Real or not, Yes, they believe that there's a Santa Claus (First of Two Parts)

Is there really a Santa Claus? Or is Santa an engineered image? A figure in modern literature? We are into the digital age, and the question of Santa still exists. The existence of Santa was brought to prominence by a little girl named Virginia O’Hanlon, who wrote to one newspaper, the New York Sun if there really is Santa Claus. The paper, in its answer to the little girl published an editorial, which has now become the most reprinted newspaper editorial in history.  Here is the full text:

“VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except what they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men’s or children’s, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

“Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

“Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that’s no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

“You may tear apart the baby’s rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, VIRGINIA, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

“No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.”

We asked celebrities if they believe in Santa Claus and here are their answers:

• Ariel Rivera:  No coz I’m no longer six years old.

• Mariel Rodriguez: Everyone can be Santa, anyone who gives gifts is Santa. Santa is a positive thought. I like believing in Santa even if I know that he doesn’t really exist. As a kid my grandparents made me believe that there was Santa. It was a good motivation to do good the whole year so that Santa will give me a gift. Hehehe. Again, Santa is a positive thought.

• Bianca Gonzalez: I do. Even if he is a literary character, in my mind he and everything he stands for —  giving, sharing, happiness, love — is alive.

• Carlo Sawit:  Yes, I do. I feel that believing in Santa Claus makes people more giving and sharing.

• Maui Lumba:  I don’t think he is real but there’s a bit of Santa Claus spirit in everyone, especially this Christmas time.

• Ian Batherson: Yes because every legend has a reason and origin. Just like a joke may be half meant, a legend or folklore tale could be half way true.

• GB Sampedro: Yes because everytime I have wishes, someone comes along to make them come true... and that for me is the concept of a Santa Claus.

• Hansen Nichols:  I think, real or not, Santa Claus is an icon of Christmas. So as long as Christmas is around and people believe in Christmas, Santa will be as real as it gets.

• Tintin Bersola:  I used to believe in Santa when I was a young girl. Now that I am a mom of two young kids, I believe in Santa again.

(To be continued)