Toronto School Board Warns Against Offending Wiccans at Halloween

LifeSite ^ | October 28, 2005

[NYer]

Toronto School Board Warns Against Offending Wiccans at Halloween

Calls Halloween “religious day of significance for Wiccans” which “should be treated respectfully”

TORONTO, October 28, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Toronto School Board warned its schools that Halloween as it is traditionally celebrated may offend Wiccans, even suggesting that to a Wiccan unuse to the event, it might be experienced as a “traumatic shock.”

In a memo to teachers and principals, the board claimed, “Many recently arrived students in our schools share absolutely none of the background cultural knowledge that is necessary to view ‘trick or treating,’ the commercialization of death, the Christian sexist demonization of pagan religious beliefs, as ‘fun.’”

Citing that Halloween is a breach of its “equitable schools policies,” the board, in its memo titled Halloween at TDSB Schools: Scarrrrrry Stufff, warned that “some students and their parents/ guardians might experience their first Halloween not as a ‘strange surprise,’ but [as] a ‘traumatic shock,’” adding that “Halloween is a religious day of significance for Wiccans and therefore should be treated respectfully.”

Society for Quality Education executive director Doretta Wilson told the Globe, “This is unbelievable. I'm sorry I'm laughing because it's so funny to read this thing. I just think it's taking political correctness to a ridiculous extreme,” she added.

Wilson said, “It’s almost as if it's not politically correct to be a Christian nowadays in our country.” Wilson also questioned to what degree Wicca is represented in the student population.

The Toronto School Board, one of the largest in Canada, has been notable for other controversial policies. In 1994, it rejected requests from Muslim and other parents to have their elementary school children exempted from the board’s mandatory "anti-homophobia education" sessions.

See related news:
Wicca, the Pagan Temptation for Youth Increases Followers
http://www.floridabaptistwitness.com/4839.article
Wicca Casts Spell Over College Students
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,72791,00.html
Toronto School Children Forced to Endure Homosexual Sensitivity Training
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2004/nov/04111711.html
TORONTO SCHOOL BOARD IMPLEMENTING AGGRESSIVE HOMOSEXUAL INDOCTRINATION
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2000/jul/00071804.html

[NYer]

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[Andy from Beaverton]

Todd Feinburg just talked about a school where three families objected to Halloween because of its religious roots. They banned Halloween at the school.

[Irish_Thatcherite]

Don't offend witches - they can cast spells!

[randog]

Wilson said, “It’s almost as if it's not politically correct to be a Christian nowadays in our country.”

Gee, whatever gave her that idea? The fact that priests are arrested for quoting the Bible?

[rickmichaels]

Many recently arrived students in our schools share absolutely none of the background cultural knowledge that is necessary to view ‘trick or treating,’ the commercialization of death, the Christian sexist demonization of pagan religious beliefs, as ‘fun.’”<

The Liberal "cultural enrichment" of Canada continues.

[ClearCase_guy]

The Toronto School Board warned its schools that Halloween as it is traditionally celebrated may offend Wiccans

Not celebrating Christmas offends me.

[Irish_Thatcherite]

Christianity is a hate crime!

[RoadTest]

My Father didn't say coddle the wiccans little feelings. He said "Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you." - Luke 10:19

[cripplecreek]

I won't offend those witch b**ches.

[GatorGirl]

It's happening alot. Many schools are barring Halloween activities, instead holding "Fall Festivals"; Renaissance Fests; Storybook character parades, etc....

It seems like every year, there are more and more who vocally object to Halloween, and instead of just keeping their kids home the day of the costume parade and Halloween party, they are seeking to impose their minority opinion on the majority, and in many instances, succeeding.

I resent these alternatively themed events, because it means I have to provide two costumes--one for school and one for Trick or Treating.

[Publius6961]

The Toronto School Board warned its schools that Halloween as it is traditionally celebrated may offend Wiccans, even suggesting that to a Wiccan unuse to the event, it might be experienced as a “traumatic shock.”

I can't believe that an entire school board anywhere can be this stupid.

There is one person, perhaps two who managed to get elected to the board, and it is critical, for me if I were affected, to know who this person is, so we could ridicule her out of town. Far out of town!

[nuconvert]

BOO !

[doodles2]

Did they mention offending common sense?

[xzins]

Wicca was invented a few decades ago and is a pretend religion made up from bits and pieces grabbed here and there by entrepreneurial spiritualists.

These people have got to be kidding.

[I-ambush]

"...to a Wiccan unused to the event, it might be experienced as a traumatic shock."

It's as though the Wiccans have just arrived from the Middle Ages, rather than growing up in some suburb of Toronto.

[rickmichaels]

...it might be experienced as a “traumatic shock.”

Words fail me.

[zzen01]

Canada, WHAT a toilet!

[HighlyOpinionated]

How about THIS! On Catholic Culture, there is a good explanation of all Hallow's Eve and an explanation to stay away from the 'witches and warlocks' because they were added to the mix and are not the Original Meaning of the day.

For Halloween, they suggest using skulls and bones and centering on remembering all those family members and friends who have died.

THEN on All Saint's Day -- November 1, celebrate the lives of family and friends who have passed away in the past year. And recall the lives of the Saints and how their lives inspired the Church.


It's not the true understanding of All Hallow's Eve (aka Halloween or Hallowe'en) that uses witches and the like. It's a time to reflect on the lives of those who have died and recall their memories and the lives they led.

You don't have to be a Catholic to do this. An example of someone to think about and discuss: Rosa Parks. What a feisty woman who just wanted people to do what was "right" and correct. And isn't it correct to respect other people? Take that idea and run with it, if you have no one to think of as a 'saint' -- not a perfect person, just someone who made an impact on our lives.
+Pace e Bene+
Highly Opinionated

[starfish923]

I won't offend those witch b**ches.

Wiccanism is a cult for dysfunctional people. It's stupid, puerile and empty.

It's almost always transitory, a rather short-lived phase as well. That is because it IS so empty, foolish and juvenile. Devil worship is the worst kind of despair, hopelessness and fatalism. Talk about a dead-end path of life. Satan, the prince of darkness, archangel of hell. Losers following the biggest loser of them all.

This is attention getting, nothing more.