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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: layman

"OK ... OK .... I'll give up Halloween .... but I'm drawing a line in the sand on St. Patrick's day."

Come to where I live and you can draw a line in the urine and vomit adorning the streets at the end of St. Patrick's Day.


41 posted on 10/31/2005 11:03:36 AM PST by Woman on Caroline Street (Go sell crazy somewhere else. We're all stocked up here.)
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To: TigersEye
Only dentists and dingdongs think that's evil.

It's a plot by Big Orthodontry to drum up business. The dental amalgam makers are behind it.

I wish someone would take on St. Valentine's day, which is a day on which one half the population shakes down the other half, aided and abetted by Hallmark.

42 posted on 10/31/2005 11:04:34 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: Javelina
Lighten up? You try herding a screaming toddler past the halloween display at the front of the grocery store. :-(
43 posted on 10/31/2005 11:09:02 AM PST by LongElegantLegs (Yarn-ho.)
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To: Aquinasfan
Aquinas -- As I'm sure you know, all atheists are not amoralists. Objectivists see morality and the need for code of values arising from our human nature as rational, self-conscious creatures -- who are aware of the past and can imagine the future -- with free will -- who are not slaves to their instincts but must choose how to act.

Basing morality on a god -- however one defines that term -- or revelation is arbitrary and thus hardly a valid basis for a moral code. Religious folks are right to reject value relativism but should appreciate that morality is a code of values to guide our actions so we can survive and flourish, to enjoy our wonderful lives!
44 posted on 10/31/2005 11:12:27 AM PST by Ed Hudgins (Rand fan)
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To: Lonesome in Massachussets
You have a point there. Dentists just claim Halloween is evil while, in all probability, they support it behind the scenes. I should have seen it, they doth protest too much.
45 posted on 10/31/2005 11:13:13 AM PST by TigersEye (Cause and effect is the immutable law of conditioned existence.)
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To: the OlLine Rebel

We had bonfires as a nighttime school event (at school)....those were the days.


46 posted on 10/31/2005 11:18:47 AM PST by Fawn (Try not---do or do not. ~~ Yoda)
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To: Ed Hudgins

47 posted on 10/31/2005 11:22:03 AM PST by Fawn (Try not---do or do not. ~~ Yoda)
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To: Terabitten

How is Halloween "celebrating the worst in us"? I take no issue with the waist deep in corpses thing being somewhat of a buzz-kill, but a bunch of kids dressed up celebrates the worst in us?


48 posted on 10/31/2005 11:23:45 AM PST by dmz
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To: Woman on Caroline Street
Come to where I live and you can draw a line in the urine and vomit adorning the streets at the end of St. Patrick's Day

Wow! ... Caroline Street must be in a rough neighborhood.

49 posted on 10/31/2005 11:25:37 AM PST by layman (Card Carrying Infidel)
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To: Ed Hudgins
Objectivists see morality and the need for code of values arising from our human nature as rational, self-conscious creatures -- who are aware of the past and can imagine the future -- with free will -- who are not slaves to their instincts but must choose how to act.

That's nice, but if everything really is matter in motion, then everything really is matter in motion. If everything reduces to matter in motion, then the terms "good" and "evil" must reduce to matter in motion, just like everything else.

That's the problem with reductionism --in this case, materialist reductionism.

Of course, good and evil exist, so materialism must be false.

50 posted on 10/31/2005 11:29:47 AM PST by Aquinasfan (Isaiah 22:22, Rev 3:7, Mat 16:19)
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To: Ed Hudgins
"But in modern times it's developed into a fun day where children dress in ghoulish or cute costumes..."

Mebbee so. But it's still a day to venture into...the Dark Side...

Does anyone think he/she doesn't have...a Dark Side...?

Whoohoohahahahahahahahahaheeheeheeheeheehahahahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa....!

51 posted on 10/31/2005 11:32:39 AM PST by Savage Beast (The internet is the newspaper of record.)
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To: layman

Actually, I'm referring to Scranton, PA's St. Patty's Day festivities. I believe it is the second largest in the country. Last year, my husband and I were talked into doing the drinkfest, which started at 7:30 a.m. We ditched our friends by 9:15 a.m., went to our car and went home (sober, no less). Never saw a bigger bunch of drunken idiots in my entire life. At least not in celebration of a "saint".


52 posted on 10/31/2005 11:34:36 AM PST by Woman on Caroline Street (Go sell crazy somewhere else. We're all stocked up here.)
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To: Smogger
You trying to kill the spirit of modern superstition with
the revelation of historical facts. That's pretty spooky!
53 posted on 10/31/2005 11:38:35 AM PST by TigersEye (If you sow a righteous appearance you will reap a fear of righteousness.)
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To: Aquinasfan
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?

Rand was a moral absolutist. She just insisted that the only way to arrive at the proper morals was by reason. Many who appreciate her work also criticize aspects of it that don't stand up to reason (principally abortion). Like the rest of us, she wasn't perfect. She did have plenty to offer, as the persistence of her ideas, even among Christians, indicates.

54 posted on 10/31/2005 11:43:35 AM PST by Anthem (The only 20th century advance in the science of government was to tax a little less to take more.)
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To: Ed Hudgins

The people who are opposed to halloween need to take a step back and really ask themselves if they are choosing their battles wisely.


55 posted on 10/31/2005 11:43:52 AM PST by mysterio
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To: TigersEye
Only dentists and dingdongs think that's evil.

Umm, they're called "KingDons" now (I guess dingdongs was a little unPC) and I don't think dentists would ever side with them.


56 posted on 10/31/2005 11:47:23 AM PST by rattrap
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To: Anthem
Rand was a moral absolutist. She just insisted that the only way to arrive at the proper morals was by reason.

Which is funny because in a universe composed only of matter in motion, moralizing seems a bit silly, doesn't it?

57 posted on 10/31/2005 11:47:29 AM PST by Aquinasfan (Isaiah 22:22, Rev 3:7, Mat 16:19)
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To: Ed Hudgins
Some extreme Christian groups oppose Halloween because the day represents the worship of Satan.

No it doesn't.

Earth-goddess Gia

That's Gaia, you know.

58 posted on 10/31/2005 11:49:30 AM PST by humblegunner (If you're gonna die, die with your boots on.)
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To: rattrap
KingDons? What dingdong came up with that?

And how is that PC? C'mon, a chocolate cake with white filling obviously named after Don King? Where's the ACLU? Where's Je$$e Jackson?

59 posted on 10/31/2005 11:53:30 AM PST by TigersEye (If you sow a righteous appearance you will reap a fear of righteousness.)
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To: Woman on Caroline Street
the drinkfest, which started at 7:30 a.m.

Well, 7:30 A.M. is a bit much. It sounds like you thin out the herd once a year in Scranton.

60 posted on 10/31/2005 11:57:57 AM PST by layman (Card Carrying Infidel)
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