Halloween - Harmless or Harmful?

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HALLOWEEN HARMLESS OR HARMFUL? BY J.JOHN

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Halloween has become one of the biggest events in the British calendar. There have always been traditions associated with 31st October but the present extravaganza, with its epidemic of ‘trick-or-treating’, is a recent phenomenon. A decade ago, spending on Halloween in the UK was only £12m; now, boosted by Hollywood and marketing, it is £300m.

Transcript of Halloween - Harmless or Harmful?

Page 1: Halloween - Harmless or Harmful?

HALLOWEENHARMLESS OR HARMFUL?

BY J.JOHN

Page 2: Halloween - Harmless or Harmful?

HARMLESS? OR HARMFUL?Halloween has become one of the biggest events in the British calendar. There have always been traditions associated with 31st October but the present extravaganza, with its epidemic of ‘trick-or-treating’, is a recent phenomenon. A decade ago, spending on Halloween in the UK was only £12m; now, boosted by Hollywood and marketing, it is £300m.

Financially, Halloween is now, after Christmas and Easter, our third highest grossing celebration.

Yet Halloween has seized this position without any serious consideration of what it stands for and whether or not we even want it. When people talk about what happens on 31st October a little phrase commonly heard is that Halloween is ‘harmless nonsense’. But is it indeed harmless? Is it merely nonsense? It’s time to do some hard thinking.

UK spending on Halloween

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IS HALLOWEEN HARMLESS?Let me give you six reasons why Halloween is not harmless:

1HALLOWEEN CELEBRATES EVILAlthough people celebrate Hallow-een in different ways it remains, at its core, an event that glorifies the dark, creepy and scary side of life. Children and adults dress up as figures that are ‘evil’: witches, vampires, ghosts and demons. If you want to be different you can hire costumes to make you look like a chainsaw killer, a psychopathic butcher or even a shooting vic-tim (‘with authentic-looking bullet holes’). This is hardly harmless. Whatever view we have about life, we all take it for granted that our society should spend time and energy encouraging children to care for others and to know the difference between right and wrong. Yet on this one day, we throw all those values away and glorify everything that is evil and unpleasant. Talk about sending out mixed messages!

2HALLOWEEN IS UNHELPFULWe live in a world where every parent and teacher takes care to warn children that strangers may pose a threat and that they need to take precautions. Yet at Halloween we discard that rule and encourage children to go and knock on doors and accept sweets from strangers. Another mixed message!

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Copyright © 2013 J.John

Published 2013 by Philo Trust, Witton House, Lower Road, Chorleywood, Rickmansworth, WD3 5LB, United Kingdom.

Scripture quotations marked ‘nlt’ are taken from Holy Bible, New Living Translation © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188, USA. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked ‘niv’ are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version (Anglicised Edition), © 1979, 1984, 2011 by Biblica (formerly International Bible Society). Used by permission of Hodder & Stoughton Publishers, an Hatchette UK company. All rights reserved.

Baptism service taken from Common Worship: Pastoral Services copyright © The Archbishops’ Council, 2000, 2005. Reproduced by permission. All rights reserved. [email protected]

@CanonJJohn @CanonJJohn J.John

J.John is a speaker, teacher and broadcaster based in Chorleywood, Hertfordshire, England.

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Is Halloween just harmless fun? Or is there something more sinister that we should be aware of ? J.John explores the subject with surprising conclusions.