Well, this post may not be timely as Christmas has recently passed for 2011. But, I write them as I get them. Do you believe in Santa Claus? If you are a parent, do you practice the beliefs of the folk tales around the person called Santa Claus? I will not discuss the history of the Christmas figure as I could find sources that approve of including the folklore in a Christmas family tradition and sources calling the figure –“Satan Claus”. As for me, I did not pass on the “beliefs” to my children. This was decided in our family before our time at Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF). The reasons are not important here. It would suffice to say I did not consider the tale to agree with what we wanted to pass on to our children. This did cause some angst when visiting relatives around the holiday. But, we got through it. And the practice was certainly obliterated during WOFF days as Jane Whaley led all members to disown the Christmas celebration altogether. Today, I began to view the Santa Claus beliefs from a totally new view point and I had to ask myself if I had passed on something much worse than Santa Claus to my children.
Today’s discussion did not start out on the attributes of Santa Claus. Actually, a friend and I were discussing the mystical “powers” proclaimed by certain “church leaders”; the topic included all the self-proclaimed revelations and seeming omnipotence of certain leaders. This friend was expressing their hesitation to deny the validity of certain spiritual practices. In essence, they were saying they did not want to “throw the baby out with the bath water”. So, we began a list of certain powers proclaimed by certain group leaders- some of leaders would be included as religious cult leaders…
Honestly, there were others in the discussion besides Jane Whaley. However, my experience has been mostly with WOFF, so, I will reference her in this post. The list included the assumed omnipotence of Jane, the assigned quality that she knew everything, and that no matter what you did – she would say whether it was “good or bad”. Suddenly I made a frightening connection. The words to a song popped into mind;
Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
Oh! You better watch out,
You better not cry,
You better not pout,
I’m telling you why:
Santa Claus is coming to town!
He’s making a list,
He’s checking it twice,
He’s gonna find out
who’s naughty or nice.
Santa Claus is coming to town!
He sees you when you’re sleeping;
He knows when you’re awake.
He knows when you’ve been bad or good,
So be good for goodness sake!
So…You better watch out,
You better not cry
You better not pout,
I’m telling you why.
Santa Claus is coming to town.
(there are more verses…) link: http://www.christmas-carols.net/carols/santa-claus-coming-town.html
Before we break this down, let me repeat another important point made during this discussion. The friend talking to me today mentioned that to “believe in” or make a practice of Santa Claus; one had to suspend knowledge of certain obvious facts and common sense observations. It can be easier for children to do this, in many ways. They may “want to believe” because of the “benefits of believing in Santa Claus”. (toys, toys, and more toys…) For adults to further the practices, it takes the obvious denial of facts and reality. But, many folks do what it takes to further the tale because of the perceived benefits to them and others, who agree to participate in the folk tale.
. “Oh! You better watch out, you better not cry, you better not pout, I am telling you why”; Well that would fit with WOFF-life. You were trained to keep watch, Jane could appear any moment. You were not to “cry” and pouting was OUT! If you wondered- other members would “tell you why…” Okay, I think the purpose of this verse was to tell children to be careful- you knew that soon- Santa Claus is coming to town!” Be on your best behavior. So, was it different at WOFF? When were you encouraged to NOT be on your best behavior? What SIN are you giving to?
“He’s making a list, He’s checking it twice, He’s gonna find out who’s naughty or nice…” Okay, Santa may not have over 400 members (elves) – most of which have cell phones that will report to him if you or your children have been “naughty or nice”… but, Jane does. Santa was supposed to have more mystical powers. At WOFF, Jane knows many times about you because other members tell on you. Then, there are times when “God shows her what you did…” She has said that many times as well. This seems mystical and powerful to many members. Wherever you go, whatever you do- Jane will know.
“He sees you when you’re sleeping, He sees you when you’re awake; He knows when you’ve been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake!” Santa had a mystical way to see you when you were sleeping. Really? At WOFF, it was more obvious. Many members live in households in order to “take hold of each other” and if you needed prayer in the night, others could come and pray with you. So, could you be watched during your sleep to “see what unclean you may be giving to” Yes. We could ask the men in the fourth building about that. Do you sleep with your hands under the covers or on top? “He sees you when you’re awake…” Yes, most members spend at least a good part of most every day with a member of WOFF. So, you are constantly being watched by those who are Jane’s eyes and ears… And rest assured, whatever you were doing was a reportable offense.
The Santa Claus myth depends on the suspension of critical thinking. What does the Jane Whaley religion of WOFF require? When this understanding broke on to my thinking, I jumped! It was sad and happy at the same time! Sad, that for years, I had been so adamant in refusing to believe or further the belief and practices of the Santa Claus myth; while at the same time I had lived in a group that teaches that their leader has many of the same qualities of Santa Claus! I had to admit that the deception had been on me. How else would I have been able to stay under the influence of this practice for so many years? Something caused me to suspend critical thinking and look away from some obvious flaws in the WOFF-lore. What benefits or “toys” was I hoping to acquire by believing in Jane Whaley?
Is Jane all-seeing and all-knowing? Does she “hear God perfectly” every time? Does she have the ability to determine if a person has been naughty or nice? Does she determine who will make it or not to heaven? Does she lead the only group on earth that has a chance to make it to heaven? Is it prudent for her to be allowed unlimited spending decisions for the church finances and give no accounting to the people who give into the coffers of WOFF? The belief that whatever is done in Rutherford County by WOFF members reflects on Jane (personally) and she feels directly responsible and therefore should give permission ahead of time– is that healthy or even Scriptural? By being “good” according to Jane and “dealing with your sin” what “blessings” were we promised? Was doubting Jane and doubting her abilities or gifts equal to not believing in Santa Claus? At WOFF, there is no Santa Claus, but, there appears to be a leader who acts in many ways like Santa. Would that be “Sally Claus”? You better take hold and lock-in.
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Wow, you are so right! The song does fit WOFF and Jane. At WOFF you were always watched, every word listened to, not only by adults, but by the children. Everyone was quick to expose the sin in others. I remember a “leader” under Jane, once told me, she knew someone’s intent (or what devil they were giving to), because “God had told her.” I thought, I do not believe that for one minute. But, if anyone said God told them, that did make them a “special person”. But, if you said the same, you were told, you did not hear from God and how could you hear from God. One day from the pulpit Jane said her cousin, SN, finally heard God, because she stopped by Jane’s mother’s house one day when someone was ill. So, all this time, SN, never heard from God? So, she was on the the naughty list and always in sin? Also, getting permission ahead of time was so tiresome, it got where you just did nothing and stayed home (or at the church working). You did feel like you were on a list all the time. You were always on the naughty list. You could never do enough to get off of that list. I knew very few that were on the good list. That was one reason we left, we got tired of being on the bad list and being told that is where we were all the time.