I wonder if the 35 people who objected on religious principle realize that Fox News says liberals have a war on Halloween and want to deprive our children of their God given American Heritage to extort candy one night a year. Occupy Oliver's, free the candy from it's boxly bonds.
Halloween (All Hallow's Eve) embodies a Christian (Roman Catholic) holiday. It means (eve being the evening prior to) the night before All Saints Day (as the RC holiday is currently known). Following detractor's logic, virtually any Christian holiday could be so easily defamed. All of them were usurped from pre-existing Pagan holidays and re-invented as Christian: Christmas was Saturnalia (also birthday of myriad, other non-Christian deities), Easter was Eostre / Ostara, the Spring Equinox celebration and (most irony-filled) May Day, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, formerly a Spring Festival; its archetypal feature: the Maypole- a phallic symbol.
Halloween (like Mardi Gras) exists as a worldly celebration preceding a very solemn holy period (All Saints Day, Nov. 1 and All Souls Day, Nov. 2/3). As celebrated in the United States, Halloween is a purely American invention with all the expected commercial elements. Tying it to ancient Druid or Celtic traditions requires an incredible stretch of imagination. Halloween has more to do with American horror classics from the 1930s than it does with Samhain (Medieval Gaelic harvest festival questionably linked to Druidry, thank you Geoffrey Keating, and for all intents neglected until the early neo-pagans resurrected it in the Victorian era as an excuse for wife-swapping; thank you, Gerald Gardner!). It might be wise to look back in American History... Fall festivals prior to WW II were rife with violent "pranks" and drunkenness- since tamed by commercialism and sugar.
The latest anti-Halloween ploy, Jesus Ween, clearly under-estimates the imaginations of those it has been foisted upon. ...Can't begrudge those who find Halloween objectionable, but the case to generally condemn it is specious.
Historical note: the dedication of December 25th as Christ's birthday (by the Roman Church) was a major factor in the great schism. The Eastern Church refused to place Christ's birthday in league with a (prior) Roman pagan holiday. As I recall there were three choices (Christ's actual birth date was unknown), mostly derived from astrological interpretations. Placing Christ's birthday in the winter and death in the spring went against the intuitive notions about the seasons.
I was going to come to say what C.M. said, Halloween and Christmas are derived from Pagan traditions. Basically Christians took Pagan holidays and re-branded them as their own, then started getting mad when people pointed it out. They're like the original Apple.
I wonder if the 35 people who
I wonder if the 35 people who objected on religious principle realize that Fox News says liberals have a war on Halloween and want to deprive our children of their God given American Heritage to extort candy one night a year. Occupy Oliver's, free the candy from it's boxly bonds.
I worked, a 12-hour shift!
I worked, a 12-hour shift!
Halloween (All Hallow's Eve)
Halloween (All Hallow's Eve) embodies a Christian (Roman Catholic) holiday. It means (eve being the evening prior to) the night before All Saints Day (as the RC holiday is currently known). Following detractor's logic, virtually any Christian holiday could be so easily defamed. All of them were usurped from pre-existing Pagan holidays and re-invented as Christian: Christmas was Saturnalia (also birthday of myriad, other non-Christian deities), Easter was Eostre / Ostara, the Spring Equinox celebration and (most irony-filled) May Day, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, formerly a Spring Festival; its archetypal feature: the Maypole- a phallic symbol.
Halloween (like Mardi Gras) exists as a worldly celebration preceding a very solemn holy period (All Saints Day, Nov. 1 and All Souls Day, Nov. 2/3). As celebrated in the United States, Halloween is a purely American invention with all the expected commercial elements. Tying it to ancient Druid or Celtic traditions requires an incredible stretch of imagination. Halloween has more to do with American horror classics from the 1930s than it does with Samhain (Medieval Gaelic harvest festival questionably linked to Druidry, thank you Geoffrey Keating, and for all intents neglected until the early neo-pagans resurrected it in the Victorian era as an excuse for wife-swapping; thank you, Gerald Gardner!). It might be wise to look back in American History... Fall festivals prior to WW II were rife with violent "pranks" and drunkenness- since tamed by commercialism and sugar.
The latest anti-Halloween ploy, Jesus Ween, clearly under-estimates the imaginations of those it has been foisted upon. ...Can't begrudge those who find Halloween objectionable, but the case to generally condemn it is specious.
Historical note: the
Historical note: the dedication of December 25th as Christ's birthday (by the Roman Church) was a major factor in the great schism. The Eastern Church refused to place Christ's birthday in league with a (prior) Roman pagan holiday. As I recall there were three choices (Christ's actual birth date was unknown), mostly derived from astrological interpretations. Placing Christ's birthday in the winter and death in the spring went against the intuitive notions about the seasons.
I was going to come to say
I was going to come to say what C.M. said, Halloween and Christmas are derived from Pagan traditions. Basically Christians took Pagan holidays and re-branded them as their own, then started getting mad when people pointed it out. They're like the original Apple.