3 Reasons Why Halloween is Stupid – Part 2

Charting Course ^ | 10/17/14 | Steve Berman

[lifeofgrace]

I got a lot of good feedback on Part 1 of "3 Reasons Why Halloween is Stupid". I'll address the general theme: Halloween is fun, therefore being against Halloween is being against fun. The conclusion: if I am against Halloween fun, then I must be against all kinds of fun and therefore no fun to be around.

There's a logical leap there that's too big to jump to that conclusion.

To be clear: Halloween is fun. I never said it wasn't. So is gambling, sex with strangers, getting drunk (not necessarily being drunk), telling filthy jokes, swearing every other word, and lighting bags of dog poop on your worst enemy's doorstep then ringing the doorbell.

There are all kinds of fun, and each kind of fun has consequences. Fun has a price. Halloween celebrates darkness, death, fear, and mayhem. Those things might be fun to some, and in our culture which has been so inoculated to these values they seem harmless.

Every 'R' rated movie features all the kinds of fun I listed above, and though we might find them abhorrent when we put ourselves in the picture, we accept them perfectly well when others are doing it on the big screen. Our kids grow up baptized in this stuff, so Halloween seems like quaint good old fashioned fun in comparison.

If you separate yourself from the 'R' (and even 'PG13') rated culture, it takes a while for the garbage to wash off, and even longer for the smell to go away. But once there, you see how far we've slipped into the mound of filth every day.

Halloween is fun, alright, but if you take a step back and look at what values we're teaching our kids, you'll see how ruinous our path is. The only option is to turn around. I love fun. I love good clean fun. The beach, the sun, picnics in the mountains, going to the mall, even going to movies. But most movies are too debased for me to sit through. You might say that's because I'm a fun-hating prude, but I say it's because I've had a chance to wash the stink off me for a while, and if you don't realize it, you may be so surrounded by that stench that you can't even smell it anymore.

Halloween ruins children. It's not the only thing that ruins children, and in fact it's pretty minor compared with the tidal wave of filth in which most of us wallow. Sometimes it's more effective to look at the quaint little bad habits than the life-controlling ones, because it's easier to break those little bad habits, and so it is with Halloween.

[lowbridge]

Bump

[beef]

Are there not more pressing things to worry about?

[elcid1970]

Agree 100%. It’s bad for children & now having achieved the stature of a Federal holiday, Halloween is turning adults into immature adolescents.

Those of us who experienced the loss of loved ones at an early tragic age don’t see any humor in graveyards & images of death.

[lifeofgrace]

Are there not more pressing things to worry about?

Your might tell your doctor that when he notices a strange new mole on you, that you say has been there for years. You may tell him about your current aches and pains, and complain about lack of energy.

You think your pains are more pressing, but the doctor wants to remove the mole and study it, because it could indicate the root of a cancer far more progressed than what you see on the surface or feel in your body.

[lifeofgrace]

having achieved the stature of a Federal holiday, Halloween is turning adults into immature adolescents

Halloween is not a recognized Federal holiday. It has the same unofficial status as Flag Day, May Day, April Fools Day, and Groundhog Day.

[tet68]

So, no porch light for you eh?

Actually Halloween is great, deer hunters get to buy
candy cheap after the 31st.

[Mich Patriot]

I’m no expert on Halloween, but my limited understanding is that it was originally a celebration of harvest, and the death stuff came in because fall also signals the coming of winter, also symbolic with things dying (whereas spring is symbolic of rebirth/life). Now it has evolved into tradition that, IMHO, brings communities together for not just candy giveaway, but other events as well. I think you’re WAY overboard on the devil worship stuff and need focus on the positives of the season. Halloween ruins children? Give me a break.

Much of your focus seems to be on inappropriate movies, which is really a different topic. You have some fair points there, but parents can control which movies their kids see, at least up to a certain age. Beyond that there’s a thing called freedom of choice that I’m quite fond of.

Lastly, I used to hand out beers to the neighborhood dads (or moms if they were inclined) on halloween night, which they’d stick in their pockets for later. It became a tradition such that certain folks never missed my house. I guess I’m going to hell.

[Sacajaweau]

My dad and I would have candy wars....seeing who could get the best deal after any holiday.

No losers in this contest!! Dad and I were pretty crafty!!

[fruser1]

I’m more worried about the paganism presented through environmentalism than halloween. Environmentalism has direct negative impact on my life. Halloween, I could care less if folks participate or not or for what reason.

[Timber Rattler]

Give me a break.

[yldstrk]

I agree that Halloween is stupid and I refuse to decorate. My life is gouhlish enough without that.

That said, the kids love dressing up. I think it is stupid for adults to have Halloween parties and God protect us from all the demons loose on Halloween. Anyone remember All Saints Day? November 1.

[all the best]

Halloween is all about fear, death, horror, decay. No need to even get into its history. Just look around you. It is a festival of darkness and death. No coincidence that it is the highlight of the year for homosexuals.

[Boundless]

> It ruins children and coats the poison with candy.

The candy IS poison.

It’s adding injury to insult. You can read any of several sugar researchers (Lusting, Richard J. Johnson) on the metabolism of glucose and fructose, and how the migration of refined sugar resulted in the global spread of needless ailments, of which diabetes and dental decay are only the most obvious. Everyone needs to dial their consumption of products with added sugar to zero.

And candy has actually gotten worse in the last 40 years, due to the rise of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). Fructose builds fat pretty much directly. Glucose just spikes blood sugar, which is a separate problem.

But but at the thread topic, I’m wondering if people are going to lose their appetites for playing at scary when we’re in an era of intensified actually scary.

[elcid1970]

I was being just a teensy bit sarcastic about Halloween’s official status. It’s not Federal, it is just starting to look that way, like Cinco de Mayo.

Riddle me this: how much is spent nationwide on Halloween paraphernalia? No comparisons to Christmas, please.

;^)

[miss marmelstein]

I can’t bear adults dressing up on Halloween. I first knew Al Gore was a jackass when it became known that he threw a fete every year - once dressing up as Frankenstein or The Mummy or some such nonsense. Such immaturity.

But I do love seeing the kids in their costumes running through the streets. When my father was a kid they had something called “slamming gates” - I don’t recall the particular ritual involved with that. The kids also carried around stockings filled with flour which they would hit people with. This was NYC in the 20s and 30s.

[yldstrk]

That’s hilarious

[IronJack]

Do you seriously believe that every first-grader dressed up as Darth Vader and carrying around a plastic pumpkin has lent his soul to the Prince of Lies for the evening?

Seriously?

That might be what would be going through YOUR head, but I highly doubt there’s much on the kids’ minds except carmeled apples, Pixie Stix, and Heath Bars.

I doubt Satan is any more afoot on All Hallows Eve than the saints for whom the festival is named.

[ObozoMustGo2012]

My God, dude... lighten the f-— up!
Seriously, I can’t wait to read your 2 part expose on the evils of Christmas and how it promotes greed, selfishness and feelings of entitlement among children.../sarc

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Halloween was always my favorite holiday. It was better than Christmas. So sue me.