Sandy Supposes....

PRO HALLOWEEN

PROMPT: What is your opinion, is Halloween evil?

         No, I most certainly do not think Halloween is evil. It's an excuse to dress in costumes, party, and trick-or-treat for candy. I fail to see the harm in that.

         Some Christian groups seem fanatical in their boycott of this annual event. They seem to believe that it promotes paganism. They fear young children will be unduly influenced, becoming the unwitting agents of Satan. This is what they base their fanaticism on, fear, or more accurately, fear-mongering. Let's promote unfounded hysteria.

         I base my opinion on facts. All the people I know, myself included, who have celebrated Halloween over and over without ill effect are proof that it is harmless. Halloween never triggered a deep-seeded need to worship the Devil, or practise voo-doo or animal sacrifices, or murder someone with an axe or chainsaw, or take steps to become a werewolf or vampire. Even as a child I was well aware that all these things were fictitious and not a part of my real life. Okay, granted I now know that some people believe in The Devil and voo-doo, but my point is that Halloween has nothing to do with this. Okay, murder may be a gruesome reality, too, but I fail to see how Halloween is to blame. Most of our context comes from movies, television, and novels. Just because someone reads about an act or views an enactment of it, doesn't mean we all rush out to repeat and emulate it.

         Donning a costume is a brief, momentary thing. It's not an acceptance of everything that costume may represent. Pretending to be some type of monster or supernatural being is just role-playing, not a lifestyle change/commitment. Children use their imaginations, but they are far from deluded. Most trick-or-treaters see their dress up as a means to an end, candy. Most children are very linear; 'a' leads to 'b'.

         I'm not trivializing gun control, gun ownership, or gun education, but this issue of Halloween being an evil influence reminds me of this. Guns, quite literally, do not kill people. People kill people via the use of guns. A few hours clothed as a vampire will not produce one.

         Children learn by example. They mimic and pattern themselves after influential people in their lives, not a fictitious creature or an unseen anti-moral force. Most of us were raised by good, caring people and we learned by example. We learned that Halloween was harmless fun.

         Religious folk believe that God granted humankind free will. This can be interpreted as choice. Halloween occurs once a year. We do not, all of us, have to celebrate Halloween. It's not all darkness and monstrosities. Given a choice, not everyone chooses macabre. Some choose to be cartoon characters, fairies, princesses/princes, or animals.