Programmer Humor

Yea, Santa is the more secular icon. There are even Christians that take issue with the Santa character (which is a combination of "Pagan" and Christian mythos). I put Pagan in quotes, as that's a Christian term for certain non-Christian beliefs.

Santa is a stand-in for Jesus... for children. They're both magical beings that can perform miracles and have similar methods: Both Santa and Jesus have naughty lists and forms of punishment that come later; much later (both are equivalent lengths of time to a child though 🤣). Both bring "gifts". Both have traditional appearances. Both have followers that wear silly hats and strange clothes. But most importantly...

Both are imaginary.

If you believe in Santa as an adult you're ridiculed. If you believe in Jesus as an adult you're just labeled, "Christian". Yet the fact that nearly every child eventually finds out Santa isn't real is quite disturbing to a lot of Christians. After all, if they could stop believing in Santa--who is so similar to Jesus in every way--then they could stop believing in Jesus.

Santa is based on Saint Nicholas of Myra, so he definitely has something to do with Christianity.

Besides both being fairy tales, I would say it's even anti religious, since religious Christmas clashes with it, yet he doesn't bring gifts to baby Jesus. He brings commercial toys to all the other children.