Skepticism
Ironically, the editorial writer commences his reply to Virginia by castigating the young friends who have led her to question whether Santa Claus is real or not. This is ironic because that writer’s editorials have been one of the most intensely loyal voices of skepticism in the city of New York. His columns up to this point which have taken on the issue of faith and belief have questioned the validity of believing in things without empirical proof. Nevertheless, this is his point of entry to the argument:
“Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds.”
A Weak Connection
From this origination point, he proceeds to offer increasingly weak connections in search of a way to prove his argument. A foundation of his affirmative reply that Santa Claus exists suggest a perverse sort of Cartesian philosophical assertion that Santa must exist if one merely thinks he does:
“He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight.”
Logic
One of the reasons that this editorial was welcomes with open arms is that it was initially published at a time when religion occupied as major place in society. The only way to accept the “logic” of the argument as being anything but absurd is to read it with a pre-conditioned acceptance of the validity of blind faith in things which cannot be proved to exist. Taken out of this context, it really is quite difficult to see how anyone could read it what the author is presenting as a logical rationale for believing in Santa Claus:
“Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies. You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if you did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus.”
Prophecy
The answer to Virginia’s inquiry is presented more like a religious sermon than anything even remotely resembling the serious and sincere explanation that this work has been widely accepted as being. It can be read sincerely and sound absolutely absurd or it can be viewed as ironic satire and found coherent. That coherency climaxes at the conclusion when the writer brings his sermon to an with a prophetic vision that, like dancing fairies, requires no proof, but merely faith on the part of readers:
“No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives and lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay 10 times 10,000 years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.”
