You seem to think that the only choice parents have is to either lie about Santa Claus or tell the complete and unyielding truth about everything to their child

You seem to think that the only choice parents have is to either lie about Santa Claus or tell the complete and unyielding truth about everything to their children. It's really not that black and white. Of course we all have to choose which lies and selective truths to tell other people, and ourselves for that matter, but the important question is which ones are you personally are comfortable with. Some of don't want to subject our children to that particular lie, and it doesn't mean we have to lighten up or watch more feel-good movies. It just means we have different parenting styles.