A friend of mine has caused me to question how we choose to celebrate Christmas.

Very few of us would argue against the position that the champions of conspicuous consumption have hijacked an important Christian religious observance. I also think that in our hearts, many of us realize we are willing participants in a yearly charade of consumerism that masquerades as a wish for peace on Earth and good will towards men.

There is nothing new in that thinking. It has been debated every year for as long as I can remember.

What caused me to stop and think was my friend’s insistence on refusing to lie to his son about Santa Claus. At first, I thought he was being more than a bit rigid in what constitutes a lie and was not taking into account the fact that he was destroying what for many children is a memorable part of childhood.

But the more I think about it, the more I think that perhaps he is right – a lie is a lie – no matter what. We detest governments that lie to us. We hate corporations that lie to us. But we seem to think that it is quite acceptable for us to lie to our children.

We have no qualms about telling our children about a man who lives at the North Pole with a cohort of unpaid elves who make toys for him so he can bring gifts to children all over the world. We don’t even bother to qualify that statement to allow for the fact that there are billions of children who get skipped for religious and geopolitical reasons.

Not only do we lie about the existence of Santa Claus, we use the potential loss of a visit from this fictional philanthropist to keep children in line by telling them he can see everything they do. We also tell them he has a sleigh and reindeer that can fly. The lies just pile up and pile up.

Most of us want our children to follow our example and embrace our values. It would appear that Christmas is the one area in which we truly succeed in achieving that goal. We lie to our children and they go on to lie to their children. I think my friend is right. He will not lie to his child because he does not want his child to lie to him. Merry Christmas.