Bill Maher’s new movie is about to be released as a DVD.   I don’t know if I’ll be able to watch.  Because he goes after one of my most cherished institutions:  Santa Claus.

Obviously, a clever film maker has to think abstractly.  Analogies are abstract concepts themselves, but the analogy that led Maher to attacking my precious Santa Claus is a relatively concrete one.

What Maher, apparently, lacks is the abilty to stretch his ability to abstract think in order to seek deeper meaning.

Yes, Bill, there is a Santa Claus.  He is children.  He is the innocence of children.  And he is the capacity, so far as it exists in humans, to become good. 

Piaget talked about the moral development of a child.  Santa Claus helps that development occur.  And he helps children pass from the “concrete operational” stage to the “formal operational” stage.  Abstract thinking is critical to that development.

Now, Maher seems to be in a sort of moral infancy where perhaps he needs to develop better his ability to abstract think.

This nugget and more www.bigbagofwind.com!