When teachers at a primary school in Hampshire invited the local vicar to give a talk about the birth of Jesus, they did not expect it to end with irate parents, sobbing children and a “ruined” Christmas.

Parents have complained after the Rev Dr Paul Chamberlain took the opportunity to speak about other elements of Christmas to a group of ten and eleven-year-olds.

Pupils at Lee-on-the-Solent Junior School began to sob as he told them that Father Christmas was not real, and added that their parents bought their presents and ate the biscuits left out for Santa.

Teachers at the school have now resorted to making badges for the children saying “Lee-on-the-Solent believe” to bring back the festive magic. A complaint has been lodged against Chamberlain and the vicar was expected not to be taking part in a carol service on Friday.

Archive

How did you find out he wasn’t really? Hopefully not from this post!

  • ᴇᴍᴘᴇʀᴏʀ 帝@feddit.ukOPM
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    8 days ago

    How did you find out he wasn’t really?

    My Dad agreed to be Santa at my nursery but the wellies they have him were too small, so he wore his own shoes. I spotted this and freaked out, thinking the weird old man with a white beard was some kind of murder hobo who’d killed my father and stolen his shoes. My folks had to tell me the truth to calm me down.

    • Khanzarate@lemmy.world
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      8 days ago

      I found out when I was seven when my parents had to explain why we weren’t gonna get presents this year.

      Poverty, mostly, but also my family didn’t actually celebrate Christmas, the children just decided we were because of all the christmas media they throw around at the time of year.

      • dumbass@leminal.space
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        8 days ago

        I found pictures of my brother’s inlaw jumping on the trampoline Santa brought me that had the date 24th of December.

        I took the photographic evidence, became a little cop and got them to confess, they tried to tell me the dates were wrong on the camera, but the photos of me on Christmas morning were correct, that lie didn’t last long.

  • buddascrayon@lemmy.world
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    8 days ago

    You got to love a douche canoe who’s made his entire career about paying lip service to an imaginary being going off on a tangent to a bunch of children telling them not to believe in a an imaginary being that brings them joy.

  • ᴇᴍᴘᴇʀᴏʀ 帝@feddit.ukOPM
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    8 days ago

    Pupils at Lee-on-the-Solent Junior School began to sob as he told them that Father Christmas was not real

    Which is a bit rich coming from someone who has devoted their life to a magic sky wizard, who has a lot less evidence supporting his existence compared to Santa and, yet, he’s caused a lot more misery and death.

  • Zier@fedia.io
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    8 days ago

    Leave it to the church to make people unhappy. Let’s make those churches into homes for the homeless, at least they would be useful.

      • LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        7 days ago

        That a child was born from a virgin mother due to a jealous god impregnating her?

        Could be true I suppose. Bit of a dick move if you ask me. Also kind of breaks the “do not covet your neighbors wife” thing if she was already married to Joseph… can’t remember the order there.

  • dhtseany@lemmy.ml
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    8 days ago

    This is why anyone affiliated with religion of any kind shouldn’t be allowed near a school at all. My kids would’ve been kept home that day for sure.

  • apotheotic (she/her)@beehaw.org
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    7 days ago

    How did you find out he wasn’t really?

    I just did a lot of soul searching and asking prying questions to the religious educators at my school etc. It all started to fall apart under scrutiny.

    Oh wait, Santa? My parents just told me when I was 7 or 8.

  • Chakravanti@monero.town
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    7 days ago

    So, let’s understand this the way it really is and has always been. Think it’ll it be sickening as the epiphany rots your entire awareness of all of it since its very beginning? And what exactly is the cause of the sickness we speak of here? The truth or the obvious puking of the lie from your coherence.

    A priest here spoils the lies even you were successfully conned into conning whatever child you say are important to you. You think this event is about a holiday’s lie when the only truth of such events is that every holiday is a way for the church to find rapable kids. That priest is fishing for all the kids to find one viable to rape and you believe his lie, that he has any real purpose in life, otherwise.

    You still believe that the existence of christmas’ lies will help anyone with anything other than the acceptance of lies about the rape of children. If it were to exist for any other purposes then that truth is that everything you think it “really” benefits or does is just a sucker punch to you accepting delerium while they rape your child.

    Every.single.priest. Every single “Priest” of all kinds is raping your kids. Every single one is doing it. I’m not exageratting. I’m not “telling you the truth” that some priest trying to decide if your kid is viable to have sex with. I’m pointing it out to you that the rape is either telling you the truth, or putting a penis inside a child. See the difference? This priest is probably one of the few that doesn’t rape children and as such will be shunned by the church for telling them the truth.

    Why did we start lying to children and accept that someone would rape them?

    Come on, someone tell me why it is okay what is now obvious? Why to lie and rape kids should be held…what? Sacred? Yeah, let’s say credentials like these are respectable. I would point out that that was sarcasm but it’s kind of a good question of if you can get it when anyone is sarcastic.

    It’s like…meh…you’re a bit sick by now aren’t you? The truth is kind of difficult to swallow because they’re causing a sense of being sick…sort of. You should know by now that it’s not the truth making you sick but the lies I side you that you swallowed wya back when that is actually what’s making you sick. The truth is just an awareness of your sickness.

    You want more? Heaven is heaving and he’ll just be hell. So let’s go back to loving Ma or everyone literally dies in a very short fashion.

    This is about the trinity slinging that God is a man. There are priests that don’t rape your kids and tell you that God is a man. Don’t know how to tell you what is obvious. Ma is trying to tell you the truth and you won’t STFU because you’re “preying.”

  • LesserAbe@lemmy.world
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    8 days ago

    We asked my parents if Santa was real, and they said “what do you think?” We said no, and they said you’re right.

    I think it’s crazy that parents think it’s a good idea to tell their kids a lie that if true would fundamentally change their understanding of the world. “Hey kid, I’m probably the person you most trust in the world. How about I tell you a real whopper?”