Am I the only one who thinks telling your kids about Santa Claus is ridiculous?

I don't really like Christmas, I guess. I'm not Christian, or any religion, and I just don't see the point. I think it's important to be nice to people and practice goodwill and charity and kindness ALL year, not just December-ish. Plus, most people don't even include that stuff in their Christmas traditions anyway.

To me,the story about a strange fat guy that breaks into your house to deliver presents to kids that are well-behaved sounds a lot like bribery, and is also just plain creepy. What I find even creepier than that is taking a child to sit on a strange man's lap in the mall while he or she whispers his or her most deepest, albeit childish, desire. Let's be real here, the kinds of people that work as mall santas can't really be the most well-adjusted, upstanding, clean and healthy individuals, right?

What it really comes down to is that I just don't want to lie to my son. I think parents should lead by example, and that's a big ol lie right there. Remember how devastated you were when you realized your parents lied to you? He's only 14 months right now, so the concept of Santa is not very important this year, but my fiance (his dad)'s family thinks I'm being a total mean-spirited Scrooge. I know we are good parents and good people who are and will continue to instill good values on our son, but I feel so pressured and disappointed by the extended family for not understanding this.

Am I nuts? Too crass? Where is the compromise?

EDIT: I appreciate the input. I just want to clarify, if my son learned about the whole Santa thing elsewhere, and asked me about it, I wouldn't crush his dreams if he wanted to believe in it I guess. I also wouldn't encourage him to crush the dreams of the kids he goes to school with or something. I remember doing that in my Kindergarten class, and the teacher called my mom and I got in trouble and it was a whole big fiasco. I'm really not heartless. We enjoy the giving and the baking and family togetherness too, just the extravagant gifts and stories, I don't know. We're not those kinds of people. Perhaps I didn't have the same Christmas memories as others, so I don't have the desire to pass along the Santa thing. Anyway, thanks for the sage advice/info everyone!