[OT] Halloween ettiquette

in article ,
dirtylitterboxofferingstospammers at omcom wrote on
11/1/04 1:43AM:

Apologies if I sound like a killjoy, but here it goes.

Then I'm one too ;-)

I loathe trick or treating. For the rest of the year, children are
discouraged from talking to and accepting sweets from strangers. How
come it all changes around Halloween?

Yup - I agree. Thankfully trick or treat is a custom that hasn't caught on too
much on this side of the pond. We've our own hallowe'en traditions over here -
now largely lost - bobbing for apples... apples on a string...

The bit I honestly find strange is how much hallowe'en is celebrated in the
USA, given it's very much a pagan festival & the States seems to be getting
more & more right-wing Christian, I see a strange contradiction there :-) Over
here we get churches which are more right-wing, evangelical churches going
public about *not* celebrating hallowe'en. Mind you they do try & hijack it as
"All Hallows" claiming it has nothing to do with anything pagan, never existed
in pagan ritual but is an entirely Christian festival.

Cheers, helen s


--This is an invalid email address to avoid spam--
to get correct one remove fame & fortune
**$om $

--Due to financial crisis the light at the end of the tunnel is switched off--



Well, the US if nothing if not contrary It is very strange. You should
see the decorations people put up! It gets to be more and more every year.

in article ,
dirtylitterboxofferingstospammers at omcom wrote on
11/1/04 1:43AM:

Apologies if I sound like a killjoy, but here it goes.

Then I'm one too ;-)

I loathe trick or treating. For the rest of the year, children are
discouraged from talking to and accepting sweets from strangers. How
come it all changes around Halloween?

Yup - I agree. Thankfully trick or treat is a custom that hasn't caught on too
much on this side of the pond. We've our own hallowe'en traditions over here -
now largely lost - bobbing for apples... apples on a string...

The bit I honestly find strange is how much hallowe'en is celebrated in the
USA, given it's very much a pagan festival & the States seems to be getting
more & more right-wing Christian, I see a strange contradiction there :-) Over
here we get churches which are more right-wing, evangelical churches going
public about *not* celebrating hallowe'en. Mind you they do try & hijack it as
"All Hallows" claiming it has nothing to do with anything pagan, never existed
in pagan ritual but is an entirely Christian festival.

Cheers, helen s


--This is an invalid email address to avoid spam--
to get correct one remove fame & fortune
**$om $

--Due to financial crisis the light at the end of the tunnel is switched off--



Well, the US if nothing if not contrary It is very strange. You should
see the decorations people put up! It gets to be more and more every year.

"dirtylitterboxofferingstospammers" wrote in
message ...


The bit I honestly find strange is how much hallowe'en is celebrated in
the
USA, given it's very much a pagan festival & the States seems to be
getting
more & more right-wing Christian, I see a strange contradiction there :-)
Over
here we get churches which are more right-wing, evangelical churches going
public about *not* celebrating hallowe'en. Mind you they do try & hijack
it as
"All Hallows" claiming it has nothing to do with anything pagan, never
existed
in pagan ritual but is an entirely Christian festival.

I'm sure you know if you think about it that in the US we are not by any
means a homogeneous group. We have born again Christians, some right wing
and some not. We have churches that are opposed to Halloween and others
that see it as a harmless children's holiday. There are events for children
to go to whose parents for one reason on another don't want them to go trick
or treating. Some think Halloween has pagan roots, others think it just a
grand good time.

We also have very moderate churches, and many people who are just non
religious. Maybe believe or maybe not but don't practice. We have Atheists
and agnostics, Muslims, Jews Hindus Sikhs Buddhists Taoists pagans Wicca's
Santeria and many others. Some stick to their own. Others are happy to
celebrate anything that might be fun.

If we weren't all about contradictions, there wouldn't be any need for us to
vote, right?

Jo

"dirtylitterboxofferingstospammers" wrote in
message ...


The bit I honestly find strange is how much hallowe'en is celebrated in
the
USA, given it's very much a pagan festival & the States seems to be
getting
more & more right-wing Christian, I see a strange contradiction there :-)
Over
here we get churches which are more right-wing, evangelical churches going
public about *not* celebrating hallowe'en. Mind you they do try & hijack
it as
"All Hallows" claiming it has nothing to do with anything pagan, never
existed
in pagan ritual but is an entirely Christian festival.

I'm sure you know if you think about it that in the US we are not by any
means a homogeneous group. We have born again Christians, some right wing
and some not. We have churches that are opposed to Halloween and others
that see it as a harmless children's holiday. There are events for children
to go to whose parents for one reason on another don't want them to go trick
or treating. Some think Halloween has pagan roots, others think it just a
grand good time.

We also have very moderate churches, and many people who are just non
religious. Maybe believe or maybe not but don't practice. We have Atheists
and agnostics, Muslims, Jews Hindus Sikhs Buddhists Taoists pagans Wicca's
Santeria and many others. Some stick to their own. Others are happy to
celebrate anything that might be fun.

If we weren't all about contradictions, there wouldn't be any need for us to
vote, right?

Jo

"dirtylitterboxofferingstospammers" wrote in
message ...


The bit I honestly find strange is how much hallowe'en is celebrated in
the
USA, given it's very much a pagan festival & the States seems to be
getting
more & more right-wing Christian, I see a strange contradiction there :-)
Over
here we get churches which are more right-wing, evangelical churches going
public about *not* celebrating hallowe'en. Mind you they do try & hijack
it as
"All Hallows" claiming it has nothing to do with anything pagan, never
existed
in pagan ritual but is an entirely Christian festival.

I'm sure you know if you think about it that in the US we are not by any
means a homogeneous group. We have born again Christians, some right wing
and some not. We have churches that are opposed to Halloween and others
that see it as a harmless children's holiday. There are events for children
to go to whose parents for one reason on another don't want them to go trick
or treating. Some think Halloween has pagan roots, others think it just a
grand good time.

We also have very moderate churches, and many people who are just non
religious. Maybe believe or maybe not but don't practice. We have Atheists
and agnostics, Muslims, Jews Hindus Sikhs Buddhists Taoists pagans Wicca's
Santeria and many others. Some stick to their own. Others are happy to
celebrate anything that might be fun.

If we weren't all about contradictions, there wouldn't be any need for us to
vote, right?

Jo

Well, ummm, All Hallows *is* Christian

Yes it is, but my point was that the origin is pre-Christian - All Hallows is a
"hi-jacked", for want of a better word, a pagan festival. Christianity has been
very good at taking over pre-Christian holidays and many an old Christian
church over here stands on what were orginally Roman and pre-Roman sites of
temples worshiping the gods.

My own theory on the North American Hallowe'en is that recent developments
in 'tradition' have been spurred on by nothing more or less than
commercialism.

I tend to agree.


Cheers, helen s


--This is an invalid email address to avoid spam--
to get correct one remove fame & fortune
**$om $

--Due to financial crisis the light at the end of the tunnel is switched off--

Well, ummm, All Hallows *is* Christian

Yes it is, but my point was that the origin is pre-Christian - All Hallows is a
"hi-jacked", for want of a better word, a pagan festival. Christianity has been
very good at taking over pre-Christian holidays and many an old Christian
church over here stands on what were orginally Roman and pre-Roman sites of
temples worshiping the gods.

My own theory on the North American Hallowe'en is that recent developments
in 'tradition' have been spurred on by nothing more or less than
commercialism.

I tend to agree.


Cheers, helen s


--This is an invalid email address to avoid spam--
to get correct one remove fame & fortune
**$om $

--Due to financial crisis the light at the end of the tunnel is switched off--

Well, ummm, All Hallows *is* Christian

Yes it is, but my point was that the origin is pre-Christian - All Hallows is a
"hi-jacked", for want of a better word, a pagan festival. Christianity has been
very good at taking over pre-Christian holidays and many an old Christian
church over here stands on what were orginally Roman and pre-Roman sites of
temples worshiping the gods.

My own theory on the North American Hallowe'en is that recent developments
in 'tradition' have been spurred on by nothing more or less than
commercialism.

I tend to agree.


Cheers, helen s


--This is an invalid email address to avoid spam--
to get correct one remove fame & fortune
**$om $

--Due to financial crisis the light at the end of the tunnel is switched off--

On 01 Nov 2004 07:43:59 GMT, omcom
(dirtylitterboxofferingstospammers) wrote:

snip
The bit I honestly find strange is how much hallowe'en is celebrated in the
USA, given it's very much a pagan festival & the States seems to be getting
more & more right-wing Christian, I see a strange contradiction there :-) Over
here we get churches which are more right-wing, evangelical churches going
public about *not* celebrating hallowe'en. Mind you they do try & hijack it as
"All Hallows" claiming it has nothing to do with anything pagan, never existed
in pagan ritual but is an entirely Christian festival.

I think the reason it's so big here is that it's so commercialized,
and merchants plan on making bucks selling costumes and candy. Seems
all the stores have aisles that they fill with stuff months before the
holiday. Recalling a thread a while back, some stores have had their
Christmas stuff for a couple months already. Besides, I wonder how
many parents even consider the origins.
--
Steve Touchstone,
faithful servant of Sammy, Little Bit and Rocky (RB)

[remove Junk for email]
Home Page: http://www.sirinet.net/~stouchst/index.html
Cat Pix: http://www.sirinet.net/~stouchst/animals.html

On 01 Nov 2004 07:43:59 GMT, omcom
(dirtylitterboxofferingstospammers) wrote:

snip
The bit I honestly find strange is how much hallowe'en is celebrated in the
USA, given it's very much a pagan festival & the States seems to be getting
more & more right-wing Christian, I see a strange contradiction there :-) Over
here we get churches which are more right-wing, evangelical churches going
public about *not* celebrating hallowe'en. Mind you they do try & hijack it as
"All Hallows" claiming it has nothing to do with anything pagan, never existed
in pagan ritual but is an entirely Christian festival.

I think the reason it's so big here is that it's so commercialized,
and merchants plan on making bucks selling costumes and candy. Seems
all the stores have aisles that they fill with stuff months before the
holiday. Recalling a thread a while back, some stores have had their
Christmas stuff for a couple months already. Besides, I wonder how
many parents even consider the origins.
--
Steve Touchstone,
faithful servant of Sammy, Little Bit and Rocky (RB)

[remove Junk for email]
Home Page: http://www.sirinet.net/~stouchst/index.html
Cat Pix: http://www.sirinet.net/~stouchst/animals.html