I didn't really celebrate Halloween this year. I realized that unless you're into parting or are still young enough that it's ok to trick or treat, your only options as far as celebrating Halloween are things designed to scare you. I have a frightening enough imagination without help. That being said, principles have nothing to do with my lack of Halloween festivities.
I caught the very end of a show the other day that drives me nuts. It's called the 700 Club. It's an almost news program run by fundamentalist Christians. I avoid it if at all possible, but it comes on right before the Who's Line is it Anyway reruns on ABC Family, so I occasionally catch the ending of it. The other night, the host was asked whether or not it was moral to celebrate Halloween. He very nonchalantly brushed the question aside with, "Of course it's not moral to celebrate Halloween, but here are some ways for your kids to get candy, which is all the really want anyway . . . "
If I wasn't already frustrated with the show, that would have solidified it.
I'll start from the end of his comment and work my way to the beginning. Not all kids like Halloween just because of the candy. When I was a kid, I would end up just putting my candy in the kitchen for everyone else to eat every year. For me, the exciting part was dressing up in costumes and getting to be someone else for the night. I tended to do that regularly anyway, and this was a night where it was not only accepted, but encouraged! THAT's why Halloween was fun for me. Candy's boring.
Now we step back a statement. There's already a way for kids to get candy on Halloween. It's called trick or treating!!! Problem solved.
Now the kicker: "Of course it's not moral to celebrate Halloween . . . " Oh goodness. Where do I begin? These days, Halloween, like virtually every other holiday, is a secular holiday. For most people, it's simply a day where they can get out of themselves, quit taking themselves so seriously, and have some fun. These days, it doesn't encourage demon worship or Satanism or anything like that. I'm sorry to burst your bubble, but it doesn't.
You could say that Halloween is wrong because it's a secular holiday, but then you have to take out all of the secular elements of Valentine's Day, Christmas, and Easter. What are you left with then?
You could more easily argue that Halloween is wrong because of its origins. It started out from the idea that on All Saints' Day, all of the good souls that had passed on would be remembered. Thus, the evil spirits would come out the night before to attempt to ruin it. The idea came about at some point that if you disguised yourself, the demons wouldn't be able to get you. That's where costumes came from. Thus, you could say that Halloween is evil because it's based in some distinctly non-(traditional)-Christian beliefs. But, dear reader, there is another problem with this: Christmas.
Did you know that the birth of Christ is only recorded in one of the four gospels. Furthermore, it is generally agreed that his birth didn't occur during the winter. So then why is this holiday celebrated when it is? Pagan holidays. There are many pagan holidays that occur during the winter. Many of our modern traditions such as lights, greenery, carols, and gift giving are all drawn from other festivals such as the pagan Yule festival and Saturnalia which was thrown in honor of the Roman god Saturn. Does that sound any more Christian than belief in satanic creatures trying to wreck a holy day?
If we go based on origins, you're gonna have to knock out a lot of Christmas traditions in the process of fighting Halloween. When you agree that it's not moral to have a Christmas tree, I'll agree that it's not moral to celebrate Halloween.
Personally, I celebrated Halloween by writing a story about writer's block. I don't have any idea what this has to do with Halloween, so don't ask. As I couldn't get past the irony of writing about writer's block, I want more. Thus, I am issuing a challenge. Write about writer's block! Whatever your medium of choice, I want to hear it! Write poems, stories, essays, research papers, prose, whatever! I will set aside a special section on my website for any submissions I receive and make sure to link to it here.
If you are interested in submitting something, email me here:
veebjamn@yahoo.comI'm looking forward to reading what you guys have to write, and I'll be extremely disappointed if I don't get any submissions. I might cry a little. Just saying.
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