She responded that she believed in Santa, and she gave this explanation: Santa is a cultural shorthand for generosity. Do you believe in the spirit of giving? Do you want to see smiles on children’s faces on Christmas morning? Do you want to make the people you love light up because you had special, almost supernatural, insight into their heart’s desire and made it real?

Santa is a cultural shorthand for consumerism. Going by your reasoning, god is a cultural shorthand for rationalizing one’s own wrongdoing, lack of innate morality and misunderstanding of the world.