I've come across a few bloggers who are not going to let their children celebrate Halloween this year. The reason? They think it is a pagan holiday. Here's a flash for you: All Christian Holidays are based upon pagan festivals.
Easter celebrates the Resurrection, but in actual fact it is based on early pagan fertility festivals marking the arrival of spring and renewal of life. In Europe and Asia, this time was dedicated to some local goddess of fertility. In Babylon it was the goddess Ishtar, the Saxons called her Oestre, and early Christian pagans called her Easter.
The Christian Church, early in the first few centuries after Christ, began to adapt various pagan ceremonies into the Christian version we know in order to make it easier for pagans to accept the new religion and its holidays. Because eggs were early pagan symbols of fertility we now celebrate this spring holiday with Easter eggs, and Easter bunnies. So if these Halloween Grinches realize the pagan origins of Easter, will they now ban Easter Parades? On the highway, will they fail to brake for the Easter Bunny in order to cancel Easter egg hunts?
As was done to make Easter a Christian Holiday, in the seventh century, Pope Boniface IV designated November 1 All Saints' Day, a time to honor saints and martyrs. This was done to replace the Celtic festival of the dead with a Church-versioned holiday. The celebration was called All-hallows or All-hallowmas and the night before began to be called All-hallows Eve and, today, Halloween. Even later, in 1000 A.D., the church would make November 2 All Souls' Day, a day to honor the dead. It was celebrated in the pagan fashion with big bonfires, parades, and costume parties filled with ghosts, saints, devils, angels, and goblins. The three celebrations together, the eve of All Saints', All Saints', and All Souls', were called Hallowmas. So contrary to what some Christians think, despite its pagan origins, Halloween is as much a Christian holiday as Easter even though both owe their traditions to ancient rituals.
Enough of silly idiots; stop being Halloween Grinches and let your kids go out there and have fun dressed as Elvis, Batman, or Darth Vader. I can assure you not one of 40 million little devils going out this year is secretly in his heart appealing to the demons of the dead. This is a secular American Holiday and is the only one little children can enjoy for themselves. They spend the days before picking or fashioning their costumes in anticipation of a great holiday festival of candy collection and spider-web weaving and pumpkin painting. And if you keep your children from having fun this holiday you are an insensitive, uncaring religious idiot in the same way that Muslims who protest against Valentine's Day Cards are religious idiots because of some old grudge about some early Christian Saint who killed Muslims.
Listen Jews, Muslims, and yes even Christians: If you can't celebrate our American Holidays, especially Halloween, then kindly leave the country. With all due respect.
All my articles on Halloween are here.
Here's what I want to visit me asking for sweets this Zorroween:
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