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Scared of Halloween
The Objectivist Center & Atlas Society ^ | October 31, 2005 | Edward Hudgins

Posted on 10/31/2005 10:00:31 AM PST by Ed Hudgins

Scared of Halloween By Edward Hudgins

Exective Director The Objectivist Center & Atlas Society ehudgins@objectivistcenter.org

October 31, 2005

Halloween has its origins in superstition and sadly, it invokes old and new superstitions still. Halloween, from "All Hallows Eve," was the evening before the Catholic All Saints Day and was supposed to be haunted by demons jealous of the holy day to follow. It also had roots in prehistoric Celtic mythology.

But in modern times it's developed into a fun day where children dress in ghoulish or cute costumes and canvass the neighborhood for candy while adults at masquerade parties imbibe more mature fare. Granted some juveniles get more into the tricks than the treats. And the occasional morbid-Goth youth can make it into an obsession with darkness and death, though they probably do that on the other 364 days of the year as well. But generally Halloween's about having fun.

Yet in our politically correct age this fall tradition is falling on hard times, under attack from, shall we say, rather diverse sides. Some extreme Christian groups oppose Halloween because the day represents the worship of Satan. Declares one Christian website, "Our forefathers recognized Halloween's association with the occult. The Pilgrims banned celebrating Halloween in America. The ban lasted until 1845." According to that site it was those damned Irish Catholics who raised that tradition from the dead.

On the other side of the—what to call it?—religious/political spectrum, in Canada a memo from the Toronto District School Board cautioned teachers that students from different backgrounds won't understand "the Christian, sexist demonization of pagan religious beliefs as 'fun.'" It went on to state that "Halloween is a religious day of significance for Wiccans and therefore should be treated respectfully." Wiccans are witches, that is, grow-ups who dress up funny but make a show of taking primitive superstitions seriously—worshipping the Earth-goddess Gia, magic spirits they imagine populate our world and the like.

And we find Europeans reacting against encroachments of Halloween back into the Old World from whence the tradition came. Some, like Catholic theologian Giordano Frosini, complain that it's a "manifestation of neo-paganism." But most nay-sayers just don't like American-style commercialization of that day—sales of costumes and candy—which, says Frosini, "undermines our cultural identify."

If you like to have fun on this day, fine. If not, if you think it's silly, fine as well. But it's sad that a jumble of competing superstitions and sensitivities are politicizing what was once a lark of a nice autumn night.


TOPICS: Canada; Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; News/Current Events; Philosophy
KEYWORDS: christanity; christians; halloween; holidays; politicallycorrect; wiccans; witches
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To: the OlLine Rebel

I didn't state that the "Pilgrims" banned "Halloween in America." So your question is a either not for me or a strawman fallacy.


21 posted on 10/31/2005 10:32:56 AM PST by Smogger
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To: Ed Hudgins

Just leave the candy in a bucket on the porch.whoooooooooOOOOOOOOOOooooo and nobody will get soaped!


22 posted on 10/31/2005 10:33:22 AM PST by linn37 (Have you hugged your Phlebotomist today?)
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To: the OlLine Rebel
Some bring up the selfishness of it.

I spent about four hours carving pumpkins yesterday, for one night's use. How selfish is that? Actually, as a kid, my avarice meter was a lot higher on December 24 than it ever was on October 31.

23 posted on 10/31/2005 10:34:50 AM PST by Lonesome in Massachussets (NY Times headline: Protocols of the Learned Elders of CBS, Fake but Accurate, Experts Say)
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To: Ed Hudgins
My Catholic Church sponsors a Halloween party and a haunted house every year (for the past 6 or 7 years). It provides a safe place for the kids to go. (And the haunted house is NOT for toddlers or the youngest guests. It's for fun.)

When Fr. Frank was still there, he allowed just about any costume that would be appropriate for the age group, but witches, vampires and devils -- while allowed -- were not eligible to win any prices, no matter how good the makeup.

The event usually sells out and good times are had by all.

24 posted on 10/31/2005 10:36:46 AM PST by Tanniker Smith (By defiintion, we cannot have Consensus until you agree with me.)
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To: Ed Hudgins

Well, we don't observe it as a family and never have. However, we don't put down or sneer at those who do. To each his own.


25 posted on 10/31/2005 10:37:00 AM PST by RightOnline
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To: Ed Hudgins
The Objectivist Center & Atlas Society

I'm surprised they don't condemn Halloween as a holiday celebrating the looters making demands on the altruism of the producers (even if the little looters do look cute in their costumes). Would Hank Rearden or Dagney Taggert pass out unearned candy?:-)

26 posted on 10/31/2005 10:37:37 AM PST by KarlInOhio (We were promised someone in the Scalia/Thomas mold. Maybe <strike>next</strike> this time.)
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To: KarlInOhio

Karl -- You're under no obligation to give out candy but since I'm a fun-loving, benevolent Objectivists, I say have enjoy the day if you wish!


27 posted on 10/31/2005 10:41:39 AM PST by Ed Hudgins (Rand fan)
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To: LongElegantLegs

Watched the History Channel documentary on it. Halloween only became a kid's holiday about 90 years ago or so. But, I do agree about those types of masks. THey are disgusting. I don't even want to see them.


28 posted on 10/31/2005 10:44:55 AM PST by HungarianGypsy
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To: Lonesome in Massachussets

Not YOU the giver - the kids. ;-)


29 posted on 10/31/2005 10:45:59 AM PST by the OlLine Rebel (Common sense is an uncommon virtue.)
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To: Lonesome in Massachussets

I think the other part of the selfish kid is that in Halloween you're expecting something from EVERY1 - not just your immediate family (Xmas).


30 posted on 10/31/2005 10:46:58 AM PST by the OlLine Rebel (Common sense is an uncommon virtue.)
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To: LongElegantLegs
I hate Halloween because I have to explain stuff like this mask to my three year old.

I don't practice Halloween because I've seen all the dead people I want to see. I think it trivializes and desensitizes us to the real horrors -- and the real monsters -- in our world. After you've stood waist-deep in corpses, a holiday celebrating the worst in us isn't quite so "fun" anymore.

31 posted on 10/31/2005 10:50:01 AM PST by Terabitten (God grant me the strength to live a life worthy of those who have gone before me.)
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To: Smogger

No, I know you did not and it's not for you; since you quoted the OP I simply used that recent post as my launching point rather than the OP. If anything it's only rhetorical for you!


32 posted on 10/31/2005 10:50:32 AM PST by the OlLine Rebel (Common sense is an uncommon virtue.)
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To: Ed Hudgins
OK ... OK .... I'll give up Halloween .... but I'm drawing a line in the sand on St. Patrick's day.
33 posted on 10/31/2005 10:51:06 AM PST by layman (Card Carrying Infidel)
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To: Ed Hudgins
It's always funny to hear atheists moralize.

There ain't no such thing as good and evil. It's all matter in motion, right?

34 posted on 10/31/2005 10:53:47 AM PST by Aquinasfan (Isaiah 22:22, Rev 3:7, Mat 16:19)
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To: KarlInOhio
I'm surprised they don't condemn Halloween as a holiday celebrating the looters making demands on the altruism of the producers

If it's looting, it's looting by engraved invitation.

35 posted on 10/31/2005 10:57:02 AM PST by Physicist
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Comment #36 Removed by Moderator

To: the OlLine Rebel
"But most nay-sayers just don't like American-style commercialization of that day"

Objectivists do not consider the phrase "American-style commercialization" to be in any way pejorative.

37 posted on 10/31/2005 10:59:11 AM PST by Physicist
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To: Ed Hudgins
First, Christmas and Halloween are holidays with both Christian and pagan origins that that have undergone a variety of transformations over the years. The word Christmas is a contraction of “Christ’s Mass” derived from the Old English Cristes mæsse. The earliest that the birth of Christ was attributed to the date December 25th appears in a Roman calendar in A.D. 360. Historians believe that early Catholic religious leaders set Christmas on December 25th. They did so in an attempt to incorporate the idea of Christ’s birth into Roman and European pagan celebrations of the winter solstice that occurred around that time of year. Some of the pagan rituals associated with solstice included special meals, gift giving, and decorating with evergreen, holly, and mistletoe. The Christmas holiday developed further with the legend of St. Nicholas who lived in the 4th century and is believed to have been a bishop in Asia Minor. The feast of St. Nicholas was originally celebrated on December 6th, and gifts were given the night before. Because the feast of St. Nicholas Day and Christmas were so close, the celebrations were eventually combined.

Similarly, Halloween is a “blended” holiday, with both Christian and pagan origins. All Hallows Day is a Catholic Holiday that occurs on November 1st. In the 5th century B.C., the Celtic Ireland summer officially ended on October 31st, and the Celtic New Year on November 1st was called Samhain. Celtics’ believed that the spirits who had died during the year gathered that night either to possess the souls of the living, or to seek their relatives to help them cross over to the land of the dead. Celtics would hollow out turnips and gourds, and use them to carry the spirits to their proper location. They would paint faces on the gourds in order to ward evil spirits away from their relatives’ spirits. Celtics would extinguish all fires in their homes, and dress up in ghoul-like costumes to frighten away evil spirits. The Celtics also believed that on this night faeries would disguise themselves as beggars, and go door to door asking for handouts. If the faeries were turned away they would visit some type of unpleasantness upon the home. Pope Boniface the 4th replaced the old festival of Samhain with the festival of All Saints Day in order to eliminate the pagan ceremony. People, however, continued to celebrate both ceremonies. Finally, Pope Gregory the 3rd decided to change All Saints day so that it always fell on the exact same day as Samhain. By the 1500’s, the two celebrations had merged, and become All Hallows Day, and the evening before had become all Hallows Eve or simply Halloween.

38 posted on 10/31/2005 10:59:23 AM PST by Smogger
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To: Ed Hudgins

Halloween is about candy. Only dentists and dingdongs think that's evil.


39 posted on 10/31/2005 11:00:50 AM PST by TigersEye (Cause and effect is the immutable law of conditioned existence.)
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To: the OlLine Rebel
Not YOU the giver - the kids. ;-)

I'm not complaining one bit.

BTW, I was TDY in Williamsburg, VA when my daughter was four and we had a horrible Halloween. Almost no one answered the door (in the condo complex we were staying in). Those who did, did not offer treats. I wonder if it had anything to do with the fact that Williamsburg was mostly White and nearby communities were mostly Black. Were they afraid of being deluged with out-of-neighborhood kids?

40 posted on 10/31/2005 11:01:41 AM PST by Lonesome in Massachussets (NY Times headline: Protocols of the Learned Elders of CBS, Fake but Accurate, Experts Say)
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