Hallowe'en
I am glad that Vic Veritas has drawn our attention to the quite extraordinary way so many people have got some half-baked ideas about Hallowe'en and have ended up doing things that make some of us feel very uncomfortable indeed about the message that is being sent out to young people about good and evil. Of course, the moment we criticise what goes on, we risk being called kill-joys. How dare we stop letting the kids have fun - even if it does look like celebrating the powers of evil!
In the Christian calendar, Hallowe'en (i.e. the evening of All Hallows) is the last kick of the dying horse of evil, before the power and light and joy of All Saints and All Souls Days that follow it. However, all sorts of spooky things from the pagan past have got attached to it as well as the indulging of the thrill of being frightened out of one's wits, which, in the case of children, should be by something that proves not to be too frightening after all - like Daddy dressed up as a bear!
The point of Hallowe'en is that half the kids should be dressed up in something that makes them represent the forces of goodness - such as St George and his soldiers - or St Michael and his angels or anyone who, in your culture or religion represents the powers of goodness. When the half who are dressed up as devils and witches have got a party going with all sorts of hideous shrieks and groans and badness going on, the Good Guys swoop in and drive them out, shrieking with laughter, of course. The whole point of Hallowe'en is that the powers of evil get CHASED AWAY into outer darkness, leaving the powers of good triumphant. Then you party together and have games and eat lots of nice food. If a clear message is not sent out that evil only APPEARS to have the upper hand, then we are declaring to ourselves and our children that evil is more powerful than good!
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