<<===============Spoiler Alert!===============>>

There is no Santa Claus, there is absolutely no evidence for his existence. Santa's annual outing can be easily shown to be physically impossible as well as philosophically questionable. The idea of a home invasion specifically targeting sleeping children is highly suspect in light of some of the abhorrent acts of abuse that occasionally make the news.

Looking at the physical evidence. Santa's judgmental assessment of goodness or badness in children, in terms of material rewards, seems to be arbitrary at best and oddly weighted in favour of children with wealthy families.

And yet the legend of Santa persists. There are still people who believe in him. How is this possible?

It is possible because the people who believe in Santa are very young, naïve, un-aware of his physical and mathematical impossibility and his social strangeness. Most of all, they are deliberately hoodwinked by people who are in a position of authority over them and most importantly, people who are non-believers.

Maintaining the illusion that Santa exists involves work and expense, it isn't something you can do by accident, it isn't something you can do if you believe in Santa. You have to do his job for him because you know that he isn't going to do it himself.  Many stores employ sombody to impersonate Santa and speak to his believers in his stead.

Let's expand this idea to other, more powerful mythical persons whose legend also persists, contrary to all the available evidence or lack thereof.   They recommend or even insist on some morally questionable practices and their judgement of good and evil seems to be completely outdated or just plain twisted.  We know that believers go out of their way to ignore scientific or logical analysis so that they stay naïve and un-aware, and that they submit to authority figures who claim to have direct knowledge of their fictional friend and speak for him.  Are they also being hoodwinked by non-believers?

Is it possible to maintain the illusion of any myth whilst genuinely believing in it? If not, the heads of all the major religions, and the majority of their senior staff would necessarily have to be evil atheists, manipulating their simple-minded flock for their own ends and they must be stopped for the good of atheism.