Growing up I was exposed to many theological viewpoints by mostly self appointed ministers. I say self appointed because while they claimed a divine call into the preaching and pastoring ministry they eschewed organized theological educational paths and opportunities. Some I was exposed to didn’t even have a secular high school diploma.

The reason I bring that up is to make the point that many of the sermons I heard as a child and a young person were not well constructed, well researched or realistically presented. There was in the limited fellowship of churches my family was a part of only a handful of “acceptable” speakers that were allowed to present sermons in our churches and meetings.

The home I was raised in was spiritually led by our mother who had a keen sense of scripture as presented in the King James translation of the Bible. While it would be a shock to her that environment was for me a double edge sword. I also began to develop a keen sense of scripture but at the same time I was being exposed to current thinking on science under the auspices of a public education system. I brought over that sense and insight of validity of the scriptures into scientifically derived theories and concepts. While the concepts and ideas of evolution in 1962 and 1963 were in their infancy in contrast to 2010 there was enough solid evidence in place that I could see, in my very young and formative mind that evidence was going to be hard to dismiss with the simple interpretation of scriptures we had in the King James Version.

As I attended science class with its cutting edge theories and studied on an eighth grade level it was the beginning of a change in direction for my faith. This change of direction was slight at first. I really don’t know if it would be considered a move left or right. I suppose that since the very fundamentalist sects are considered far right my change of direction was a few points to the left.

In reality my faith compass was pointing distinctly right and my new path was bending back towards the middle.

At one point in my life, when I was in my early 20s I think, the ministry got on the topic of Christmas. While the birth of Jesus is considered one of the pinnacles in the life of a Christian church, the ministry of this fellowship decided it was steeped in paganism and we shouldn’t be observing it like the rest of the world.

Santa Claus was the biggest and first hit, of course. The parroted message that made its way around the churches quickly was “tell your children the lie of Santa clause and when they find out he is not real they will question your telling them of Jesus.”

Based on Jeremiah 10 1-4 (KJV 1 Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O house of Israel: 2 Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. 3 For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a TREE out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. 4 They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.) the Christmas tree was the next casualty of the war on Christmas. I really don’t know just how far the ministers and church members went with this elimination of Christmas. In my family it just went as far as the Christmas tree. We didn’t put up anything in the way of decorations unless they had a biblical theme. The manger and the wise men and shepherds with the angels were OK. But no Santas or elves or sleds with reindeer.

I often wonder what happens to the children of such families when they at some point in their life, and it will come, find out that Adam and Eve were not true historical people. Will they reject Jesus as well for the same reasons those taught about Santa would be inclined to do?