Does belief in Santa hurt belief in Jesus?

Heard an interesting conversation on, of all things, sports talk radio yesterday about the tradition of Santa Claus and religious faith. The discussion hovered around whether or not belief in folks like Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy is healthy to a child and how that affects that child's ability to develop a healthy faith down the road. It was argued that the whole process of a child really believing in Santa Claus only to inevitably have their faith crushed when told he is not real has an effect on when parents try to teach their kids about Christ. If their parents told these children that faith in Santa is a lie and that seed of skepticism is now sown, then what is to stop a child later on from treating Christ in the same way. Both involve faith in something good. Hence, it was concluded, that in today's relativistic and agnostic world where Christianity is under more and more attack, more youth and young adults are more likely to just abandon a faith in Christ. What started it was the comment about outdoor manger scenes now that have Santa kneeling at the manger and wondering if that is blurring things.

Seems to be something to the argument, I think. Thoughts?