Why is deconversion a long-term process, but conversions (sometimes) are quick?

[southernhybrid]

It is like brainwashing. Constant reputation creates permanent records and patterns in the brain. Difficult to change. Especialy when it starts as a kid. Probably related to endorphins. Religion feels good.

I will always feel Catholic in some ways.

There are advertising messages and slogans in my brain put there by TV as a kid I will never get rid of.

The exact same argument applies to belief in Santa. But then kids talk about Santa and find that all adults and lots of other kids that don't think Santa is real. This is the most critical difference, finding acceptance, and then more importantly, discovering that the majority doesn't think your Santa devotion is important or even correct.

Santa belief is equivalent to god belief, the magic, the acceptance, the explanations for how things work. The only critical difference is what one encounters when the belief is questioned. This fact alone accounts for the disparity discussed in the OP.

There is a little difference of why Santa belief is more easily dispelled than religious belief. A kids Santa belief is only re-enforced for a few weeks before Christmas. Santa generally isn't even mentioned or thought about for the rest of the year. Religious belief is is a constant pounding with no letup throughout the year.

I think you may be correct. I stopped believing in Santa when I was four and half years old. It just seemed totally irrational to me to think that one person could visit every home on earth to deliver gifts to all children, so I asked my mother if Santa was real. She asked me what did I think and I told her I thought Santa was pretend and the parents were the ones that gave us gifts. She told me I was right, but not to tell my younger sister. Kids often do believe in pretend things. It's part of childhood. I had two imaginary friends living in my basement when I was about two. I still remember their names and what they looked like. I probably knew on some level that they were pretend but when I was with them, they seemed real. They eventually faded away.

On the other hand, despite not making sense, I maintained most of my religious beliefs until I was 18. When I told my mother than I no longer believed that Jesus was any more real than Zeus, she went running out of the room in tears. It must have been the many years of constant indoctrination, along with my parents reenforcing those beliefs at home, that allowed me to keep them for so many years.

I never suffered any sense of loss when I gave up Santa or when I gave up religion. I was just set free from the cognitive dissonance that had haunted me for so long. But, I do believe that some people need to believe in some type of supernatural nonsense to live satisfying lives. My sister is one of those people. She was, imo, emotionally damaged by religion, but she never considered giving it up. I tried to reason with her once about it, thinking it would help her. All it did was make her very upset. I think she would feel a great loss if she gave up her religious beliefs. At least her beliefs are a few degrees cooler than my fundamentalist parents beliefs were. I have quite a few friends who would never be able to cope if it weren't for their religious beliefs. It might just be for the community support, but I think some people feel more secure believing a higher power is there for them. I don't get it, but they don't get my atheism either.

 

[Learner]

I will assume there are no "scholars" studying any texts from the Santa-sleigh-bells doctrine then - let alone there being any debates e.g. how he can fit down any chimney and so on. Coz I also think he would rather prefer warm milk, on a cold winters night, if it were the case.

 

[abaddon]

I will assume there are no "scholars" studying any texts from the Santa-sleigh-bells doctrine then - let alone there being any debates e.g. how he can fit down any chimney and so on. Coz I also think he would rather prefer warm milk, on a cold winters night, if it were the case.

But there would be texts, arguments by santologists, and "Praise Santa" gatherings, if adults supported the Santa story so that people didn't grow out of it.

Expand the stories, and define Santa as "transcendent" and in whatever other way that's needed to force a conclusion from loaded premises, and you've got a sophisticated santalogical argument for the existence of Santa. All it takes is establishing the tradition, then the word comes to seem venerable and meaningful and a useful Santa of the Gaps to explain away what you don't know about reality.

 

[Learner]

Well in that case , I'll be looking forward to the book(s) "Misquoting Santa", or "Caesars santa" when it comes out.

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

I will assume there are no "scholars" studying any texts from the Santa-sleigh-bells doctrine then - let alone there being any debates e.g. how he can fit down any chimney and so on. Coz I also think he would rather prefer warm milk, on a cold winters night, if it were the case.

Santa has magic powers just like Jesus so Santa can do anything Santa wants. Santa only appears to be human and does human things because Santa loves us, especially children. That's why Santa makes people buy gifts, especially gifts for kids.

Please let Santa back into your heart.