Oh look! Halloween is now offensiveFollow

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No Halloween at a Newton School

Halloween has been canceled at a Newton elementary school.

In a notice to parents, Underwood School principal David Castelline said the school's traditional Halloween party was (quote) ``offensive to the religious beliefs of some members of our community.''

Castelline said some families were so uncomfortable that they were keeping their children home from school on Halloween, when students and teachers would dress up in costumes and celebrate the holiday.

The school plans to replace the Halloween party with a fall celebration next month, in which students can dress up as their favorite literary characters.

One parent says there should have been more discussion before the Halloween ban was imposed.

I heard this on the way to work this evening and it got me fuming. because of a couple parents who believed that Halloween was offensive to their religious beliefs the schools of Newton ma have now banned any Halloween activities for the entire school. Is this how its going to be for the majority of schools down the road in years? are kids going to suffer from lack of fun activities because a minority of people find celebrating a time honored tradition to be against their religion? I thought schools were government based and therefore the holidays that are celebrated have something besides religious conotations.

People are voting for prayer in school to be allowed. Now people are starting to throw tantrums because costumes and candy offends their religion in schools. Since when did Halloween become such an awful thing to celebrate? I used to be religious and I remember having Halloween parties at church.


While the original celebration of Halloween was definitely of pagan orient, the idea of trick or treating was initialy of Catholic decent.

Later, around the 5th century, as the Catholic Church developed and moved into the area, instead of adding a new day to celebrate, it took over the Samhain celebration. Nov. 1st became "All Hallows Eve" where all the saints of the Catholic church were honored. A later custom developed where people would go door-to-door on Nov. 2, requesting small cakes in exchange for the promise of saying prayers for some of the dead relatives of each house. This arose out of the religious belief that the dead were in a state of limbo before they went to heaven or hell and that the prayers of the living could influence the outcome. This may have been the precursor to Trick-or Treat.
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While I can understand ones reluctance to celebrate actual ceremonies that would be considered pagan, since I am reluctant myself to allow public prayer in school, how is it that dressing up as barbie or the Power rangers and eating yummy candy is so distressful that the school system here in Ma actually ALLOWED the festivities to be banned for the sake of appeasing the minority, esp when it is religious in nature. Why not take your kid out of public school for the day if it offends your religious morals so much? Why do people find the need to take away a part of what makes childhood special and magical for all the other kids that now must not celebrate Halloween.


Yes, I'm ranting, but I think this is the straw that breaks my back. When do the rest of us stand up and say "Enough!"?

The logic in it all is very simple, and the irony is that you just happen to be on the side of the fence that had something taken away.

If a minority has a problem with it, they can keep their kids home... But that just defeats the purpose of it all, doesn't it? It's always about "Why should I have to do this so the majority can do something I don't approve of?"

It's all very self-explanitory; I say just to let the dice fall where they may.

Why do people like to celebrate a pagen holiday about death, demons, undead, witches etc.? All you do is go door to door for candy, which has nothing to do with those things.

Also why would a children's holiday have to do with those kind of things? It never made any sence to me.

~Blix

Samhaim(The pagan holiday which happens on or new holloween) has nothing to do with demons or undead. It's our new years. Yes, the barrier between the world is less and it is supposedly possible to contact the dead, but as long as kids are not attempting this at school, I see no problem with them dressing up and giving out candy.

Now that would make swell Halloween candy eh?

This reminds me of the teen Bible study group from the church I was made to attend when I was in high school. Some of the parents objected to our having a Halloween party, so instead we had an Oktoberfest party. I wonder if they considered a celebration of beer to be more appropriate and in line with their spiritual beliefs.

Then I guess people can strike back. Dissalow Christmas celebrations at school because it's imposing upon those not of the Christian faith.

I think all Holidays should just stop being celebrated at school. Let's just chop the sh[b][/b]it out of that political knot rather than untie it.

I mean, maybe school will end up less fun, but at least we can sleep better at night knowing people won't get their feelings hurt any more, right?


Right?

Edited, Fri Oct 28 03:32:50 2005 by Nabraben

This didn't happen in the bible belt. It was in MA. I'm in the bible belt, and Halloween is alive and well here.

This is all too true. The Yule Log ceremony (Link here) is all too Pagan, and yet here we have Christians regularly participating in it, to this day. Or, for further example, look at Easter. Here we celebrate the rebirth of a man, who was crucified, then stabbed with a spear and bled to death.

Or, even more interesting, look at what Christians do every Sunday at church. They eat and drink the body of Christ. Did anyone else, at their first time at Church find this a bit strange? I know I always did.

As one of the posters above stated, it was commonplace for monks and priests to incorporate pagan rituals into their Christian teachings, to make the "Uncivilized natives" (which is a story in itself) feel more comfortable in worshipping their religion.

I remember when I was young, the Halloween parades, Christmas parades, they were really great things. They gave you a sense of belonging to something, and let you celebrate a part of your heritage.

It is a sad day when the voice of the minority holds more weight than the voice of the majority. Of course there are certain opinions or beliefs (Human rights, Abortion, etc) that should never be viewed as the minority. But to sterlize our country's harmless social events will reap no benefit in the long run.





Edited, Fri Oct 28 09:30:40 2005 by Credos

But Moe, all holidays are rooted in pagan religion. Christmas break and Easter break? Yeah I never heard of anyone complaining. Wjhy should they? The kids got some time off, and the holidays were represented by either Christianism, Paganism, or Commercialism. Everyone is happy. Except idiots like this who think its their right to ruin a fun holiday for others because it doesnt jive with their OWN personal religious ideas. Notice I didnt say the religion? I said their Own personal religious ideas.


I cant believe people actually think it is ok and not a big deal, to know that kids are losing more and more of their special childhood magic. It's not that long that as a kid you can get away knowing Santa is real, and the Easter Bunny DOES come at night to leave eggs. Halloween is the time for spooky stories candy, and running around your neighborhood with all your friends. School you get to have cupcakes at each party and listen to staories from each holiday. And the tradition of Halloween is being lessened and un conciously taught to these kids, that it is an evil, unmoral celebration, when in fact in school it is only a fun time to play dress up with your own costume instead of having to wear the teachers old dress and heels

As an atheist I find the celebration of Christmas offensive, and will force my office to not celebrate, decorate or otherwise acknowledge such religious holidays.

That's about how this works, right?

Then we should also have winter celebrations and spring celebrations instead of Christmas and Easter. Is that the kind of memories you want your kid to have? Do you really want all these holidays to up and dissappear?

Where's the magic? The excitement? I can't get excited for a harvest festival. Damnit I want my son to be able to dress up and play games with his friends at school and then head out for some free candy! Even though Im not religious, I want him to enjoy christams, with Santa and little elves making his toys just for him.I want him to think about others during that time, like his school mates, and goo out to pick the perfect gift for another student. It instills a sense of giving to children in school.


There are so many ways to celebrate each holiday. It's not the one religion has claims on one, it's about the fantasy and excitement that you only get to enjoy until you're around 12 ( or 18 if you were me and hated giving up trick or treating). These kids have the rest of their lives to fall into the drudgery of adult life. It saddens me to know that because of a couple parents overzealous beliefs a whole bunch of kids in a school will miss out on a small part of being just a kid.

I thought schools were education based. While I have nothing at all against students dressing up, I can't get too worked up if they're not allowed to. They can still Trick Or Treat on their own time and you can still get excited about seeing them dressed up when they get home.