Yeah, well, I figured that one out for myself after a few years...   The only thing that puzzled me was why my parents had told me such a strange and unlikely story in the first place. I thought maybe they were a few short of a six-pack, as the saying goes. ;-) So I asked my Mother about it, and she told me it was just a nice fairy story to make Christmas more fun for everyone, and don't tell the other kids and spoil it for them!

That sounded reasonable to me.

I'm all for science and logic...I always have been...but what worries me about the modern social philosophies it has produced as it took up arms against archaic forms of Christian religion is that the new philosophies are mostly empty of the kind of idealism and confidence and sense of a higher and greater purpose in life that traditional religions at their philosophical best once gave to people. At the heart of all great religions lie the truly essential questions: "What is your life really about? How can you become a better and more loving person?" And that is the question people need to look into if they are going to become something far better than just a clever, selfish animal that knows how to read and write, talk, make a fire, and use complicated tools.

Then, of course, there's the other truly essential multi-part question: How do we get Spaw to renounce the vile Cheech Wizard for all time and admit that Winona Ryder is lovely and also a good actress?

Not even Jesus or Buddha had an answer for that one.