Schools address sensitivities in dealing with Halloween

post-gazette.com ^

[chance33_98]

WASHINGTON -- This Friday, millions of U.S. public school students will close their books and don costumes, eat candy and create crafts to celebrate Halloween. But at many schools, some children will gather elsewhere to watch movies, read books or take part in other non-Halloween activities.

[ClearCase_guy]

I saw another article that indicated some parents are opposed to Halloween specifically because of its "Christian" roots. This article makes mention that Halloween is opposed by some Christians because it's like devil worship.

I guess everbody has to hate something.

[Reaganwuzthebest]

The number of children who "opt out" of public school Halloween parties remains small, but more and more families are boycotting or at least questioning Halloween -- for a growing list of reasons.

The Catholic school I went too we used to dress up and they'd have cider and donuts and all the good stuff. Now things are getting so politically correct you can't even mention it without offending someone. The way it's going in 20 years the country we grew up in will be gone forever.

[whereasandsoforth]

Stop the world I wanna get off. For Pete's sake, Halloween is just one great big party. No one is worshipping anything. It's a time to have fun and dress up as someone or something else. It's a real-life cartoon. People really need to get over themselves. I'm a Christian, but I can also enjoy a little spooky make-believe. God has a sense of humor. Enjoy it!

[Dianna]

Anyone who tries to turn Halloween into a Gaia, Mother-Earthy, harvest festival needs to be smacked.

[Yaelle]

Yes, I have heard this from all sides. In the Jewish schools and synagogues they are saying we shouldn't participate in Halloween because it is a Christian holiday. Some Christians call it pagan or devil worship and don't celebrate it either!

I guess it has just turned into a fun night of little scares for kids and lots of candies. I don't see it as having anything to do with religion. However, I guess a wiccan would disagree with me.

We like to carve pumpkin faces but being Jews I don't think we are supposed to put out anything that celebrates death. We have a few bat and spider thingies. I don't like the death theme anyway.

[liberty or death]

GET YOUR KIDS OUT OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS. ITS SIMPLY A SOCIAL EXPIERMENT AND YOUR CHILDREN ARE THE RATS.

[chance33_98]

Stop the world I wanna get off. For Pete's sake, Halloween is just one great big party. No one is worshipping anything. It's a time to have fun and dress up as someone or something else. It's a real-life cartoon. People really need to get over themselves. I'm a Christian, but I can also enjoy a little spooky make-believe. God has a sense of humor. Enjoy it!

I am with you on that!

[Keyes2000mt]

Halloween is one tradition not worth defending in today's culture of death.

[chance33_98]

I dunno, you can use it to make a political statment. Dress up as an aborted fetus and pass out pamphlets with the candy. Man oh man I can hear the neighbors now :)

[ClarenceThomasfan]

I don't celebrate Halloween. I feel that is a pagan holiday. Most schools don't have "Christmas" holidays because it it may offend some students so I don't think they should have Halloween celebrations because they offend me.

[Cultural Jihad]

Halloween is one tradition not worth defending in today's culture of death.

It is a Christian tradition, celebrated as a vigil on the eve of All Saint's Day. The etymology is short for "All Hallow Even" (All Saints' Eve).

[Billthedrill]

I think it has been over-commercialized. Why we can't get back to simple traditions like sacrificing puppies to Satan I just don't know.

[Keyes2000mt]

It has pagan roots and more to the point has become a holiday where death, violence, and mayhem are celebrated.

[Cultural Jihad]

Then the issue isn't renouncing a tradition that "has become a holiday where death, violence, and mayhem are celebrated" but rather reclaiming the tradition which has been degraded. For a thousand years or more the "death, violence, and mayhem" celebrated were those of the Christian martyrs who died and suffered violence for their faith.

[185JHP]

It has Druidic roots. It is irredeemably vile, and no good things come from "celebrating" it. A celebration of death and evil spirits?

[Cultural Jihad]

All Saints' Day

[The vigil of this feast is popularly called "Hallowe'en" or "Halloween".]

Solemnity celebrated on the first of November. It is instituted to honour all the saints, known and unknown, and, according to Urban IV, to supply any deficiencies in the faithful's celebration of saints' feasts during the year.

In the early days the Christians were accustomed to solemnize the anniversary of a martyr's death for Christ at the place of martyrdom. In the fourth century, neighbouring dioceses began to interchange feasts, to transfer relics, to divide them, and to join in a common feast; as is shown by the invitation of St. Basil of Caesarea (397) to the bishops of the province of Pontus. Frequently groups of martyrs suffered on the same day, which naturally led to a joint commemoration. In the persecution of Diocletian the number of martyrs became so great that a separate day could not be assigned to each. But the Church, feeling that every martyr should be venerated, appointed a common day for all. The first trace of this we find in Antioch on the Sunday after Pentecost. We also find mention of a common day in a sermon of St. Ephrem the Syrian (373), and in the 74th homily of St. John Chrysostom (407). At first only martyrs and St. John the Baptist were honoured by a special day. Other saints were added gradually, and increased in number when a regular process of canonization was established; still, as early as 411 there is in the Chaldean Calendar a "Commemoratio Confessorum" for the Friday after Easter. In the West Boniface IV, 13 May, 609, or 610, consecrated the Pantheon in Rome to the Blessed Virgin and all the martyrs, ordering an anniversary. Gregory III (731-741) consecrated a chapel in the Basilica of St. Peter to all the saints and fixed the anniversary for 1 November. A basilica of the Apostles already existed in Rome, and its dedication was annually remembered on 1 May. Gregory IV (827-844) extended the celebration on 1 November to the entire Church. The vigil seems to have been held as early as the feast itself. The octave was added by Sixtus IV (1471-84).

FRANCIS MERSEMAN
Transcribed by Joseph P. Thomas
In Gratitude to St. Joseph

[MattAMiller]

Everybody's gotta be a victim.

[chance33_98]

Can I be one too :)

[VERYProGun]

If your kid is turned on to paganism or satan by dressing up and begging for candy or hollowing the guts out of a large vegetable and putting a candle in it, then you, as a parent, haven't done your job. Period. And Satan has nothing to do with it.

Of course Satan is entirely too busy running the Democratic party to bother with a silly holiday like Halloween anyway...

JMO, YMMV.

VPG