The Plus Side Of The Santa Claus Lie

I recently wrote here about how our family treats the Santa Claus character as we would treat any other fictional character. I also mentioned that there are good arguments for propagating the lie from a critical thinking standpoint. An excerpt from Parenting Beyond Belief was posted on Dale McGowan's blog that does a very good job of making that argument:

Santa Claus, my secular friends, is the greatest gift a rational worldview ever had. Our culture has constructed a silly and temporary myth parallel to its silly and permanent one. They share a striking number of characteristics, yet the one is cast aside halfway through childhood. And a good thing, too: A middle-aged father looking mournfully up the chimbly along with his sobbing children on yet another giftless Christmas morning would be a sure candidate for a very soft room. This culturally pervasive myth is meant to be figured out, designed with an expiration date, after which consumption is universally frowned upon.

While I encourage reading it and agree with the end result, much like communism, I disagree with the means. I do intend to encourage skepticism but I do not think the I need to personally create the situation in this manner. There are plenty of real world examples of things that people really do believe that I can use.

[Edit: Clarification]

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