When the red-suited, white-bearded, overweight man walked into a Springfield holiday party for children this week, a second-grader confronted the Santa character. “You’re not real,” she shouted angrily. “You’re not real!” Come to think of it, in a world where many adults believe in Elon Musk but not Dr. Fauci, that’s not a bad impulse. But today’s children can understand what myth means, and they know the truth of stories, so we ought to talk to them about these things more. Today’s adults can understand concepts like white supremacy and condescension, so we might ask them to be more conscious of who, what and how they give to children. The point, after all, is to show love with generosity, and, while doing so, to keep it real. – Fletcher Farrar, editor
This article appears in Faith, family and football.
