Halloweenies -- The ghouls of political correctness take the fun out of being a kid

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ^ | Saturday, November 01, 2003 | Francine E. Rose

[PFKEY]

evolved into a celebration that is a non-religious holiday, part of American culture and fun for their kids.

What a wonderful take.

Although various religious groups take these holidays and attach them to their specific faith, I can think of none from a christian posistion that the Bible commands, gives approved examples of or that are made by neccessary inference.

All these holidays should be celebrated as man made and fun.

Christmas is about santa, Easter is about a bunny, Holloween is fun and spookey.

That covers many of the common holdays here in the U.S. that I am familiar with certainly there are more and if their popularity gains then we should add those to our list of secular holidays.

[sfRummygirl]

Your history is correct. Samhain indeed. (Pronounced Sow-win, usually).
Lead a few rituals myself, I did.

[sfRummygirl]

Might want to see posts 79 and 82.

[xp38]

Ah Stonehenge....visions of This is Spinal Tap and the classic line...No we're not going to do bloody Stonehenge again!

[cyborg]

I gave out dollar bills because I forgot to buy candy. If I did, I'd just eat it all myself...

[nmh]

"Lead a few rituals myself, I did."

Are you serious? If so, what did you do? Still doing it? Just curious.

[HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity]

Very light here. Cultural confusion about the meaning of holidays, along with the heavy slasher/horror film emphasis of the media, has rendered Halloween unintelligible to some people. The combination of All Hallows Eve (does anyone understand Catholicism/Christianity in America anymore?)
and the Celtic/Druid Samhain may be too much for most undereducated Americans, brainwashed by the NEA, to grasp.
The Monster Fest and Heavy Metal "Satanism" promoted by the media has sort of ruined things for children.

[HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity]

know alot about all of this, as I am a former witch. (I'm Christian now). And it is true, folks, that halloween is very much turning into a religious holiday. I live in San Francisco, and trust me, if you want to see what is coming your way soon...... 79 posted on 11/01/2003 8:20 PM PST by sfRummygirl

DO tell more.... Halloween felt much creepier this year.

[sweetliberty]

I didn't want my kid at Halloween parties either, but if the schools celebrated, I kept her home. I didn't expect the school to change their policies to accommodate me! What a bunch of stinkin' crybabies!

[Willie Green]

Pope Gregory the Great decided to incorporate the Druids' holiday into the church. He made the proclamation, "They are no longer to sacrifice beasts to the devil, but they may kill them for food to the praise of God, and give thanks to the giver of all gifts for His bounty."
The founding fathers of America REFUSED to permit the holiday to be observed because they knew it was a pagan holiday....

Poppycock. Can't be a "pagan holiday" if Pope St. Gregory the Great banned the practice of pagan sacrifices.

Besides, St. Gregory I (the Great) was pope from 590-604 A.D.
The Church's observation of All Saints' Day has it's origins in commemoration of martyrs persecuted by Romans nearly 300 years before Gregory, NOT in pagan rituals.

Frequently groups of martyrs suffered on the same day, which naturally led to a joint commemoration. In the persecution of Diocletian (303-313) 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.

Pope Gregory III moved the church festival of October 31st to November 1st and called it All Hallows or All Saints' Day.

Nope. Pope St. Gregory III didn't "move" anything. He merely "consecrated a chapel in the Basilica of St. Peter to all the saints and fixed the anniversary for 1 November." The sundry other commemorations at other locations retained whatever anniversary dates that were already established.

Pope Gregory IV decreed that the day was to be a universal church observance.

Well ya got that part right, anyway. I'm glad somebody finally standardized the date. It must've been getting pretty confusing before that.

[sfRummygirl]

Very serious. Do you know anything about rituals? I wasn't a devil worshipper....just the Wicca type crap. No, I don't do it anymore. I'm Christian now.
The bay area is witch central.

[sfRummygirl]

Maybe getting into a tizzy is extreme, however, I'm curious....what part of the country do you live in?
Not addressing it at all is a bad idea. Please trust me on this one.

[sfRummygirl]

I could tell stories for hours....especially to the presby reverend who would probably be completely shocked.
Or, maybe not. A lot of the liberal churches have ministers that dabble in the occult. It is extrememly prevelent in the Episcopalian church. No surprise. There's a whole underground scene there of occultism.

[sfRummygirl]

"
Poppycock. Can't be a "pagan holiday" if Pope St. Gregory the Great banned the practice of pagan sacrifices."

Ha-hah-haaa....Oh, honey, let me tell you how wrong you are.....

[jedwardtremlett]

"Today a growing group of people claiming to be of direct Druid descent, still practice their religion, including human sacrifice."

So the Druids are sacrificing humans, again? Any sources for that one?

J

[sfRummygirl]

Actually, I don't think that Druids are killing people right now. They actually used to put people in Wickerman and set them on fire, although the neo-Pagan movement has tried to deny that.

[sfRummygirl]

As far as I know, there are no neo-Pagan movements killing people. Satanism is a different thing. Although one could argue that all occult is indirectly satanic, but you know what I mean.

[jedwardtremlett]

*shrugs* I'm pagan, and I don't deny it. The world used to run on blood and conquest back in the old days. Times have changed, and us along with it.

I mean, I'm sure there'd be no shortage of folks around here who'd line up to watch Dick Gephardt go up in smoke, but honestly... ; )

J

[sfRummygirl]

This is going to be interesting to see the responses in the morning!
The majority of witches out here are Dianic and Faerie, for the most part. Then there are all the Yoruba and African ones....Santeria, etc. They actually do sacrifice animals still.
Good night, all!
I am willing to answer any questions about the 'craft', just let me know.

[sfRummygirl]

Are you practising a specific tradition?