** belladonna ** does have a point, I guess I was too busy muttering how tacky to think of it in that light. But I still think like ** ultress ** does, keep 'em apart . (Hi ultress, how you been ? )
Hmmmm If ** Washte ** is in on the secret santa exchange this year I have an idea for the gifter *a giant blow up santa doll ! Fun all year round, 
. What do you mean I can stick a ho ho ho ? 
Whoa. Why do you think it’s tacky? I always took it as a statement that Santa Claus is not the point of Christmas, and he knows it too. Yes, it can be jarring, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be tacky.
That manger display ain’t so bad. Santa is what Christmas is all about, despite what all the Calvinists think (if it is Calvinists who killed Christmas… my mind is slipping).
What I want to know is how you’ve made it to this point without seeing this before. I first started to actually notice this about 15 years ago, back when I was ten or eleven, and I’m guessing people had done it for a while before I started to notice, not being terribly observant.
Ya know, Ayesha, there are about 4 houses in my tiny neighborhood with that same type of display.
Of course, they have about 1.2 million strands of lights in their yards, and the Griswolds had nothing on them, but it’s still odd looking. I think it’s tacky as all get out.
No, no. If that were the case they’d have a santa in a manger with a big Calvin peeing on them.
Are those the Calvinists you were refering to, Barbarian?
Time to revive the saga of Nonie & Oscar.
The one that gets me is the lighted crosses at Christmas. Yes, I know the cross is a universal Christian symbol, but what say we downplay the image of Christ’s death when we’re celebrating his birth, huh?
Yep, I am on the Secret Santa list… sssshhhhh
A giant blow-up Santa, eh?? Could it be one of those with the sand at the bottom, like a kids punching bag type thing? Am I showing my age with this?? Dordhi. That way I could give Santa the whacking he deserves and relieve a bit of frustration at the same time
Oh, goody! Goody! I was hoping someone would post this link because I was looking for it the other day.
Yeah, that kinda creeps me out.
I really like are the luminarias/faralitos (paper bag lanterns) in the American Southwest.
Then there’s the tiny manger scene on a bathroom scale. The digital numbers were there next to Baby Jesus. The idea, I guess, was the opportunity to get “a weigh in a manger” whenever you wanted.
–Nott
I think it’s humorous, in a sweet way, not quite tacky. In the neighborhood were I grew up, one would see this a lot. The nativity with Santa and Frosty, and Rudolph hanging out with the camel.
I think the primary cause of this is that people like to decorate their yards a lot.
I also think it’s interesting to remember that Santa Claus is none other than St. Nicholas. In medieval and renaissance art, it’s rather common to show a nativity scene with various saints in attendance, even though such a thing obviously could not have happened in a historical sense.
I like to think of it as a way of expressing that anyone can be, spiritually, in the presence of the baby Jesus. Even Santa.
Those decorations offend me, too. According to these displays, Santa Claus existed before Jesus. These displays imply that the most important thing about Jesus’ birth was that it pleased Santa Claus. I think they’re really tacky.
A friend and I were rather weirded out to find Christmas ornaments of this very thing in the mall last week. The one in crystal stuck us as being even creepier than the regular plastic one. I’m not sure what’s wrong with that, but something is!
So, those of you who are offended by Santa at the nativity, what do y’all think of the infamous Jesus Sports Figures sold by “Catholic Supply of St. Louis” and featured at least twice on Conan O’Brian? I mean, Jesus playing hockey? baseball? soccer? Well, ok, Jesus does look like a soccer kind of guy, but karate and snow skiing?
Thanks for the link. I guess one person’s tacky is another person’s art. I love in your face stuff like that.
I agree with *belladonna; it’s never struck me as tacky. After all, it’s not as though Santa’s the center of the action. He, like Mary and Joseph, the shepherds, and the wise men, is paying homage to Jesus.
Family in my hometown has one member (son no longer living at home) who converted to Buddhism, rest of the family apparently devout Roman Catholics. Family has big plastic lightup creche scene. I always expect to see Buddha make an appearance.
Santa and baby Jesus together again. It’s nice to see that we’ve not forgotten the true meaning of Xmas.
Do evergreens and holly and mistletoe also offend?
Every christian church I’ve ever been in drapes itself in these pagan symbols at Christmas time.
I admire the idea of giving right in the middle of the hardest time of the year, and Santa is the symbol of giving. Just as God gave his only son.
And I like melding traditions.
Of course, I don’t even put lights on my front porch.
But the Three Wise Flamingoes, now that’s an idea …
But, oh, yes, it is tacky.
Sorry for the hijack, but…
So was my idea actually used in Nightmare Before Christmas? There’s so much going on in the film that I’ve never noticed a Nativity with the Baby Jesus being menaced by monsters or everything else is normal except the Baby Jesus is a monster. Or the crashed sleigh thing. Or was DaddyTimesTwo just commenting on the theme? My DVD isn’t accessible right now.