Halloween: Why the Big Fuss?

We all here the old-timers complaining about the country "going to hell in a handbasket" and pining for the way things used to be. I used to roll my eyes and think those people were wackos who viewed the past through rose-colored glasses, but it occurs to me lately that they may have a point. It seems that any and every word, phrase,joke, holiday or subject offends someone.

Whatever happened to "live and let live?" I have a set of beliefs and there are many things I see and hear during the course of an average day that I don't particularly agree with or condone, but is it really necessary to turn each of those issues into an excuse to stage a protest or confront someone? I doubt it.

Showtime for the extremists seems to be around some of the major holidays. In fact, Halloween is a prime example. Reading a few recent articles on AC has shown me that people get extremely emotional over seemingly innocuous things. As a Christian, I was interested in reading a particular article that dealt with celebrating Halloween as a Christian. It was an interesting read and the writer seemed to spell out her feelings in a pretty non-inflammatory manner. Despite this, several of the comments were extremely over-the-top and some went so far as to become angry that she had an opinion. Silly. There were those who felt she was going to hell for not being anti-Halloween and some who felt that all Christians are idiots for not jumping on board.

Why is it that certain issues bring out the worst in people? If celebrating Halloween or participating in Halloweenie activities conflicts with your beliefs then sinply sit it out and let that be that. As a Christian, I find it to be a poor reflection on the rest of us when the "activist" faction of the faith decides to tell everyone else they are evil for dressing their kids up in a Spongebob Squarepants costume and letting them beg for Fun Size Snickers once a year. With a few exceptions, I doubt these people are holding black masses and conjuring spirits in conjunction with the trick-or-treating. Yes, the holiday has it's roots in pagan and earth-worshipping practices, but the holiday as it's celbrated today is, like most others, a strictly commercial entity. To most of America, holidays are nothing more than opportunities to stay home from work.

By the same token, those who look at Christians with disdain for choosing to forego the holiday are hard to understand. Why does it upset them so much? It means more candy for you and your kids, so just say thanks. I truly am baffled by those who hate people who believe in God. Where is the logic in berating someone and calling them stupid for believing in something you don't? I hear the complaint that Christians are too pushy and want to preach to everyone, and some are for certain, but it seems atheists are every bit as comitted to their cause. If God doesn't exist, why waste your breath?

Protesting Halloween is ridiculous in my opinion. As with Christmas, Easter and the 4th of July, the vast majority of Americans choose to celebrate Halloween because it's what they have always done. The spiritual aspects of it aren't a consideration. It is no different than atheists protesting Christmas or prayer in schools; majority rules. Choosing whether to participate in the festivities is always a personal decision and it should remain so. There seems to be a trend lately among Christian groups to offer "alternative" events to Halloween, which is great. The kids still get their candy but the parents can eliminate the horror element from the day. Not for everyone for sure, but it seems like a safe alternative that Christian parents can be comfortable with. In my opinion, I have no problem with the trick-or-treating part of Halloween, provided parents do their job and supervise their children and inspect the candy. Looking for a reason to be offended by Halloween is simply that- an excuse to be beside yourself over something. I trick-or-treated throughout my childhood and I don't ever remember my parents referring to any pagan rituals or reminding me that Satan was the reason for the season. It was a day to get candy. Period.

All this political correctness is sickening. We no longer have Christmas break at school, it has to Winter break. No more Thanksgiving break but Fall break. Come on, it's silly. For better or worse, most of this country is Christian or at least view themselves as such. If you aren't then just enjoy the day off work and do something you'd rather do. This culture needs to stop trying to avoid hurting anyone's feelings at every turn. The nature of this culture is that it is made up of scores of different beliefs and backgrounds, so anything you do or say is bound to be at odds with someone's beliefs. How do you avoid that? We can celebrate every holiday connected with every religion and ethnic background represented in the United States, but then we would work 6 days a year in between holidays. OR, we could not celebrate any holidays at all to eliminate the risk of offending someone. OR, we can do what we currently do and celebrate the holidays that the majority of Americans choose to celebrate and allow any group not in the majority to celebrate additional days as they choose to without being penalized.

So, to all the atheists who read this, it's unnecessary to berate me as a clueless Christian. And to all the Christians who feel I'm too liberal in my view I apologize, but I think we are missing the point with all this oversensitivity.