Parents Oppose Halloween For Religious Reasons
Well, duh. Of COURSE there are parents out there who oppose Halloween for religious reasons. But as much as I like to lay down the snark, I actually found this article interesting and somewhat enlightening.
I feel bad for Elizabeth Silvia, the high schooler who recounts the taunting that she endured at the hands of her classmates over her parents’ attitudes towards the holiday. And I’m actually sympathetic towards her folks - that they felt compelled to explain to the public at large why they don’t participate in Halloween-related activities and received berating phone calls for it is a bit sad. (Hey - I empathize. I come from a Catholic dad and a Jewish mom, and I get it from all sides. “Why don’t you go to Church? Why don’t you go to Temple?” Oi vey! Madon! I’m tellin’ ya - it’s enough to make me go Buddhist).
I realize that this may seem trivial given the nature of most of the articles we see on this site, but hey - it’s Halloween. So what do you think? Halloween - recruiting tool for Satan, or elaborate plot by a cabal of dentists and Hollywood marketing execs to drive up business? And does it have a place in our schools? Discuss. I’ll be out TP’ing the neighbor’s house if you need me.
Tags: Halloween, holidays, massachusetts, parents+behaving+badly, religion
5 opinions for Parents Oppose Halloween For Religious Reasons
Jan
Oct 31, 2005 at 5:14 pm
I’m old enough to remember when Halloween was just a fun time for kids. When did the adults get in and ruin it for them?
L.
Nov 1, 2005 at 6:23 am
Jehovah’s Witnesses do not do the Halloween thing either. I was raised as one only escaping when I hit 17. Anyway- despite the fact we never where able to hand our candy, and we happened to always have “church” on the night in question- our neighbors would send everyone over during that first hour that we where still home. It was mortifying. Not only did they get give us a hard time about the candy thing- there we where in dress cloths having to explain why we where going to church instead. Other kids laughed for days while shoving candy in their mouths.
Dutch
Nov 1, 2005 at 10:01 am
5 points for excellent use of the word “cabal.”
centuri0n
Nov 4, 2005 at 2:56 am
I am pretty sure that I have never seen anyone conduct a satanic rite on Hallowwen. I haven’t been looking very hard, but it’s not like I live in my parent’s basement.
Let me put it this way: Christian or not, we can all agree that eating human babies would be bad — I think it is actually illegal, but it’s also a disgusting idea, right? Now what if I boycotted Halloween because I object to eating babies? And what if I made a big deal out of the fact that because other people do not boycott halloween, the cause of eating babies is advanced?
You would think I was crazy, I hope. Nobody is eating babies on Halloween — so whether you agree with me or not about that practice, there’s no reason to think that it is getting “hype” on Halloween.
Likewise, to say that Halloween is advancing the cause of witchcraft is about as sound as saying that New Year’s Day is advancing the cause of pantheism. Let’s see: I dress my kids up like the Incredibles, take them out to see their friends and collect some sweet treats, drop by the church for some games and to win some prizes, and becuase we had a good time as a family, Satan apparently gets to move his eternal chess pieces into place. It doesn’t follow.
Anyway, great blog. Better than Snarkywood. :)