The Sacrilege (?) of Halloween

 

I guess my husband and I are just heathens, because we LOVE to celebrate Halloween with our kids!

I never, NEVER in my life even thought about it… until we moved down to good ol’ NC, where more than half of the area’s population is originally from the North, and… well, there are also many who would fall in the southern Bible-thumping, Bible belt type who very often pick and choose their interpretation of the Bible and their religion.

 And really, I’m OK with that. To each his own, I say…. everyone needs something a little different for his/her faith, because we’re all different. But one thing that completely bums me out every year is the way Halloween, one of the most fun days of the year for kids, is generally swept under the rug, and minimized in every way possible, for the (seemingly) few.

When I was a kid, we were not only allowed to wear our Halloween costumes to school (providing they weren’t bloody), but we actually had a HALLOWEEN COSTUME PARADE at school that all the parents were invited to in the afternoon, followed by a Halloween party to fill us up with sweets before going trick-or-treating. Hoo-hah! There were parties galore, and pretty much EVERYONE I knew, regardless of their religion, took part to one degree or another.

So imagine my surprise when, as my children entered day care, they weren’t allowed to wear costumes on Halloween, nor did they have any type of party (though they’d have a “fall harvest” celebration or some sort, and would be invited to dress up like their favorite character). This permeated through to school age time, too. Costumes in school? No way! And my husband and I have had to learn to ASK people if they celebrate Halloween, and be prepared for a quick shake of the head and a look away when we ask it.

 This is SO sad to us. We LOVE Halloween! We LOVE spookiness! We LOVE playing with our kids! And our kids really LOVE to dress up! But year after year, we struggle with spending the money needed to get them a costume (or put one together for them, though we really don’t have the time) for them to wear the costumes for a total of… what… 2-3 hours?

Pooh to that.

The History Channel Website has a great and brief explanation of the history of Halloween (http://www.history.com/minisites/halloween/viewPage?pageId=713). If you really look at it, it became a celebration that was a combination of beliefs, INCLUDING Christian. Sound familiar? Like, maybe Christmas, maybe? Or Easter?

Yet, no one ever asks (unless there’s a question of someone not being Christian) whether someone celebrates Christmas, do they?

I haven’t yet come across a Christian-type family who doesn’t exchange presents or doesn’t get a Christmas tree because it’s Pagan. Yet, the day over the years became a combination of celebrations, just like Halloween. Yet, because of the spooky connotation with Halloween (don’t kids LIKE to get spooked every once in awhile???), that seems more sinister, more devil-like, I guess.

And I’m not sure why, in general, us heathens with Northern heritage still have no problems with having some fun on Halloween, and why it seems to be such a problem down south. Our family that is still up north have children who do still get to at least go to school in their costumes on the big day. They think it’s BIZARRE that our children aren’t allowed to do that.  And, after being here for 10 years, my husband and I STILL thinks it’s BIZARRE.

However, there are many, many political issues much higher on the priority scale that we need to address. So, in the meantime, (because every year we say we’re going to have a Halloween party, and never get around to it), we scour the paper and area Websites to find some Halloween events that will allow them to more fully enjoy the celebration… moreso than wearing that $30-60 costume for a full 2 hours to go trick-or-treating.

Now, I must go mix my potions and sacrifice a neighborhood innocent….  LOLLOLLOL

Why Pick on Harry Potter?

 

I STILL don’t understand it. After the seven intensely addictive books by J.K. Rowling, I don’t understand why there are still many (Christian) parents who, when the Harry Potter books/movies are brought up, get all flustered and tell me that they and their children haven’t read/seen either, because of the subject matter. Yet, if I further press, I usually find out that they and their children HAVE seen the Star Wars series, the Lord of the Rings series, The Matrix series, many Disney movies, and on and on.

This is definitely one of those areas that are categorized in my head as Things That Make You Go, “Hmmm…”

I completely respect anyone’s religion/faith. Everyone needs to explore their own faith, in their own ways. But someone, somewhere, PLEASE explain to me in what way the Harry Potter story is by any way in favor of evil and Things Against the Bible (where the other ones aren’t)?

 If I even approach this with someone who’s intent on “helping me see the light,” I usually get the answer that it’s about witchcraft, which you know, is the Devil’s work.

And here’s typically my answer: Wrong.

I’m sure there have been literary papers written about this, but I’m just ranting from my personal point of view (that’s what this blog is for, anyway, isn’t it?).

Here’s my point to you, to all of you out there who dismiss Harry Potter because of that: Harry Potter is not about “Devil’s witchcraft.” It’s about magic, wonderment, growing up, and above all, the battle of good against evil — on a LARGE scale.

There are so many things the Harry Potter saga covers that are essential to a positive life, including the rewards of bravery, doing the right thing, fighting evil with good, and taking the high road.

For example, one of the best lines spoken by Dumbledore (Hogwart’s headmaster) to Harry: “Harry, we are coming to a time when everyone must choose whether do what is easy, or what is right.” OK, that’s not verbatim, but pretty close!

Anyway, beyond that, like I said, the same families that have barred Harry Potter allow Stars Wars, Disney, Lord of the Rings, and the like, without a second thought. So, here are my questions to that:

• Isn’t “The Force” the use of magic (and thus, witchcraft)? Again, good vs. evil.
• Wasn’t Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother someone who used magic? And for that matter, what about all of the magic (not just bad) used in Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, and many, many others that the same parents insist are just fine for their children? Incidentally, these movies were actually barred from our household for a completely different reason, since those movies purport that a girl’s only purpose in life should be to find and win a man that will take care of her — but that’s a different blog for a different day!
• Lord of the Rings — magical rings, wizards, and elves, oh my
• Matrix — Talk about Christ-like stories!

So, there you have it. Typical hypocrisy of the church. Yet, there are still quite a few parents out there who think that Harry Potter is OVER THE EDGE. All I can say is, it’s their loss. Really, their children’s. Because there are so many lessons for a good life in those books, and they are really missing out on passing along such good lessons with such enjoyment related to it.

Now, talking about the Bible itself — which, when we read parts of it as a literary piece in 12th grade AP English class, our teacher introduced it as one of the books with the most magic, sex, drugs, and debauchery in all of history — there’s just so, so much I can talk about there. But that will be another blog, on another day, when I REALLY have time to sit down and go on about that!

 ’Nuff said!