# Why should Santa be regarded differently than God? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 9, 2019, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-santa-be-regarded-differently-than-god/827442 "2019-01-09T02:20:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![EscAlaMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/escalamike/32/4177_2.png) [@EscAlaMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EscAlaMike)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2019, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-santa-be-regarded-differently-than-god/827442/221 "2019-02-01T21:03:43Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > I didn’t mean “why does he care what people do in general”, I meant specifically “why does he disapprove of gay sex?” Catholic teaching regarding human sexuality is very easy to find. But I’ll humor you. The purpose of sex is twofold, procreative and unitive. Gay sex is not the only type of sex that is “disapproved of”. Any sex outside of marriage is similarly disordered because it lacks the “unitive” aspect that is only possible through the commitment of marriage, as is sex within marriage that purposefully inhibits the procreative aspect. > [@Babale](#): > > You’re the one who thinks he did, so you should answer that question. I think people evolved to be sexually attracted to other people because if they weren’t we would have died out by now. Yes, the sexual drive is obviously for the purpose of the procreation of the species. Any natural drive can be twisted and/or abused. We need food to survive, but overeating is harmful. We need to sleep, but laziness is harmful. > [@Babale](#): > > But my point is, if God doesn’t want gay people to have gay sex, why did he make gay people gay in the first place? Why did God make men attracted to multiple women (and men) if they are only allowed to have chaste sex with their wife? Of course I don’t know why God does what he does, but I can speculate. Maybe because it’s good for us to learn chastity and fortitude? ---
**Author:** ![EscAlaMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/escalamike/32/4177_2.png) [@EscAlaMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EscAlaMike)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2019, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-santa-be-regarded-differently-than-god/827442/222 "2019-02-01T21:04:51Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > if you purposefully raised your kid to really like… let’s say cookies, but also told him that if he ever ate cookies you’d set him on fire for a billion years, you’d be a sadist, yes. This is stupid. There is no equivalence here. ---
**Author:** ![EscAlaMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/escalamike/32/4177_2.png) [@EscAlaMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EscAlaMike)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2019, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-santa-be-regarded-differently-than-god/827442/223 "2019-02-01T21:07:17Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Parents don’t create their children’s ability make choices: your god did. > That’s coerced, not free. > Then you agree that all the terrible things that happen are your god’s fault? Sorry **Snowboarder Bo** , but nothing in your Post #220 makes any sense. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2019, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-santa-be-regarded-differently-than-god/827442/224 "2019-02-01T21:08:14Z")
> [@EscAlaMike](#): > > Parents punish their children for making bad choices. Are parents sadistic? I have never burned, drowned, or otherwise killed children, nor would I(if I could) turn a child into a pillar of salt or have one torn asunder by a wild bear. I also wouldn’t blame a grandchild or great-grandchild for something a parent did. Another thing I wouldn’t do is blame innocent children for playing with something dangerous and banish them from their home…especially if I was the one that placed the dangerous item within their grasp in the first place. Yet another thing I wouldn’t do is kill off someone’s family just to win a bet with a third party, then think that giving him another family makes things just hunky dory. Do you happen to have any gods that I wouldn’t be openly ashamed to worship? ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2019, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-santa-be-regarded-differently-than-god/827442/225 "2019-02-01T21:08:20Z")
> [@EscAlaMike](#): > > Of course I don’t know why God does what he does, but I can speculate. Maybe because it’s good for us to learn chastity and fortitude? So it’s good for people to be punished when they don’t? Why would your god create people and set them up to fail and then punish _them_ for his poor design & execution? That’s a sadist. Your god could have created people so they don’t make choices he doesn’t like, but he _chose_ to do it the way he did: he chose people suffering. He set up the conditions for them to exist and for them to suffer. And in your view, he then just lets that happen but somehow isn’t responsible for it? :dubious:😕 ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2019, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-santa-be-regarded-differently-than-god/827442/226 "2019-02-01T21:09:47Z")
> [@EscAlaMike](#): > > Sorry **Snowboarder Bo** , but nothing in your Post #220 makes any sense. I’m not at all surprised you wrote that. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2019, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-santa-be-regarded-differently-than-god/827442/227 "2019-02-01T21:12:21Z")
> [@EscAlaMike](#): > > Catholic teaching regarding human sexuality is very easy to find. But I’ll humor you. The purpose of sex is twofold, procreative and unitive. Gay sex is not the only type of sex that is “disapproved of”. Any sex outside of marriage is similarly disordered because it lacks the “unitive” aspect that is only possible through the commitment of marriage, as is sex within marriage that purposefully inhibits the procreative aspect. OK, fair enough. That’s a straight answer at least. > [@](#): > > Why did God make men attracted to multiple women (and men) if they are only allowed to have chaste sex with their wife? Again, because evolutionary, men who are attracted to many women are more likely to reproduce and pass on their genes. > [@](#): > > Of course I don’t know why God does what he does, but I can speculate. Maybe because it’s good for us to learn chastity and fortitude? Got it – so Jesus wants you to learn chastity and fortitude, and to encourage you to do that, he will try his hardest to tempt you; and then if you fail, he’ll send you to hell for eternity. > [@EscAlaMike](#): > > This is stupid. There is no equivalence here. You’re absolutely right, there’s no equivalent between burning for a billion years or eternity. Eternity is much worse. ---
**Author:** ![EscAlaMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/escalamike/32/4177_2.png) [@EscAlaMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EscAlaMike)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2019, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-santa-be-regarded-differently-than-god/827442/228 "2019-02-01T21:19:23Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > So it’s good for people to be punished when they don’t? Of course appropriate punishment is good for us. It corrects bad behavior. Do you have children? Were you ever a child? > [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Why would your god create people and set them up to fail and then punish _them_ for his poor design & execution? I disagree with your premise. We were not set up to fail. We were given everything we needed and lacked nothing, with perfect freedom, but being human wasn’t enough. We wanted to be gods. Even through all of the millennia of the tragedies and follies of humanity, we still have everything we need for redemption and salvation through the sacraments of the Catholic Church, thanks to God who is infinitely more patient with us than any of us would have been. ---
**Author:** ![EscAlaMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/escalamike/32/4177_2.png) [@EscAlaMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EscAlaMike)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2019, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-santa-be-regarded-differently-than-god/827442/229 "2019-02-01T21:21:26Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > I have never burned, drowned, or otherwise killed children, nor would I(if I could) turn a child into a pillar of salt or have one torn asunder by a wild bear. I also wouldn’t blame a grandchild or great-grandchild for something a parent did. Another thing I wouldn’t do is blame innocent children for playing with something dangerous and banish them from their home…especially if I was the one that placed the dangerous item within their grasp in the first place. Yet another thing I wouldn’t do is kill off someone’s family just to win a bet with a third party, then think that giving him another family makes things just hunky dory. > Do you happen to have any gods that I wouldn’t be openly ashamed to worship? I’m very happy that you would never do those things. I never thought it of you anyhow. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2019, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-santa-be-regarded-differently-than-god/827442/230 "2019-02-01T21:24:52Z")
> [@EscAlaMike](#): > > I’m very happy that you would never do those things. I never thought it of you anyhow. He really got you there, **Czarcasm**! ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2019, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-santa-be-regarded-differently-than-god/827442/231 "2019-02-01T21:27:31Z")
> [@EscAlaMike](#): > > I disagree with your premise. We were not set up to fail. We were given everything we needed and lacked nothing, with perfect freedom, but being human wasn’t enough. We wanted to be gods. If that is true, we must have wanted to be gods because your god gave us the ability to want to be gods. I mean: he created us, right? > [@EscAlaMike](#): > > Even through all of the millennia of the tragedies and follies of humanity, we still have everything we need for redemption and salvation through the sacraments of the Catholic Church, thanks to God who is infinitely more patient with us than any of us would have been. **Mike** , there’s no need for your god to be patient unless he wants to be patient. He’s all-powerful, right? He could have just made us how he wants us. But he didn’t: he chose to make us so he could punish us and cause suffering. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2019, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-santa-be-regarded-differently-than-god/827442/232 "2019-02-01T21:28:03Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > He really got you there, **Czarcasm**! Yeah, what a subtle dodge. :rolleyes: Apparently he has no problem with his god doing all those things…and more. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2019, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-santa-be-regarded-differently-than-god/827442/233 "2019-02-01T21:30:03Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Yeah, what a subtle dodge. :rolleyes: Apparently he has no problem with his god doing all those things…and more. Maybe that’s why he doesn’t want you to be a god? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2019, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-santa-be-regarded-differently-than-god/827442/234 "2019-02-01T21:34:24Z")
One thing I would definitely want for my child? That she/he turns out better than I did. Is that what the god of Genesis wanted for _his_ “children” before they were set up for the fall? ---
**Author:** ![EscAlaMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/escalamike/32/4177_2.png) [@EscAlaMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EscAlaMike)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2019, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-santa-be-regarded-differently-than-god/827442/235 "2019-02-01T21:48:13Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > If that is true, we must have wanted to be gods because your god gave us the ability to want to be gods. I mean: he created us, right? He created us with freedom. Could he have created us without freedom? Sure I suppose, but what would have been the point? > [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > **Mike** , there’s no need for your god to be patient unless he wants to be patient. That was exactly my point. > [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > He’s all-powerful, right? He could have just made us how he wants us. He did make us how he wants us. He wanted to create conscious intelligent creatures with free agency. > [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > But he didn’t: he chose to make us so he could punish us and cause suffering. Absurd. He made us so that we could share in his divine life. We punish ourselves and cause our own suffering. We don’t need God’s help for that. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2019, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-santa-be-regarded-differently-than-god/827442/236 "2019-02-01T21:49:55Z")
> [@EscAlaMike](#): > > He did make us how he wants us. He wanted to create conscious intelligent creatures with free agency. Not according to Genesis. ---
**Author:** ![EscAlaMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/escalamike/32/4177_2.png) [@EscAlaMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EscAlaMike)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2019, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-santa-be-regarded-differently-than-god/827442/237 "2019-02-01T21:50:36Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Yeah, what a subtle dodge. :rolleyes: Apparently he has no problem with his god doing all those things…and more. Not a dodge. An eyeroll. Just because ancient writers may have understood God in that way, doesn’t mean they were correct. They were doing the best they could with the resources they had. As for your characterization of the Adam & Eve story :rolleyes: another eye roll. ---
**Author:** ![EscAlaMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/escalamike/32/4177_2.png) [@EscAlaMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EscAlaMike)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2019, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-santa-be-regarded-differently-than-god/827442/238 "2019-02-01T21:51:43Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Not according to Genesis. Genesis 1:31 “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good” ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2019, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-santa-be-regarded-differently-than-god/827442/239 "2019-02-01T21:52:54Z")
> [@EscAlaMike](#): > > Not a dodge. An eyeroll. Just because ancient writers may have understood God in that way, doesn’t mean they were correct. They were doing the best they could with the resources they had. As for your characterization of the Adam & Eve story :rolleyes: another eye roll. if you’ve got an alternate Bible with the “correct” versions of all those stories, I’d love to see it. BTW-Who are _you_ to state that all those versions are incorrect? ---
**Author:** ![EscAlaMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/escalamike/32/4177_2.png) [@EscAlaMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EscAlaMike)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2019, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-santa-be-regarded-differently-than-god/827442/240 "2019-02-01T21:54:49Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > if you’ve got an alternate Bible with the “correct” versions of all those stories, I’d love to see it. BTW-Who are _you_ to state that all those versions are incorrect? I’m not saying your versions of the stories are incorrect, I’m saying just because an author attributes an event as being the hand of God in action, doesn’t mean the author was factually correct about that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-santa-be-regarded-differently-than-god/827442.md?page=11) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-santa-be-regarded-differently-than-god/827442.md?page=13)