when did the santa suit become religous?

its not religious....unless there is a relgion that worships santa that i didnt know about.

Well maybe the manager or the owner was jewish or hindu? Santa Claus hats are trendy and sold like candy. It might be connected to being religious on account of the historical figure Saint Nicholas, He became a Saint because he assisted the needy, the sick, and the suffering and gave everything to charity, even his gold.

Saint Nicholas is celebrated as a distinct character with a religious touch separate from Christmas.

Santa Claus has a reference to St Nicholas, who performed charitable acts dressed in red bishop's robes.

Santa Claus is identified with Saint Basil the Great, Archbishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia,

Conventionally, Santa Claus is portrayed as a kindly, round-bellied,red coated man(perhaps remotely derived from the episcopal vestments of the original Bishop Nicholas),

So from those bishop historical wardrobe figures, then yes his hat and suit would give an inference to religion.

Much more to read on this with link below

The Santa that we know today is not the Santa that was first known. Santa is generally traced back to a Bishop known as Saint Nicholas. He was a wealthy man that gave much of his wealth to others. One famous story is that he paid the dowry of 3 Turkish daughters so that they could get married and not be forced into prostitution to earn a living.

I just recently learned that Saint Nicholas was at the Council of Nicea, which was taking place in order to try and establish a creed for all Christians. According to the story, Nicholas punched another Bishop in the nose for falsely stating that Jesus, the second part of the Trinity, was not "equally divine" with God.

But, as far as a Santa hat being a religious symbol, that seems really far-fetched to me. Probably, someone took offense because the only time people talk about Santa is at Christmas, and since that means that Jews, Muslims, and others do not celebrate Christmas, that makes Santa a religious icon. I'm just guessing, but that sounds about right for this day and age.

On another note, I've been impressed recently. I say Merry Christmas to people, and they actually say it back! Maybe Christmas is not dead!

Because the first Santa was Saint Nicholas who was a Christian who had been imprisoned because of his faith and after his release went and gave gifts to children.

I think the bus driver should be able to wear a santa suit, the same as we should be able to put up a Christmas tree.

Doing something religiously like putting on a Santa suit every Christmas?

I think that wearing a santa suit is under scrutiny of the religious. Some religious people think it is a sin to wear a santa suit.

It's been a pagan religious tradition for the longest time.

M’Clintock and Strong’s Cyclopædia says: “The observance of Christmas is not of divine appointment, nor is it of N[ew] T[estament] origin. The day of Christ’s birth cannot be ascertained from the N[ew] T[estament], or, indeed, from any other source.”—(New York, 1871), Vol. II, p. 276.

Luke 2:8-11 shows that shepherds were in the fields at night at the time of Jesus’ birth. The book Daily Life in the Time of Jesus states: “The flocks . . . passed the winter under cover; and from this alone it may be seen that the traditional date for Christmas, in the winter, is unlikely to be right, since the Gospel says that the shepherds were in the fields.”—(New York, 1962), Henri Daniel-Rops, p. 228.

The Encyclopedia Americana informs us: “The reason for establishing December 25 as Christmas is somewhat obscure, but it is usually held that the day was chosen to correspond to pagan festivals that took place around the time of the winter solstice, when the days begin to lengthen, to celebrate the ‘rebirth of the sun.’ . . . The Roman Saturnalia (a festival dedicated to Saturn, the god of agriculture, and to the renewed power of the sun), also took place at this time, and some Christmas customs are thought to be rooted in this ancient pagan celebration.”—(1977), Vol. 6, p. 666.

The New Catholic Encyclopedia acknowledges: “The date of Christ’s birth is not known. The Gospels indicate neither the day nor the month . . . According to the hypothesis suggested by H. Usener . . . and accepted by most scholars today, the birth of Christ was assigned the date of the winter solstice (December 25 in the Julian calendar, January 6 in the Egyptian), because on this day, as the sun began its return to northern skies, the pagan devotees of Mithra celebrated the dies natalis Solis Invicti (birthday of the invincible sun). On Dec. 25, 274, Aurelian had proclaimed the sun-god principal patron of the empire and dedicated a temple to him in the Campus Martius. Christmas originated at a time when the cult of the sun was particularly strong at Rome.”—(1967), Vol. III, p. 656.

The Santa Suit is actually a knock off of a centuries old version of the Bishop's Red Robes. That is also involved with the origin of Santa Claus.

Santa Claus's real name is Nicklaus. He was sainted after he died, and hence gain the title Saint Nicklaus. When people from his native region in Turkey pronounce his title and name, it comes out as "SAANTN KLAAWS" - or "Santa Claus" as it has commonly become known as.

The Bishop's Red Robes was worn by the priest Niklaus since he was a kid, being paraded around the town in a reindeer drawn sleigh. He was called the "Kid Bishop" because he was the youngest known priest and bishop in that day and age.

The green mittens worn by "Santa Claus" is the remnats of the full body stocking green underwear that he wore. It covered his entire body from head to toe underneath the suit.

If you are a Catholic, wearing a Santa suit might be considered religious because the person that Santa represents was actually a real person considered to be a saint by the Catholic Church--St. Nick!

It's always been pagan. It comes from pagan tribal 'seers' (drug users) in Scandinavia who would jump down people's chimneys to visit them (not too hard when your chimney is a big hole in the celing of your largely subterranean house).

Of course, some people may associate Santa Claus with Saint Nicholas as well, who is also a religious figure.

Well, it does represent a religious holiday. It's hard enough for non-Christian children to feel like they fit in with predominately Christan classmates without also being around authority figures which promote Christianity...even if it happens to be indirectly, like with a Santa hat.

So, until Christmas is declared a secular winter celebration and all the religious things are stripped from that holiday....then ya, promoting that holiday as a state employee violates separation of church and state.

Santa is modeled after Saint Nicholas, but the traditional way we look at Santa (fat, jolly man, big, red suit) was an image started and popularized by the Coca-Cola company, i believe....won't bet much on it, but I have been told so multiple times!

Wasn't it Coca-Cola who "re-invented" Santa Clause during an advertising campaign in 1936? Or is that yet another Christmas story?