disturbing conversation overheard

Went to coffee this morning at my usual spot. Couldn't help but hear a conversation next to me: two evangelicals were debating the merits of Santa Claus-as-tradition and American myth (especially in relation to religious belief and practice). One guy was standing, and pretty much dominating the conversation. At one point: "When I have kids, I'm going to tell them that Santa Claus is like a game we play. When the holidays come around, we're going to play the Santa game." Why did he make this argument? Because, he said, if children are taught that Santa is real and Jesus is real, then becoming disabused of one means becoming disillusioned with the other.

This is madness.

One flaw in logic is obvious: if kids are taught from an early age that Santa Claus is a game, then (oh no!) what's going to prevent them from thinking that Jesus is a "game" as well? We play the one game to get presents at Christmas, and we play the other game to get into heaven when we die. Wittgenstein would have loved all this game-playing! And even a child could follow these ramifications.

There's part of me that just feels disgusted with the reduction of religion to a system of costs and benefits. Perhaps this is the ultimate result of the logic of the Reformation: the foregrounding of the individual's soul, the emphasis on inner discernment and "faith," Locke's idea of religion as a "salvation society" which looks just like his social contract but which refers to heaven rather than earth. I want no part of this kind of "religion."