The Christmas Fib

Nothing bothers me more than when people ignorantly...especially when it's such a ridiculous tale. There's one in particular that bothers me every year that I always suspected to but false but never looked into it until now:

It was said that the cane was shaped like a "J" for Jesus. The red-and-white stripes represented Christ's blood and purity. The three red stripes symbolized the Holy Trinity. The hardness of the candy represented the Church's foundation on solid rock and the peppermint flavor represented the use of hyssop, an herb referred to in the Old Testament."1

Now come on...seriously...what are the chances that this is true? This is a story that I've heard in church so many times, and yes it is a nice story with some nice symbolism but stop telling it like it's a true story! The article quoted above goes on to say, "There is no historical evidence to support these claims, quite the contrary, but they are lovely thoughts." This article and many others (Snopes, Wikipedia, and Farley and Sather's Candy Company) explain that this story has only popped up in recent history and is a completely fictional tale.

So please, stop lying to our children...