A pastor upset parents at a mall in Amarillo, Texas, when he walked through a crowd of children saying, "Santa's not real."
David Grisham, a pastor with Last Frontier Evangelism in Anchorage, Alaska, had a message for parents and children waiting in line for a photo with Santa at Westgate Mall in.
Grisham, who wrote on Facebook that he spreads his religious beliefs through street evangelism and street preaching, went to the mall Saturday to tell the children "the truth -- that there is no Santa Claus and that Christmas is about Jesus Christ."
He uploaded a video of the incident on Facebook.
"Kids, I want to tell you today that there is no such thing as Santa Claus. Santa Claus does not exist," Grisham yelled to the line of children and parents. "The man you're going to see today is just a man in a suit, dressed up like Santa, but Santa does not exist. Santa's not real."
Grisham addressed parents, urging them to stop telling their children about the jolly character.
"Parents, you all need to stop lying to your children and telling them that Santa Claus is real when in fact he's not," he said. "Don't lie to your children and tell them there's such a thing as Santa when you know in reality that there are no flying reindeer, there is no workshop of the North Pole, there is no elves making toys, that you buy all the gifts and put them under the tree. That's all the truth."
The pastor told mallgoers that by telling their children Santa is real, parents are "bearing false witness against God" and sinning.
"It is not your place to lie to your children," Grisham said. "Tell them the truth about Jesus Christ. Tell them the truth about what Christmas is all about."
Before long, parents exited the line to confront Grisham.
"That's enough," one woman can be heard yelling at Grisham, while another man tells Grisham to "stop and go on."
"Quit talking this mess. I've got my kids over there. We don't need you coming over here blabbing whatever it is you're blabbing," the man tells Grisham. "It's not your decision for me to tell my kids what's the truth and what's not."
After Westgate Mall received numerous complaints about the man, the mall released a statement addressing Grisham's actions.
"We want everyone at our shopping center to have an enjoyable experience," the statement said. "All of the shoppers are expected to follow our code of conduct and will be asked to leave our premises if they don't follow these rules."
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