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NewTime
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19 Aug 2019, 12:11 pm

They have many godlike powers. Would they be considered gods?



Antrax
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19 Aug 2019, 12:14 pm

Superman isn't, because no one believes he is real. Santa Claus is a god, but only to little children who still believe in him.


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wowiexist
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19 Aug 2019, 12:24 pm

But the thing about Santa is that he is based on a real person. That real person is considered a saint but not a god.



funeralxempire
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19 Aug 2019, 3:11 pm

wowiexist wrote:
But the thing about Santa is that he is based on a real person. That real person is considered a saint but not a god.


Santa Claus might be loosely based on Saint Nicholas, but Santa Claus isn't literally St. Nicholas. For starters, Santa didn't deck Arius, St. Nick did.

The current Santa concept is based on a mix of traditions associated with Saint Nicholas, with the Dutch Sinterklaas and with the English Father Christmas and is an invention of American culture. Protestants rejecting the veneration of saints caused the change in tradition, moving the gifts to coincide with Christmas instead of St. Nicholas' Day.


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IsabellaLinton
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19 Aug 2019, 3:30 pm

Santa was a God to me. I was absolutely mesmerised by the concept of charity, goodwill and benevolence. I actually prayed to him every night of the year, thanking him for being so good to children. I didn't ask for things; I only gave gratitude and learned to care about a concept bigger than myself.


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19 Aug 2019, 3:42 pm

funeralxempire wrote:
... The current Santa concept is based on a mix of traditions associated with Saint Nicholas, with the Dutch Sinterklaas and with the English Father Christmas and is an invention of ...
... the Coca-Cola Company in 1931.

On a side note, "A visit from St. Nicolas" (a.k.a., "The Night Before Christmas") was written in 1822, in which only 8 reindeer were named. Rudolph first joined the team in 1939 in a booklet written by Robert L. May and published by Montgomery Ward, the department store. May's brother-in-law, Johnny Marks, adapted the story of Rudolph into a song. Gene Autry's recording of the song hit No. 1 on the Billboard pop singles chart the week of Christmas 1949. The stop-motion animated TV movie was first shown in 1964.


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Fnord
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19 Aug 2019, 3:47 pm

NewTime wrote:
Are Santa Claus and Superman gods? They have many godlike powers. Would they be considered gods?
If presented during the Classical Greek era (for example), they might have been considered gods, titans, or demigods.


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IsabellaLinton
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19 Aug 2019, 3:47 pm

This! ^^

Also in the original story, Donder's name is "Donder", not Donner as we commonly hear today.


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Trueno
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19 Aug 2019, 3:51 pm

Maybe classical Greek heroes inspired Superman... particularly Heracles.


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naturalplastic
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19 Aug 2019, 6:47 pm

Neither is credited with creating the universe. So neither would be a "God" in the monotheistic Abrahamic sense.

But (for children who believe in him) Santa Clause does verge on being an ancient Pagan type deity (and one who can petitioned to for favors).

And I agree that superman, and really all comic book superheroes, are rebooted versions of ancient demigods like Hercules. Indeed Hercules, had his own cartoon show when I was a child, and Thor (an actual full god in Valhalla) has been in comic books for decades, and is now in movies palling around with Iron man et al. Funny how humans cant seem to do with out characters with mythic magic superpowers.



Fnord
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19 Aug 2019, 7:49 pm

naturalplastic wrote:
... Funny how humans can't seem to do with out characters with mythic magic superpowers.
Even science-fiction cannot seem to do without some kind of "magical" ability. Extra-Sensory Perception, Rapid Self-Healing, Telekinesis, Telepathy, Teleportation, "The Force", Time Travel ... the list goes on.

What is a blaster pistol but a high-tech equivalent of a wand of fireballs? A killer robot is just a zombie in a metallic skin. Trolls from AD&D are ordinary mutants in Traveller with a high regenerative rate. An anti-grav sled is just a flying carpet with batteries. Light-Sabres are technical equivalents of Holy Avenger Swords and Vorpal blades. This list goes on, too.


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aghogday
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19 Aug 2019, 11:41 pm

"Are Santa Claus And Superman Gods?"

Hmm; Christians Equate God With Love. Christians Designate a Story of Jesus As God And Love. Catholic Christians
Believe that a Priest Will Literally Change A Wafer of Bread Into the Body Of Jesus And When That Body Is
Consumed At Communion in the Mass Jesus Becomes Part of the Soul of the Person Who Consumes that
Body of 'Christ'. You Should Have Seen How Bent Out of Shape a Bishop Got Recently when a Pew Poll
Found that 69 Percent of Catholics only Saw it as Symbolic and Not the Literal Body of Christ To Consume as Part
of One's Soul. 80 Percent of Folks Under 40, Saw it Only as Symbolic Too; No Real Surprise to me as The Catholic
Church is not the only 'Spiritual' Source of 'Dogma' Anymore.

Furthermore, Christians Believe that when two or more Christians Come Together Jesus and God Same is Present
In Their Midst in other Words, 'The God of Love' Is also 'The God of Loving the Tribe'.

What I'm Saying Here is, if You Believe That a Symbol of Santa Claus Represents God to You; And if You Believe That
Superman Is a Super Hero to You as Symbol of God too; It sure isn't less reasonable than Turning a Wafer of Bread
into Jesus Incarnate as Literally God; And Consuming the Wafer as the Priest Changes it into Literally the Flesh
Of Jesus; as Highly Educated Priests Really Believe they Have the Power to Do that at Mass; True, the Priest at
at The Catholic Church i attend, i went to High School With; A Super Smart Very Rational Guy who Graduated
in the Top 10 as many Catholic Priests Are Highly Educated And Believe they have the Power to Change a
Wafer of Communion Bread, the 'Eucharist' into Literally the Body of Jesus to Consume as Part of one's Soul.

But You know What; From a Science Perspective and the Really Amazing Effect of Using Symbols as Sugar
Pills; Yes, Even Worded Assurances that One Will Heal With a Symbol Like that Folks Who Really Believe in the
Placebo Actually Literally do Heal Themselves; sometimes incurable Disease Will Spontaneously Go into Remission.

In this Way, a Wafer of Bread may Be a Sugar Pill that a Person Consumes of the Symbol of Already a Metaphor
of A Man For Altruistic Giving and Sharing Love. This Enhances the Placebo Effect, no Different than a Sugar
Pill; and a Person who Really Believes in what they Say they do with Emotional Affect; Then the Subconscious
Much More Powerful Potential of Our Complete Mind Takes the Reins and Does the Rest out of Sight. Science
Additionally Shows Now a Person Will Use their Imagination and Visualize Working-Out and actually
increase Strength Empirically Measurable by Muscle Size increases too that Are Yes, Actually Real.

Here's the thing for those who are Fearful of the Dark and Cynical oF LiGHT in the Rivers of Belief
If You Pooh Pooh what works you lose out it's as simple and As Scientifically Evident as this...

What Ever Works, Works; Those Who Snooze and Do Not use Whatever Method Works to
Increase Their Human Potentials Really Do Lose Without this Belief, Faith, Hope and LoVE iN
Higher Human Potentials of Graceful Healing With Love; and Actual Will and Strength Now Increasing.


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Wolfram87
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20 Aug 2019, 2:18 am

Santa Claus is in part based on one of the lesser-known aspects of Odin, so...partially?


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shortfatbalduglyman
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20 Aug 2019, 9:01 am

Depends on the dictionary



KT67
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24 Dec 2020, 12:14 pm

Nobody worships Santa as a god.


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24 Dec 2020, 12:20 pm

Both bring a lot of love and righteousness to the world.
even though both of them are fictional.

I guess their fictional tales are much more interesting than normal folks lives.

Even the life of Jesus isn't as exciting.
Just being honest.