t provably been shown to have some other cause. Unless you praise the “God of the gaps.” And if something is simply unknowable (such as what existed before the big bang), I wonder why someone chooses to select a particular fairy tale to explain it.
When my eldest kid was pre-school - maybe 3, she had a friend down the block. It pissed us off that they would teach their kid in a manner such that she told our kid that there was no Santa and that Jesus was the reason for the season. We told our kid that if the “friend” ever said anything about it again, to say that every x-mas morning Santa leaves presents and eats the cookies we leave out . What comparable signs does she have that her supposed Jesus exists? :dubious:
Actually, we never tried to tell our kids that any superstition was wrong. We just told them to look to the evidence supporting whatever claims and make up their own minds. Of course, we expressed the reasons we held our beliefs. Took them to various houses of worship and enrolled them in comparative RE classes. And told them every person could choose to believe in whatever they wanted, and we couldn’t say whether such beliefs were right or wrong for that person. Formula succeeded in raising 3 skeptical, rational heathens!
Regardless of our differing beliefs, I think we can all agree we don’t want to wake up to find Tim Allen stumbling around our house.
And, once you consider that the fat old fellow is the comercialized version of Saint Nicholas of Bari, who says he didn’t exist? Saint Nick of Bari did; the comercialized thing does. But the comercialized thing isn’t a saint.
Up on the rooftop reindeer paws,
out pops dear old subordinate clause.
Actual grammar joke - from 7th grade, I think.
That’s not really the same thing. It’s more a slippery slope where if you open the door to one “supernatural being”, it opens the realm of possibility to others. If there’s Jesus, then why not St Nicholas / Santa. And if there’s Santa, then why not elves and flying reindeer, Krampus, Belsnickel*, Black Pete and so on.
- I thought this was something Dwight Shrute made up on The Office. My wife’s family is from Eastern PA area and apparently it’s an actual thing.
Okay, fair enough. The believer in Jesus would still need a reason to believe in those other things, and/or a lack of reasons to disbelieve in them (beyond merely that they are supernatural).
Just because you believe in some natural things, does that mean you have to believe in anything and everything that isn’t supernatural?
[QUOTE=G. K. Chesterton]
'Well, I do believe some things, of course," conceded Father Brown; "and therefore, of course, I don’t believe other things.”
[/QUOTE]
I don’t understand the connection that the OP is trying to make.
Christmas and Easter are Christian holidays.
Santa and the Easter Bunny are secular characters created for kids. They give kids and young-at-heart adults a light hearted connection to the holiday.
We always took our family to Easter Services and had a Easter egg hunt afterwards. Giving our kids the religious and secular experience.
Same thing for Christmas. We attended early morning service and opened presents afterwards.
This is a question that gets wrestled with at times in fantasy and horror fiction.
Suppose you found out that, say, werewolves as presented in lore and pop culture were 100% real. What, if anything, does that say about the existence of vampires? Ghosts? Aliens visiting Earth? The objective truth of any religion? If you find out one “impossible/supernatural” thing is true, how far does the door open to ANYTHING impossible/supernatural?
I like to say that there’s more evidence that Robin Hood and King Arthur were real, than there is for Jesus existing, let alone performing miracles.
Santa at least has a clear historical record of origin.
The Easter Bunny really ought not be lumped into the Santa level of belief, he has nothing to back him up.
What evidence about King Arthur are you referring to that is better historical evidence than Josephus?
Not much. Which is my point.
I don’t know if I’m correct in saying it, I just like to say it.
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So, I no longer believe in the Easter bunny.
I used the gift card from my Easter basket yesterday after work. The bartender said, “that was so sweet of your gf to make you an Easter basket!”
I never suspected her. She was right there when I thanked our neighbors.
OK, but it’s the other way around.