I’m not sure I want to actively persuade my kids that something really definitely exists when it we know it does not
But ‘he’ does exist. Maybe not in the specific guise of a single, tangible being that rides a flying sleigh and can cover millions of miles in a single night, and then do SFA for the rest of the year (he even employs elves to keep watch now, FFS). But as a feeling, a spirit of Christmas if you like, then he absolutely does exist. I’m not Father Christmas, but I am a little part of him when I fill my girls stockings on christmas eve and leave teethmarks in the mince pie. Just as my Dad was, and his Dad before him.
When my girls are old enough they too can be let in on the secret and also become part of being Father Christmas. Just because you can’t see it or touch it doesn’t mean it’s not real – otherwise that means hope, friendship, love…… aren’t real either?
And yes, you can easily rewrite the above replacing it with religion too. If that’s what people need to believe in to live a fulfilled life, I’ve no issue with that either.
Thankfully, the man in the red suit hasn’t instructed us that people who don’t believe in him are stupid or wrong, or to be killed for not believing. Just don’t be surprised if one day you don’t get any presents, you old curmudgeons.