If there is no Santa Claus, then how did Natalie Wood get that house with the swing in the back yard? Santa Claus is as real as our sense of humanity and as vital as our ability to see beyond our experience.
As for the "realists", whose reality is limited by pride and prejudice, I pity their poverty. Man's grasp is exceded and expanded by his ability to dream. Religion can be a yoke but it can also be a tool of hope and wonder.