Don't Attack Christmas

To the editors:

In the article "Author Speaks Out Against Christmas" (News, Dec. 9), Tom Flynn says, "If Jesus Christ is not your savior, Christmas is not your holiday." Clearly, Jesus Christ is not Flynn's savior, and his faith is his own business. But he has no right to attack one of the most sacred days of the Christian faith as "an elaborately sustained parental lie." He asserts that the belief in Santa Claus is detrimental to children's moral and religious development.

Children's moral and religious development is guided by the parents and, in many cases, the church. If a parent chooses to include the belief in Santa Claus and the notion of giving and receiving as part of his or her family's celebration of Christmas, that is not only reasonable but wonderful. EMILY O. PENDER '01   Dec. 9, 1998