Halloween is a contentious holiday. There has been a movement to ban its celebration in favor of a more generic harvest festival. Strangely, the people backing this movement are the religious rather than atheists.
It makes a certain degree of sense. If you are serious about your beliefs, then you should stand up for them. In this case there is a serious concern about the glamourization of witchcraft and spirits, as there are a lot of attention paid to the supernatural elements of the universe during this holiday. For a group that sees itself as defending the world from supernatural evil, it makes sense that a holiday that puts them in a favorable light would be a bad thing. Given that children's movies have taken a more monster friendly approach towards monsters, the fear that monsters have stopped being something to fear and started being something to be, this is somewhat understandable. As the holiday has been adopted by pagans as well as wannabe satanists, it has not exactly grown in popularity.
They've found some allies in the child safety crowd. Not only is this a holiday where scaring people is encouraged, but so are pranks. Where some see children going up to doors to ask for candy, they see children going up to doors of potentially dangerous strangers. Throw in the usual problems of crossing the street, costumes that have obvious safety issues, and that candy itself is not an acceptable snack, and you have a holiday that those fanatically interested in the safety of their children would not mind seeing eliminated.
While I can see the point, especially when it comes to child safety, I think Halloween has gotten far away enough from its original roots that people should just enjoy it. Although some cultures do celebrate Halloween the way it was meant to be celebrated, a celebration of death, while a number of others see it as just another reason to celebrate period. Sure, there is role-playing involved, and that is what makes the holiday special as people are able to drop their facades for one that is closer to the truth, but Halloween has long stopped being the holiday of witches and ghosts. Halloween no longer has the fangs it once had, and has been divorced from its pagan beginnings in the eyes of the world.
Halloween is no longer a holiday where we celebrate the harvest of souls for a lot of people. We celebrate who we want to be by choosing the face we present to the world. This is a holiday that has evolved, and I think it's a shame that we should fear its history, a history that no longer applies. Someone needs to relax, and let the holiday continue to evolve. It may prove interesting to see where it goes...
It makes a certain degree of sense. If you are serious about your beliefs, then you should stand up for them. In this case there is a serious concern about the glamourization of witchcraft and spirits, as there are a lot of attention paid to the supernatural elements of the universe during this holiday. For a group that sees itself as defending the world from supernatural evil, it makes sense that a holiday that puts them in a favorable light would be a bad thing. Given that children's movies have taken a more monster friendly approach towards monsters, the fear that monsters have stopped being something to fear and started being something to be, this is somewhat understandable. As the holiday has been adopted by pagans as well as wannabe satanists, it has not exactly grown in popularity.
They've found some allies in the child safety crowd. Not only is this a holiday where scaring people is encouraged, but so are pranks. Where some see children going up to doors to ask for candy, they see children going up to doors of potentially dangerous strangers. Throw in the usual problems of crossing the street, costumes that have obvious safety issues, and that candy itself is not an acceptable snack, and you have a holiday that those fanatically interested in the safety of their children would not mind seeing eliminated.
While I can see the point, especially when it comes to child safety, I think Halloween has gotten far away enough from its original roots that people should just enjoy it. Although some cultures do celebrate Halloween the way it was meant to be celebrated, a celebration of death, while a number of others see it as just another reason to celebrate period. Sure, there is role-playing involved, and that is what makes the holiday special as people are able to drop their facades for one that is closer to the truth, but Halloween has long stopped being the holiday of witches and ghosts. Halloween no longer has the fangs it once had, and has been divorced from its pagan beginnings in the eyes of the world.
Halloween is no longer a holiday where we celebrate the harvest of souls for a lot of people. We celebrate who we want to be by choosing the face we present to the world. This is a holiday that has evolved, and I think it's a shame that we should fear its history, a history that no longer applies. Someone needs to relax, and let the holiday continue to evolve. It may prove interesting to see where it goes...
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