Halloween And Religion
Halloween has suffered from more persecution than other public celebrations in the United States. Normally, the persecution comes from the religious communities in the different states. The focus is often the so-called ‘satanic’ overtones of the celebration.
Taking a closer look at the oppression
Today, it is not so easy to comprehend what “satanic” stands for according to these small religious groups. To shed a little light, the western Christian belief considered anything that did not appear Christian-like as demonic.
Picture this — anything unknown or outside of the circle was considered evil. It’s the same as looking outside at the endless skyline from a small room. This unconquered vista is seen as dangerous and, according to such beliefs, evil. This can be established by analyzing how the portrayal of evil has changed through time.
Complete removal?
Due to irreligious Halloween schemes such as various images considered irreverent and demonic, religious authorities have been wanting to completely eradicate Halloween celebrations in schools.
Rationally, if you’re operating with this hypothetical agenda, then kids who wear devilish costumes are encompassed by the devil’s army. Quite ridiculous, but religious communities have a very large following.
Secular Reaction
Then again, not everybody is a fan of the conventional, extreme religious Right. And as stated in the newspaper The Atlanta Constitution:
“Halloween may have begun as a pagan festival, but in the United States it was now a festival of fun, feasts, fancy frocks, and frivolous fright. Ours is not just a Christian nation, but a nation born from the search of religious freedom. Let the kids have some fun.”
Halloween was salvaged from unreasonable renouncement and discrimination, thanks to this firm and vital assessment.
Dousing the fire
In their failure to eradicate Halloween, religious groups tried using other measures to be entitled to dictate how Halloween should be celebrated. These groups can be considered regressive, in short, they may have wanted something but didn’t know exactly how to get it.
They react based on the superficial circumstances and not to the deeper structures; and thus, they fail to address the problem. Anyway, these reactionary communities try to combat Halloween by doing the exact opposite of modern Halloween practices.
For instance, adults dress their kids with clothes that exude vibrancy instead of ones that suggest darkness or despondency, and these pious adults may revise the standard haunted house with their own innovations.
Take the case of the Trinity Christian School in Texas, which stages a Hell House every year. This Hell House antagonizes the certain images and themes in popular culture, such as:
- Drug-ridden raves
- Pre-marital sex
- Homosexuality
- Family violence
- School shootings
The point of all this is to lead children and bewildered teenagers to so-called paths of righteousness. Are they effective? To a certain degree, they are. Because out of 75,000 individuals who have been recorded at one time, about 15,000 have become members of the community.
Today, aside from the Internet, this is one of the most effective tools to evangelize people.
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