The Danger of Celebrating Halloween - Page 4

NJres · 10-31-2009, 09:06 PM

Annuduhmom.... lmao here!! crying... thank you for that... omg!! too funny

cartera45 · 10-31-2009, 10:12 PM

I love Larry! "Felony or Treat!!"

dragonmom · 10-31-2009, 10:50 PM

We had a group of 7 year old boys gather together and shout "Trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat!" and then fall all over themselves laughing at the very original and somewhat naughty thing they had said. No way I was going to let them know I had heard it before.... in 1965.
I'm happy - seems like a very traditional and tame holiday around here.

aibarr · 10-31-2009, 11:29 PM

Just sent "felony or treat" to everyone I know. =)

mantori.suzuki · 11-01-2009, 12:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AnudduhMom

I was in the movie store the other day and they had tons of (what I would consider) the worst kind of horror movies, a huge display. Are there people who have some sort of need to watch that stuff?

I feel the same way. Not that these people are truly disturbed or anything; there are plenty of pretty much normal people who get a kick out of over-the-top horror movies with severed limbs, etc. I just can't relate to it. I love scary movies, but I draw a clear distinction between scary and just gross. The latter is, to me, low-brow.

frazzled1 · 11-01-2009, 07:50 AM

I thought of this thread last night when I answered the door and found two young adults, who told me they were there to "turn the tables" and offered me a treat or a trick. They had small packages wrapped in white. I looked pretty befuddled, so they explained that they were Christians and asked if I had anything they could help me pray over.

I was kind of ..... hm. Not put off in an angry or annoyed way, but man, it was awkward! I'm not a fundamentalist Christian and I was profoundly uncomfortable at the idea of praying on my front doorstep with two total strangers (or anybody else, really). I thanked them for the offer but nicely told them we'd take care of it ourselves. I probably could have thought of something more articulate if I hadn't been expecting a ballerina or robot to be standing on the other side of the door when I answered it.

I wondered what would have happened if I'd accepted either the treat or trick. (And a teeny little bit of me wondered whether this could have been a teen-slasher-flick kind of ruse - so that was it for the night, for us at least. Lights out!).

cnp55 · 11-01-2009, 07:59 AM

Frazzled!!
You didn't ask them to pray over the cursed candy?

frazzled1 · 11-01-2009, 08:04 AM

Darn - an opportunity to save the candy missed!

Marian · 11-01-2009, 09:04 AM

Quote:

I wouldn't expect a child from another faith to celebrate Christmas, but if they had an objection to Labor Day or Arbor Day or July Fourth, or any other secular holiday, well, that's a personal choice and not something I'd feel an organization needs to honor.

For generations, Christmas-related activities took place in schools even though some students were not Christian. Only recently did people realize that this was inappropriate.

July Fourth doesn't come during the school year, but if it did, there could be issues because it is a U.S. patriotic holiday and some students in U.S. schools are not U.S. citizens. As with religious holidays, patriotic holidays don't apply to everyone.

Something like this is part of the reason why some people object to the custom of saying the Pledge of Allegiance in schools. Students who are not U.S. citizens are asked to either recite words proclaiming their allegiance to a country that they are not citizens of -- or, alternatively, to make themselves conspicuous by not participating, which no child likes to do. How bizarre is that?

Treetopleaf · 11-01-2009, 09:21 AM

I can't agree with your latter comments. People living in the US should be prepared to celebrate U.S. patriotic holidays, or ignore them while others do, or leave.

And I don't see anything wrong with singing Christmas carols in school, so long as they also sing songs from other prominent cultures. That's education for all.

Treetopleaf · 11-01-2009, 09:38 AM

The hatred of Halloween by fundamentalists really bugs me. My d has friends who are anti-Halloween. While they avoided demons, here is what they missed:
Entire families walking door to door while the kids trick-or-treat (when else does this happen?).
Neighbors walking together, and saying hi to one another.
Hander-outers complimenting cute little ones.
Little kids saying thank you.
The party down the street, held by the kids of one family who love Halloween, at which a sizable portion of the neighborhood comes together for a pleasant time.

From my own perspective, some of my favorite childhood memories are of Halloween. Being out in the dark and cold, and surviving. Negotiating a departure time that satisfied parents and kids. Kids owning the street (sanctioned) on a common mission. The costumes - ours, those of others, and how different and funny they were. The taste of wildness that came from going door to door. Experiencing different reactions at each house. Bartering aftewords to exchange candies.

I'm so thankful that my own kid got to experience this.

garland · 11-01-2009, 10:05 AM

But again, Marian, Halloween is not celebrating anything. It doesn''t ask allegiance to a religion, country, ethnicity, or the like.

I can't imagine anyone living in the US having a problem with the country and a public (government) school celebrating the country. I do agree that the Pledge of Allegiance has a personal component in asking recitation, and no student should be expected to. Especially because of the religious words that have been added to it.

But I do not see any parallel to Halloween, which is not asking for allegiance to or belief in anything.

Naturally · 11-01-2009, 10:22 AM

I didn't get a single trick-or-treater last night!

I'm pretty disappointed, I love seeing kids all dressed up in cute costumes.

Pizzagirl · 11-01-2009, 10:47 AM

Quote:

Back in the day my kids attended a Jewish nursery school that offered "Orange Day" for the kids to dress up in lieu of Halloween. Silly, no?

I had the same experience in my Reform Jewish preschool (not acknowledging Halloween). While I think it's silly, I respect that POV.

Quote:

I think the contemporary holiday is so divorced from its origins (most kids don't have a clue) that it's unnecessarily rigid to prohibit its observance. And it's certainly out of line to expect schools and youth groups to avoid the celebration of this very innocent and enjoyable holiday to satisfy the objections of a tiny minority who can easily adhere to their beliefs by abstaining.

The same could be said about having kids visit Santa in the classroom, though.

cnp55 · 11-01-2009, 10:54 AM

I was never so disgusted with political correctness as when my son's nursery school (he is now a high school senior) insisted that all the children would make their costumes in class, from brown grocery sacks and they would all be TREES. Geez .... what a stupid way to take the fun out of Halloween.