Halloween- Harmless or Harmful?

[HEPZIBAH]

Halloween - Harmless or Harmful?

'In light of the recent media focus on Tesco and Asda’s ‘psycho’ patient Halloween outfits, J John is keen to raise a debate on the nature of Halloween. What messages are we giving to children who are encouraged to dress up as a ‘Zombie Pyjama Girl’ for example with blood soaked pyjamas and a slashed teddy and what is the impact of Halloween on society and on vulnerable people?'


Halloween has become one of the biggest events in the British calendar. There have always been traditions associated with 31st October but the present extravaganza, with its epidemic of ‘trick-or-treating’, is a recent phenomenon. A decade ago, spending on Halloween in the UK was only £12m; now, boosted by Hollywood and marketing, it is £300m.

Financially, Halloween is now, after Christmas and Easter, our third highest grossing celebration.

Yet Halloween has seized this position without any serious consideration of what it stands for and whether or not we even want it. When people talk about what happens on 31st October a little phrase commonly heard is that Halloween is ‘harmless nonsense’. But is it indeed harmless? Is it merely nonsense? It’s time to do some hard thinking.

IS HALLOWEEN HARMLESS?

Let me give you six reasons why Halloween is not harmless:

1 – HALLOWEEN CELEBRATES EVIL

Although people celebrate Halloween in different ways it remains, at its core, an event that glorifies the dark, creepy and scary side of life. Children and adults dress up as figures that are ‘evil’: witches, vampires, ghosts and demons. If you want to be different you can hire costumes to make you look like a chainsaw killer, a psychopathic butcher or even a shooting victim (‘with authentic-looking bullet holes’). This is hardly harmless. Whatever view we have about life, we all take it for granted that our society should spend time and energy encouraging children to care for others and to know the difference between right and wrong. Yet on this one day, we throw all those values away and glorify everything that is evil and unpleasant. Talk about sending out mixed messages!

2 – HALLOWEEN IS UNHELPFUL

We live in a world where every parent and teacher takes care to warn children that strangers may pose a threat and that they need to take precautions. Yet at Halloween we discard that rule and encourage children to go and knock on doors and accept sweets from strangers. Another mixed message!

3 – HALLOWEEN TRIVIALISES BAD THINGS

No one is in doubt that evil is serious and that muggings, stabbings and serious accidents are horrendous. Yet, again, Halloween breaks the rules. On this day we pretend that death, deformity and injury are no more than kids’ play!

4 – HALLOWEEN IS OFFENSIVE

You could simply say that scaring kids is unhelpful, but there is a more subtle and troubling issue. Halloween costumes frequently centre on deformities, gory wounds and disfigurement. There are a number of websites that tell you how to create an effective disfigurement; for example, how to create realistic-looking burns and how to make yourself hideously ugly. Now consider how you would feel about that if you yourself were a burns victim, were severely disabled or had suffered horrendous scarring. Do we really want to spread the message that ugliness equates to evil?

5 – HALLOWEEN IS GETTING WORSE

Concerns about Halloween do not simply come from those of us with a ‘religious agenda’. Increasingly, other people are expressing concern, particularly about the way that Halloween seems to be getting darker and nastier every year. Carved pumpkins were, I suppose, pretty harmless; the new blood-stained axe murderers are not. If we don’t like the direction that Halloween is going in, then maybe it’s time to stop celebrating it.

6 – HALLOWEEN ALLOWS EVIL A VICTORY

In some older Halloween traditions people dressed up in clothes that made them look evil and then, at the end of the evening, the outfits were burnt. The message was clear if naive: in the end, good triumphs over evil. Yet there is no hint of that in the modern Halloween. Now, evil is unchallenged and just slips away into the darkness, to return at some other time. That’s not the message our world needs today.

SO IS HALLOWEEN HARMLESS?

The evidence suggests that it isn’t. Halloween encourages lots of bad things and offers nothing good in return. Halloween is harmful and there is no wise reason to keep it.

I want to suggest that far from being harmless nonsense there are also spiritual risks associated with Halloween. Although all sorts of things get dragged into Halloween these days, its core remains a preoccupation with supernatural evil. The heart of Halloween is the occult: witches, ghosts and spirits. If you are inclined to dismiss this argument then before you do so you might want to do some thinking first.

For more of the article and about the author see:
http://godandpoliticsuk.org/2013/10/09/ ... r-harmful/

[Who2]

Last time in Blighty my godson was doing halloween, with I might add my mate's new girlfriend from Transalvania (which I learnt was part of Romania)
Now Jimmy Saville was big in the headlines, but one could see pumpkins glowing on doorsteps which to me said, 'hello children 'open for business, no wonder so many parents were accompanying their 'brats in the quest for baksheesh or sweeties or probably 'do you want to see my puppies ? quite surreal...
evil it wasn't but has become so.....give them personnel tazers and forget the mobiles....

[LovelyLadyLux]

When I was a kid (dino days) we all raced home, cut a face into the pumpkin we'd actually grown in the garden, put on our parents clothes and ran up and down the 2 streets of my town and got home baked goodies from people who knew us and baked specific things each and every Hallowe'en for us. Next day the pumpkin got tossed to the chickens, I ate the candy (what was left from the night before) and ran on a sugar surge for the rest of the week. Nothing was worshipped, destroyed, vandalized etc. Mostly a community type event that was a one night deal.

Now - can't even begin.......decorations everywhere (I refuse to put them up), costumes everywhere, street events organized and planned, kids hyped for weeks in advance, unable to eat what they get cause of razors or needles potentially/possibly stuck into the goodies they collect IF they are allowed to collect and on and on OR blah blah blah......totally commercialized and all the human element gone. I can't see the fun of it anymore, don't see the point.

Was evil every worshipped? Nah - at least not by us as kids cause all we focus'd on was free candy. We were not thinking about evil. Nowadays??? Who knows but I think the evil element comes in now much more often than Hallowe'en.

Costumes showing injuries?? If that what floats your boat then ? To me a costume is an outfit like a pirate, princess, animal etc but personally I can't see me ever really dressing up costume-wise for Hallowe'en.

Doubt Hallowe'en will be done away with. Too commercial and too much money made.

[Dusak]

The only problem with this report is that it fails to mention, that children have been watching this kind of make believe for years on television, first via cartoon, then digital productions then live action. A nightmare before Christmas as an example. It left nothing to the imagination and that was produced a few years back. Take the American TV series Supernatural, now in season nine. Highly popular with pre-teens to young adults that depicts every type of 'monster' imaginable. A program on BBC world today was interviewing a film director that specializes in children's productions. He has now stepped his films up a notch, as this is what the kids want to watch. As to whether its a good thing, only time will tell, but I think that you have to accept that children are maturing a lot faster today than in the past. At the end of the day, it is still up to the parents how deep they allow their kids to get into this kind of entertainment, not forgetting that even eight year old's have i-pads that can download these horrors. I think that they should be made aware that evil exists out there, but not as depicted via these characters. But I also think that they would know that anyway.

[LivinginLuxor]

No doubt the author of that article is American, the country that invented the Halloween we see today growing in Britain. I saw no mention of it being All Saints day, where the dead are honoured, families gather by the graves of their relatives etc. The medieval witches were probably the remnants of the pagan religion that celebrated Samhain, and were reviled by the church (which associated itself with that festival, as it did Christmas, with the midwinter festival)

[HEPZIBAH]

No doubt the author of that article is American, ...

The author, J.John is a Greek-Cypriot by birth and lives in the UK.

[Mad Dilys]

Yesterday I was completely unprepared for the stream of children that appeared at my door, in two's and threes or even on one occasion a group of about 8 or 9!

I can honestly say that I have never ever before been asked for "Trick or Treat", but then I have always lived out in the sticks, so don't get carol singers either.

All I had was two packets of mints and some bananas. Only one group accepted fruit and no-one offered a "trick" in fact they seemed bemused by the idea.

I was pleased to see that the children were all polite, and escorted by two or more adults. They all wished me a happy Halloween, even if got nothing - it was all good humoured. I'm not sure how I feel about it in general though.

[BENNU]

I have only known of Halloween as an American tradition seen in films and series. From facebook friends I understand that Alle Helgens Aften (All Saints Evening) now is celebrated in Denmark under an American name, Halloween and they post pictures of their children in scary costumes and lots of pumpkins. I hope that they do not forget our own tradition of Fastelavn, the time of year when I used to make outfits for the children in my family like my mother used to do for me. In case anyone cares:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fastelavn

Fastelavn is the name for Carnival in Denmark, Norway and the Faroe islands which is either the Sunday or Monday before Ash Wednesday.

Fastelavn evolved from the Roman Catholic tradition of celebrating in the days before Lent, but after Denmark became a Protestant nation, the holiday became less specifically religious. This holiday occurs seven weeks before Easter Sunday and is sometimes described as a Nordic Halloween, with children dressing up in costumes and gathering treats for the Fastelavn feast. The holiday is generally considered to be a time for children's fun and family games.

Etymology

The term Fastelavn comes from Old Danish fastelaghen, which was a borrowing of the Middle Low German vastel-avent, meaning "fast-evening", or the day before Lent.[1] The word has cognates in other Germanic languages, including Limburgish Vastelaovend, Dutch Vastenavond and Scots Fastens-een.
Festivities

Some towns in Denmark are renowned for their large Fastelavn festivities and parades. Traditional events include slå katten af tønden ("hit the cat out of the barrel"), which is somewhat similar to using a piñata. The Danes use a wooden barrel, which is full of candy and sometimes oranges and has the image of a cat on it. Historically there was a real black cat in the barrel, and beating the barrel was superstitiously considered a safeguard against evil. After the candy pours out, the game continues until the entire barrel is broken. The one who knocks down the bottom of the barrel (making all the candy spill out) becomes kattedronning ("queen of cats"); the one who knocks down the last piece of the barrel becomes kattekonge ("king of cats").
Fastelavnsboller

In Denmark and Norway a popular baked good associated with the day is Fastelavnsbolle (lit. "Fastelavns bun", also known in English as "shrovetide bun" or "lenten bun"), a round sweet roll usually covered with icing and sometimes filled with whipped cream. A popular children's song in Denmark is

"Fastelavn er mit navn, boller vil jeg have. Hvis jeg ingen boller får, så laver jeg ballade. Boller op, boller ned boller i min mave. Hvis jeg ingen boller får, så laver jeg ballade."

"Shrovetide is my name, buns I want. If I get no buns, I will make trouble. Buns up, buns down buns in my tummy. If I get no buns, I will make trouble."

Similar buns are eaten in other northern European countries, for example the Swedish Semla. Ísafjörður is the only town in Iceland that celebrates Fastelavn on the same day as the Nordic countries, the day being known as Maskadagur (from the Danish word maske, meaning to dress-up or put on a mask).

There seem to be some small local traditions which are closer to the carnival traditions of other countries, including Ash Wednesday, Carnival parades, Pancake Tuesday and eating special food after Ash Wednesday, but they are not particular to Danish culture.

Another popular custom (especially among the children) is the "fastelavnsris", with which children ritually flog their parents to wake them up on the morning of Fastelavns Sunday (Quinquagesima).

Fastelavnsris have many shapes and forms and differ from area to area. In some areas they are bunches of twigs, usually from fruit trees and preferably with buds. Those are often decorated with feathers, egg-shells, storks and little figures of babies. In other areas, they are a bent willow-branch, shaped like an ankh and wound with crepe paper that has frizzles cut with scissors. Both varieties may be decorated with candy as well.

[Chocolate Eclair]

The children in fact the adults too seem to use the night for a bit of fun and humour and the real meaning is probably never under stood.
I remember going to a Caledonian Night, myself has Dracula complete with bats hanging from my cuffs, face makeup and gore everywhere, my wife was dressed has a witch, complete with wig, broomstick, hairy wart, face makeup etc. Halfway to our destination we got stopped in a roadblock by a traffic incident, the Police came down the line to tell people where to go to avoid a 1 hour delay, can you imagine the Policemans face when he got to our car.

We eventually got to the place where Dracula and the witch entered the room playing the pipes, and stripping the willow.

A great night but with no respect to the night and its meaning, all done in fun.

[LovelyLadyLux]

Last night passed with kiddies coming to the door from dinner time on until about 8pm. The vast majority who arrived at my door were accompanied by parents and/or had parents lurking on the street. Mega giggles and laughing, most sang out "trick or treat" while ringing the door bell, all were polite and taking the offered candy. Costumes were animals or occupations with plenty of fairies and ballerinas. No sense of nasty or evil, just kids out for a night of fun.

[Scottishtourist]

Today I went to Catholic Mass,celebrated "All Saint's Day."
Tomorrow,I go again,celebrate "All Souls Day"
Halloween is preclude to these two great events in Catholic Calendar...nothing more,nothing less!!
The pagans usurped it...we don't mind!
It doesn't lessen it's meaning..cos it's meaning is true to us.
WE know the true meaning...and anyone who decrys it would obviously be better off just bleating on about the tombs and temples of Egypt...stay clueless!
You got your Gods and religion...and I got mine!

[Mad Dilys]

As a Muslima I would only disagree with you on one point - I believe there is only one God at the end of the day.

[Who2]

Slightly wrong there as All Hallows stems from the pagan gaelic Samhain, being a Scot you should have known that.
No problem just create a few more 'saints you catholics seem to love them, God only knows why, he's probably sent them all down to purgatory for the church's cheek. Mother Teresa a saint ? spare me...........
Wasn't Jimmy Saville one of your 'kiddy fiddling lot ?

[Chocolate Eclair]

MD you are right the Christian Creed states I believe in one God, so be Muslim or Christian the belief must be the same. I think though Halloween is more of a commercial thing now a days rather than anything to do with religion.
Like most things what our ancestors believed has been turned into another venture. Imagine how things will be in another 100 years time. In the Christian world /western world, religion has got left behind and people would sooner work for money than attend religious ceremonies. Could you imagine boss,s in the western world giving people time off to attend church to follow their beliefs? I don't think so! And this is becoming more frequent has bills go up and people need to put more hours in to feed their families.

[Brian Yare]

:mice: :mice:

[Lisak]

Today I went to Catholic Mass,celebrated "All Saint's Day."
Tomorrow,I go again,celebrate "All Souls Day"
Halloween is preclude to these two great events in Catholic Calendar...nothing more,nothing less!!
The pagans usurped it...we don't mind!
It doesn't lessen it's meaning..cos it's meaning is true to us.
WE know the true meaning...and anyone who decrys it would obviously be better off just bleating on about the tombs and temples of Egypt...stay clueless!
You got your Gods and religion...and I got mine!

Ummm forgive me if I am wrong here but weren't people pagans before the invention of religion?

[Who2]

Ummm forgive me if I am wrong here but weren't people pagans before the invention of religion?

'Right that's it! 'Us Catholics are coming round to your place to teach you respect and religion, starting 'wit the Glasgee Kiss,
I bet that robed geezer in the confessional cracks up listening to those wee daft bam-pots confessing their evil deeds....
"On Your Knees Sinner"

[Scottishtourist]

God,spare me from the pagans!
A group of tree hugging nut-cases,all dancing about naked and running around holly bushes at Yule.
It's all just an excuse for debauchery,group sex,fornication!!!
We're all at one with nature...it's a peaceful religion,so they say!
Then they get "blootered" on their cheap home brew,jump brooms...and cast their spells for world peace!!!
Only time I want to be at one with nature is when I'm planted and the worms are composting me.
On issue of Saints...personal favourite is St Jude,patron Saint of hopeless causes!!!
I pray to him daily...so go figure!

[Lisak]

God,spare me from the pagans!
A group of tree hugging nut-cases,all dancing about naked and running around holly bushes at Yule.
It's all just an excuse for debauchery,group sex,fornication!!!
We're all at one with nature...it's a peaceful religion,so they say!
Then they get "blootered" on their cheap home brew,jump brooms...and cast their spells for world peace!!!
Only time I want to be at one with nature is when I'm planted and the worms are composting me.
On issue of Saints...personal favourite is St Jude,patron Saint of hopeless causes!!!
I pray to him daily...so go figure!

As sweeping as saying ALL Catholic priests are paedophiles......
Ok, that perhaps isn't the best example I could have come up with....

[LivinginLuxor]

To be fair to ST, she obviously knows zilch about the origins of religion! Or of the pre-christian religions of Britain, whose festivals were appropriated by the church in order to propagandise itself, whose sacred sites were often the foundations of church buildings, some of which had pagan figures such as the Green Man built into their fabric!