Do Jehovah's Witnesses Really Believe Santa is the Devil?
I saw this in a response to another question, a Jehovah's Witness saying that;
"Santa Claus is an anagram for Satan"
What?
Is this misinformed opinion, or is this actually official teaching?
PLEASE tell me this is just one person's "Fussball is the devil!" hysteria and this is not treated as a SERIOUS idea?
(And kudos to whoever got the fussball reference)
2011-12-28T12:25:50Z
@grnlw I was quoting their sentence. This person then went on to explain just why Santa was Satan, hence the question on teaching, which also makes me think they did not understand the term.
2011-12-28T12:27:18Z
You are of course, wrong, in your statements on Christmas itself, but that is a subject for another post.
2011-12-29T07:49:32Z
Just For Giggles - is that why you posted? Must be, if you actually were interested in answering the question, you'd see in my additional details that the person wasn't just referring to the arrangement of letters. Care to try again?
Big Guy 3602011-12-31T08:38:12Z
Favorite Answer
Only in the minds of a Jehovah's Witness can you find such ignorant testaments.
santa is spanish for saint
Santa was first created after Saint Nicolas in the 4th Century. Saint Nicolas was a Christian known for his kindness to children and to the poor. He would sneak them gifts in the middle of the night, and was a leader of the Christian Church! Santa has taken many forms throughout the years but he is in no way related to Satan or any Pagan traditions, like the Jehovah's Witness are falsely promoting and believing just to promote their false belief system.
Whats the difference? They claim everything associated with Christmas is from satan, not such a leap to include any symbols as being satanic. And the fact is Santa can be anagramed to read Satan.
But so can allot of other words:
Christmas = Trims cash Santa Monica = satanic moan Funeral = Real Fun Astronomers = No more stars Elvis = lives Garbage Man = Bag Manager Evangelist = Evil's Agent
It is one thing to play around with current or ancient spelling of words, but a whole other thing to cast aspersions on a celebration that many believe is a valid tradition to observe. Playing games to tear down anothers view does nothing but cause ill will and proves nothing.
That particular JW is not the only one who has made such a statement. The following is from another answer copied off YA, and there are others as well:
"i asked as similar question just before xmas time - you are right we spend all year teaching our children not to lie but parents do tell their children that santa comes at christmas, as a Jehovah's Witness we do not celebrate xmas so my children know that "santa" (anagram for satan) does not exist. Just as the "tooth fairy" does not exist. So no i do not lie to my children and no one should feel "comfortable" doing so either."
They have also discussed this on jw-only forums such as jwtalk.net:
I believe it came from a talk of either an elder or possibly a CO. I seem to remember hearing it before, and I believe I have the talk downloaded in mp3 on a flash drive. I'll listen to it while I do some cleaning, and if I find the quote, I'll post it. I'll also check the CD and see if any such thing is on there, but I don't think it is.
Edit: I checked, and didn't find it on the Watchtower CD. I also listened to the talk I thought I heard the quote on, and it wasn't the right one. I have so many, it may take some time to find it, so one day I'll try to provide it under the "Comments" section.
However, while we're discussing anagrams, I thought I'd share one from the November 1, 1989 Watchtower. On page 10, there is a picture directly above the article entitled, "Moral Cleanness is the Beauty of Youth." In the upper left-hand corner of this picture, there is a double-sided marquee above a theater. Both sides of the marquee read, "JEST TUPS THROUGH DAILY." When you rearrange the letters of this anagram, the message reads, "JESTS PUT THROUGH DAILY." Is it possible that through this subliminal message, the leadership of the Watchtower Society is mocking its sincere, loyal followers for falling for one of the greatest hoaxes in religious history? (This is in the 1989 bound volume).
Quoting a JW "The fact that everything to do with Christmas----except for the labels---are from pagan origins" I do know JWs celebrate the wedding anniversary. Did you know that it is of pagan origin?
"Many of today's popular wedding ceremony and reception traditions can be traced to ancient Egyptian and European customs. These were often based on symbolism, superstition, folklore, religion, and even the belief that evil spirits could bring disease and death to newlyweds and crops, which was very important in many farm-based early cultures. Although the exact origin and usefulness of many of these early wedding traditions are not always clear, popular acceptance has allowed them to flourish. Besides, many of these wedding traditions are just plain fun!
According to various sources, some of the early marriages were literally carried out by the Groom and his "Bridesmen" (or "Bridesknights") who would kidnap a woman (the origin of "carrying a Bride over the threshold") from another tribe! The Groom and his fellow conspirators would then fight off the female's family of tribesmen with swords held in their right hand while the Groom would hold the captured Bride in his left hand, which is the origin of why a Bride stands on the left side of the Groom at a wedding.
After a successful capture, another politically correct practice was for the Groom to hide his new Bride for one month for mating purposes. It is said that the word "honeymoon" was created to describe this one month cycle of the moon when they would drink mead, which was a honey sweetened alcoholic brew that effects both sobriety and the acidity of the womb, thus increasing fertility"
The anniversary of the birth of Jesus Christ is not celebrated but pagan wedding anniversaries are? interesting