"mate of mine was telling me that he thought the story of jesus was the same as santa claus, in that one day someone would tell him it was lies, he's still waiting...."
There's a story I heard between 35 and 40 years ago related to this. I assumed for all that time that it was just an UL or even merely a joke, but tonight I'm by no longer so certain.
Mother's just finished telling her eight-year-old son [the version I heard was sex-specific] that Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy are all fantasies.
The little boy wanders away to consider this particular rite of passage into adulthood, but returns 10 minutes later.
"Mommy," the kid asks anxiously, "am I still allowed to believe in Jesus?"