Atheist Questions the Practice of Halloween...

Sir Francis Dashwood | 10-31-01 | Sir Francis Dashwood

[Sir Francis Dashwood]

It never ceases to amaze me that most Christians would criticize me for being an atheist, yet they will "celebrate" a macabre pagan holiday. They inculcate their children into the practice of it and feed them the most unhealthful things you could give a child to eat.

Likewise, many atheists criticize me for being a "right-winger." Most atheists are so caught up in their polemics, they have become nothing more than anti-Christians - or what I call the Religious Left (a collaboration of the Marxist religion, neo-pagan animal/tree/earth worshipper eco-fascists and general technophobes).

Why do you "celebrate" on certain "holidays," what are you celebrating, do you really know? Or have you been so lost in the conformity of it all to really take a look at what you partake in?

[dighton]

They inculcate their children into the practice of it and feed them the most unhealthful things you could give a child to eat.

Candy? The horror!

[america-rules]

Who really cares?

[Int]

Peer pressure?

[DallasMike]

Or have you been so lost in the conformity of it all to really take a look at what you partake in?

So that's where I've been! I thought I was in Milwaukee.

[LJLucido]

They inculcate their children into the practice of it and feed them the most unhealthful things you could give a child to eat.

Candy? The horror!

He must be referring to Circus Peanuts and Marshmallow Peeps.

[jlogajan]

I'm an atheist an right now I am worshipping all the excess candy left over because the Trick-or-Treaters were scarcer than normal this year. Mmmmmm, candy (in Homer's voic.)

[yooper]

Lighten up, Francis.....

[Gimlet]

Agreed...celebrating Halloween the way we do is very unChristian. Perhaps even blasphemous.

[Darheel]

Not surprisingly, most Libs can't tell the difference between a party, respect for the dead, or a real Holy Day. Getting 'advice' from these kinds of 'friends' is the scariest halloween i could imagine. Tell them to go suck eggs.

[CARTOUCHE]

I would think the most unhealthy thing our kids could be eating is the carcasses of atheists. With a second most unhealthy meal being leftist political crap at schools all over this nation.

[Max McGarrity]

Oh, horse puckey. Halloween is an excuse to have a party or for little kids to dress up and get candy. It's not a deep, dark eeeeviiiillll celebration, but making too much of it could certainly make it so.

[dighton]

Someone here described a microwave trick -- I forget what -- using Marshmallow Peeps. Of course it's ultra-hazardous.

[redhead]

Truly. We celebrated by going to church. In the Catholic Church, the last day of October and the first day of November are holy days, when we pray for all who have gone before us, including the saints. No costumes. No parties. Some candy (blush...).

[Imperial Warrior]

Maybe we don't accept your interpretation or assessment of the practice, which in fact I don't.

[Sir Francis Dashwood]

I find it interesting that the more Bible based Christian Conservatives who normally oppose some of my views, agree with me concerning this one.

While I will leave most people with no doubt I am on the "right-wing" side of things, the opposition and criticism for my expression from my conservative allies is indeed most interesting.

[SoDak]

Ask the average Joe what the origins of Haloween are, and what will he say? Likely you'll get shrugging shoulders. Ask the average kid collecting candy, and you'll get some storyline about monsters. Big deal. It's become the modus operandi of the left to research to find things to be offended about.

Someone did sufficient research to find that the actual origins of the word "Sioux" actually means snake in some obscure tongue from the Canadian frontier. So, now the formerly Sioux people in my state want all the things named "Sioux" (including my city) erased. It became offensive because some jerk dug far enough to find a reference.

Well, Haloween surely was a pagan holiday, but it's not now. Right now it's just a fun excuse for kids to dress up. There's absolutely nothing wrong with it.

[jlogajan]

Why do you "celebrate" on certain "holidays,"

Following your logic, celebrating birthdays is right out. Celebrate for any reason you like or none at all, or for reasons obscure and bizarre. Who cares?????????

[CARTOUCHE]

Maybe it's your limited and restrictive view of what is and isn't conservative. Get over it. Move along.

[farmfriend]

Can you smell the cheese?

[Eric Esot]

Another caught up in ones own definitions… Observance is not celebration.

[xm177e2]

feed them the most unhealthful things you could give a child to eat

You don't like candy? No wonder you're so grumpy.

[Sir Francis Dashwood]

Consumption of processed sugar is most unhealthy. Children are especially affected. Soda pop, candy, and all the other crap can be linked to behavioral problems in children.

Don't believe me? Next time you go to the grocer, try to fill your cart with nothing that contains any type of sugar. This is very difficult. Ask any diabetic...

[Protect the Bill of Rights]

My question is this..as an atheist, why are you (or any atheist for that matter) concerned about the practice, customs, celebrations, tick or treats of any God-believing family?

If you are an atheist, then I say shoo! go away, this does not concern you. Unless of course you are part of the sugar patrol. Then I say "Get over it."

[america76]

I was in a convenience store on haloween night to buy a Coke and when I came up short the arab at the till let me take it citing a holiday and that it was an occasion for generosity. I mentioned haloween. He fired back " No, our holiday" he went on to explain rather confusingly that Oct. 31 was the birthday of Mohammed's son who will return someday, apparently along with Jesus, to restore peace and God's kingdom on the earth.

Possibly I misunderstood the part about Mohammed's son, but I was able to gather it was a rather important day in Islam.

Conclusion: It is a night of ghosts, gobblins, witches, demons, Islam and dead Catholics, an eclectic mix indeed. To me at least, plenty of good reasons not to celebrate it.

[rightofrush]

Blessed be and merry meet at Samhain!!

[Darheel]

These are the same people who want us to 'respect' their 'values'. Ugh, it is rank. Haloween is for kids(and the kids in each of us). What atheists won't tell you is that back in the old days, there were more than 100 'feast days' holidays for saints. Today, we're lucky if we don't have to work on Christmas eve. Atheists stink, they hate everything, including their selves.

[Standing Wolf]

Speaking strictly as an atheist, a.) I like candy as well as the next person, and b.) a party is a party is a party.

[Sir Francis Dashwood]

Good one. Consider Christmas...

Old Nick or Satan Claus all dressed in red, setting everyone up for a day of greed, lust, envy, gluttoney and drunkeness. Neo-pagan tree worship with cheap tinsel trinkets. You tell me where the leftist filth gets their power...

[OWK]

Wow dude.... that was like.... deep man.

Really really deep.

Got any fritos?

[dighton]

Cheese and fritos are bad for children's teeth. You're an American Dental Association shill, right?

[dighton]

Or Sir Francis Dashwood is. I can never get my conspiracies straight.

[OWK]

Atheists stink, they hate everything, including their selves.

I smell like Old Spice.

I like Children, Christmas, Halloween, College Hoops, and small government.

And I like myself just fine.

And.... Oh yeah, I'm an atheist.

[Fred25]

Oh, horse puckey. Halloween is an excuse to have a party or for little kids to dress up and get candy.

Right. When I was a kid in the ‘40s and ‘50s, we occasionally went to see spooky movies. We also went to see cowboy movies, Tarzan movies, etc., etc. By the time I came along, the Halloween costume ‘n’ candy holiday was already with us. It had absolutely no “evil” symbolism in those days. It was a costume and candy day for kids. We could dress up any way we wanted, and it was usually like our favorite movie characters, spooky or not.

[Sir Francis Dashwood]

Do you likewise know what Christmas is about? Satan Claus all dressed in red setting everyone up for a day of greed, lust, drunkeness and gluttoney? The pagan earth worship of a tree with cheap tinsel trinkets?

Like I said, I am an atheist and I marvel at the state of denial associated with such inquiry even among other atheists. Roy Masters, despite his obvious spiritual leanings is correct when he asserts these things have meanings.

[Sir Francis Dashwood]

"Ask the average Joe what the origins of Haloween are, and what will he say? Likely you'll get shrugging shoulders."

Ask the average Joe what's in the Constitution of the United States - - same response...

[ConservativeNJdad]

The practice of giving gifts to people on their birthday dates back to the Three Wise Men in the story of the birth of Christ. Jesus was God's gift to the world, and most Christian parents think of their children as gifts from God; hence, the giving of gifts.

As a self-proclaimed atheist, why do you give gifts on birthdays? Do you think of this idea by yourself, or do you do it because everyone else does?

[OWK]

What the hell is your point dude?

Just because you're an atheist doesn't mean you have to trash everybody's holidays.

Quit embarrassing the rest of the atheists.

[ConservativeNJdad]

And.... Oh yeah, I'm an atheist.

Why am I not surprised?

[OWK]

Why am I not surprised?

Meaning?

[Faithfull]

Many interesting comments to you Sir. As a Christian, I do understand your concerns...many people who are informed are more understanding. I think some of the comments prove that ignorance is a choice.

[SoDak]

I don't subscribe to your low opinion of people. I certainly don't dislike them as much either.

[Sir Francis Dashwood]

Haloween is for kids...

It's for the children. I heard enough of that crap in eight years of the Clintongs.

[ConservativeNJdad]

Your juvenile rants against all things religious.

[FITZ]

Trick-or-treating is just to dress up and get candy. It's not a pagan day unless you do something more than that with it or want it be mean a pagan day. When kids go out trick-or-treating, they just think about the candy they'll get, they aren't thinking about religion one way or the other.

[xm177e2]

OWK, how many atheists do you think there are on FR?

[Sir Francis Dashwood]

Yes. Another one who gets it.

Despite his obvious spiritual leanings, Roy Masters has taught me that these things have meanings.

I find the emotional disturbance in some of the responses most telling, don't you?

[OWK]

Your juvenile rants against all things religious.

On the contrary. I don't rant against all things religious. In fact I have a rather profound respect for many practitioners of many faiths. I respect those who actually practice the Christian faith most particularly. My most profound friends (on FR and otherwise) are devout Christians.

But unfortunately those who actually practice the faith are exceedingly rare. A fair number simply profess it, while acting like sanctimonius self-righteous jackasses.

It is THEY (those who think Jesus told them to spit in the eye of their fellow men while proclaiming their own righteousness) who draw my criticism. And rightfully so.

And of course that criticism is always scorned as "Christian bashing" by the most obnoxious and petty of self-righteous self-absorbed dunderheads... Because they pridefully look at any criticism of their own actions, as criticism of Christianity....

But of course if they were behaving like Christ instructed, they wouldn't have drawn the criticism to begin with.

Never seems to dawn on 'em though.

[OWK]

OWK, how many atheists do you think there are on FR?

I would guess several hundred. Maybe a thousand.

[Bellflower]

Sir Francis Dashwood, I do hate Halloween and I hate "Santa Claus". Halloween is a time when people identify with and celebrate witches, warlocks, and every evil thing. This is often done under the guise of harmlessness. It is not harmless to lift up evil for any reason. It's like playing with fire. Also, the thing I most hate about "Santa Claus" is the fact that he is a lie that parents tell their childern. I don't think parents should lie to their children. Also all that "Santa Claus" stuff tends to take away from the real message of Christmas.

The "Freedom of Thought Foundation" (Annie Gaylord) in Madison are the leaders in this country when it comes to keeping God out of public places but they are complete hypocrits because they do not care if witches and gobblins and devils are in schools on Halloween and do not care that Madison's parks have pagoda likenesses in them. They obviously mainly hate the God of the Christians and Jews. They seem to hate him much more then not believe in his existance. And as some might say, I am not a sour puss or someone who is unhappy because I do not practice an evil holiday. I am merely a discerning Christian. Ex atheist, Kathleen