The Cupertino Courier

First Word

Santa's coming, policy 6141.2 permitting

By Jon Hoornstra

Santa Claus is a pretty cool guy. Nearly everyone likes him, especially children. Actually, children adore Santa Claus.

In fact, Mr. Claus is a near-perfect role model for kids. The legend we call Santa Claus is all give and no take. OK, a fine point can be made by noting he's taken a cookie or two on occasion, usually with milk. So sue me.

However, I've recently heard stories that Santa has been "at risk" since he was quietly removed from the educational experience offered some of our children. If true, Santa might disappear as a shared cultural experience.

Or, nearly as bad, some kids may have no choice but to learn about Santa at Kmart.

I am suspicious that the underlying problem is political correctness going amok. Our main need is factual information about Santa Claus, as quite a few people, including some administrators and classroom teachers, consider Santa a religious character. Moreover, the Cupertino Union School District governs Santa under its policy on "Recognition of Religious Holidays" (BP Policy #6141.2).

That's likely as good an explanation for why he's regarded as a religious figure as any other I can find.

Everyone needs to be reminded, however, that no religion will claim Santa. In fact, none of the 18 religious organizations listed with Cupertino's Chamber of Commerce consider Santa Claus a religious figure. They all consider him a myth.

Religious officials are terribly fond of Santa, of course. Only an android could not like him. Mere mention of Santa brings smiles to faces and visions of gift-giving.

Still, Santa's no member of a holy flock, nor is he a person of the cloth, so to speak. You cannot find any paintings or carvings of him in city churches or nearby synagogues or mosques. Nor is his name mentioned in prayers or hymns.

When I have questions about serious matters, like the true nature of Santa Claus, the city library goes on my list of places to visit. I checked up on Mr. Claus in three distinguished references there.

The Oxford English Dictionary wastes no time. Its first definition declares Santa "an imaginary personage." That's clear.

Meanwhile, listings in the "S" volume of the Encyclopaedia of Religion & Ethics go from "Santal" to "Sanusi." There is no entry for Santa Claus. That's clear, also.

The Encyclopedia Americana provides a reasonably complete explanation of the man in red's American history. Like the OED, it says he is a mythical character who is likely based on a real fourth-century Christian bishop from an area known today as Turkey.

But "facts" about the bishop are murky. The word "legend" is used to relate the story that the bishop anonymously provided a bag of gold for three sisters to use as dowries, without which they presumably could not marry. One bag of gold, the story says, was tossed through a window and by chance landed in a stocking that had been hung by the fire to dry. Sound familiar?

So the bishop was a very nice guy who, on occasion, redistributed some wealth. The rest is history, but not religion.

The bishop was later made a saint of his church. His name was Nicholas. Thus, another piece of the Santa Claus saga falls into place and we understand why the name St. Nicholas is connected to the story of our man from the North Pole.

But the legend of Nicholas went nowhere for hundreds of years. The legend was seriously overhauled and recast in the U.S. in 1823, when Clement C. Moore published his wonderful poem that begins, "'Twas the Night Before Christmas." It made Santa a national treasure and gave him a personality (he was jolly), a style (he wore a red suit) and a famous sleigh pulled by eight tiny reindeer.

Cartoonist Thomas Nast provided Santa his polished finish with a visual image that first appeared in 1881 in Harper's Weekly. His drawing was widely imitated and is used today along with other versions.

Santa Claus has long been mainstream; he's also prime-time material, and he's rated "G." We need him. Can we keep him?

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