I'm a little tired of being accused of being a puritanical Protestant just for refraining from the scare and gore side of Halloween, not even all of it. I'd like to clear up, if you will allow me, exactly what puritanical Protestantism is about…

There is a fundamental difference between the way Catholics and Protestants view good and evil. In Catholic theology, good is the fulfillment of God's good purpose for anything. This means that everything has a good end and essence. Evil, for Catholics, is a privation (or lack) of goodness, falling short of God's purpose and departing from His will. Since it is a lack of goodness, it has no real substance. This especially makes sense when we understand that all things come from God, God is all good and no evil comes from Him, so evil is really nothing. Nothing is inherently evil. This is not true for most Protestants. The Reformation brought to light a certain concept called privatio actuosa. This means that although they still believe that evil is a lack of goodness, they believe that it is a substantial, essential lack of goodness. Then for Protestants, evil has substance, and certain things are inherently good OR inherently evil. This is why there are Puritans who believe things of the flesh are evil, like sex and good food. Refraining from the popular ghoulish scary side of Halloween is not puritanical, since we are not saying there is anything inherently evil in death. Instead we choose to focus on the good side of death, the hope in Christ and the resurrection, than trying to give my three year old daughter nightmares from the horrible costumes the neighbor kids dress up in when we go out trick-or-treating like we tried last year. For the record, she is a very intelligent little girl who is already asking questions about death, the resurrection and how Christ fits into all this. She understands death, and like any normal person is somewhat frightened by the unknown. There's no reason to further her apprehension by throwing her in the path of the secular glorifying of sick and twisted minds, monsters, and evil. Even if you only mock these things, I doubt that's what everyone else who dresses up as the stupid Scream murderer is doing.

Why do you feel the need to attack those of us who refrain from Halloween, call us puritanical, Protestant, say we're giving fear power, not being charitable, etc.? If you think that you're celebrating Halloween for the glory of God, then go for it. As for me, it gives me a sick feeling and I wonder how so many people are entertained by the perverse, demented, twisted side of human nature. No, I do not watch horror movies and tell ghost stories, never have, never wanted to. I just don't like it. I would appreciate it if you would stop going so far to justify your own position that you attack those who aren't with you on it.

"Yup; it's part of our (small "t") tradition."

Since when? And what makes you think the Church approves of it?

"It's the time to mock devils, demons, witches, spooks, ghouls, goblins, skeletons, etc. because the day after is All Saints Day – a prereq for making it to the level of Saint is that you also happen to have to be dead."

I'm still at a loss as to how this "tradition" (with a small 't') came about, and that we, as Catholics, are to precede the feast of All Saints by dressing up as witches and spiritual entities related to the demonic.

Surely, yes, a prerequisite for Sainthood is that one must have died, but I fail to see how dressing up as witches, ghouls, and reveling in the glamourizing and glorification of death, murder, and fear (whether you perceive it that way or not doesn't matter, because that's what it is) is in any way an appropriate commemoration of the Saints.

"So we're obviously talking about the realm of the dead. Not your list of real-live scary people. Because porn stars are real live people living lives of sin. Do I really need to spell that out for you? Consider it done."

I'm sure there are plenty of dead porn stars too. So, why not dress up as one? If it's legitimate to dress up as a witch or a demon in order to commemorate the Saints, then why exclude dead porn stars, or any of the other types of individuals I mentioned in my last comment?

"I can't speak for everyone, but I'm certainly not "glamorizing" it; I'm looking it square in the face and laughing at it, at my own mortality and my eventual death. It's gonna happen; no reason to be surprised when it does."

This is like justifying your attendance at a pornography party by claiming that you're looking porn straight in the face and laughing at it because you think it's not affecting you. Like it or not, the other people at the party don't perceive the purpose of their being there in quite the same manner you do. And what would your presence there say to them? That Catholicism is not at odds with the spirit of what's going on, which would be incorrect. Do you ever think that maybe there's such a thing as giving a false witness to people?

"You know something? It's puritans like you that suck the fun out of the world. I notice your Christian charity overflows at judging the state of my soul; surely if I'm "not serious" about salvation, then my salvation is for naught. Thanks for clearing that up."

I never said anything about the state of your soul. I simply observed, based on what you had written, that you do not seem to be concerned about the pursuit of holiness. If you can imagine St. Therese of Lisieux, St. John Vianney, or St. Maximilian Kolbe dressed up as witches or ghouls on the eve of All Saints, then I suppose there's not much more I can say to you.


"We are supposed to mock the devil and demons on this day"


Is that what the Church teaches?

Yup; it's part of our (small "t") tradition. It's part of fundamentalist protestant "tradition" to have a case of the vapors over such things (if they even have anything like "tradition", but if they argue they do, it's only a few years old, so YMMV).


"Dressing up in black with a green face and pointy hat is a MOCKERY of witches"


By that reasoning, is it ok for Christians to dress up as anything evil, so long as we're making a mockery of it?

Nope; never said that. It's the time to mock devils, demons, witches, spooks, ghouls, goblins, skeletons, etc. because the day after is All Saints Day – a prereq for making it to the level of Saint is that you also happen to have to be dead. And the next day is All Souls Day; same deal. So we're obviously talking about the realm of the dead. Not your list of real-live scary people. Because porn stars are real live people living lives of sin. Do I really need to spell that out for you? Consider it done.

…and as for all the other points you thought you were making, well, you need multiple lessons in logic, Church history and biblical exegesis. 



 "Today, we're not using the imagery of horror to teach eternal truths, but society is actually glorifying and glamorizing death, horror, violence, and fear."

I can't speak for everyone, but I'm certainly not "glamorizing" it; I'm looking it square in the face and laughing at it, at my own mortality and my eventual death. It's gonna happen; no reason to be surprised when it does.

And just for fascinations sake, you've never told a ghost story? Never thrilled to a late-night viewing of "Night of the Living Dead"? or "The Exorcist"? Never read any supernatural thriller/murder mysteries?

Oh, wait; let me guess. Harry Potter has already turned the entire generation of fans into hell-bent occultists, right? I knew it! What do I win?




"You can't have light without dark in this world."

"What a stupid statement. Even if they were dying of thirst, would you let your children drink a glass of water knowing that it contained just a tiniest drop of the most rancid sewage imaginable?"

First of all, what I said wasn't the least bit "stupid", thanks. It was true. There IS dark in this world and to ignore it or hope it goes away is immature at best.

Yes re: the tainted water, and we all do it all the time (although that line is used by the pseudo-clever with "aresenic" instead of sewage. There are trace elements of all kinds of poisons in drinkable water; those levels don't hurt you.) 



You know something? It's puritans like you that suck the fun out of the world. I notice your Christian charity overflows at judging the state of my soul; surely if I'm "not serious" about salvation, then my salvation is for naught. Thanks for clearing that up.

Hope you had a Happy Halloween; I did!

"We are supposed to mock the devil and demons on this day"

Is that what the Church teaches?

"Dressing up in black with a green face and pointy hat is a MOCKERY of witches"

By that reasoning, is it ok for Christians to dress up as anything evil, so long as we're making a mockery of it? Well then, why stop at witches? Why don't you dress your kids up as porn stars next year, or maybe as raging gay rights activists at a Mardis Gras parade? Or how about murderers, adulterers, thieves, child molesters, little Hitlers? It must be ok, just as long as we're IN the world and not OF it, right?

"You would freak out at the signs of Medieval Catholicism with ghouls, gargoyles and skulls carved in marble all over cathedrals and churches…

It's the same reason you let them get spooked by evil witches, crones, trolls, etc. in fairy tales and later, stories of all kinds of good vs. evil."

Notice how the medieval Church used symbols of death to teach people about the reality of Hell, the Devil, and eternal damnation? They didn't dress up as witches, ghosts, demons, etc., in order to have some "innocent fun" because medieval Christians were serious about that stuff, they were serious about the pursuit of holiness.

There's a huge difference between the purpose of ghoulish imagery used in the medieval Church and the purpose of the ghoulishness seen in North America on Halloween. Today, we're not using the imagery of horror to teach eternal truths, but society is actually glorifying and glamorizing death, horror, violence, and fear.

It's simply naive and foolish to equate the imagery of the medieval Church and modern-day Halloween in North America.

"You can't have light without dark in this world."

What a stupid statement. Even if they were dying of thirst, would you let your children drink a glass of water knowing that it contained just a tiniest drop of the most rancid sewage imaginable?

All I can say to you is that if you were really serious about salvation, about holiness, about imitating God, then you would be serious about not even wanting to give the appearance of evil. From what you've written in your last comment, I can only conclude that you are not simply serious about salvation and sanctification. Let those of you out there who are, take due note.

"What did you do to change it while you were there/engaged in that behavior? With very rare exception, the answer is nothing."

Wrong. What I did was be IN this world, not of it and show my community that devout Catholics can be happy and normal and take part in innocent trick-or-treating and Halloween parties and handing out candy and still go to church the next day. That's a powerful witness. That, plus nobody gets their soul stolen by demons on Halloween. So when the sun comes up the next day, and they see me going to mass, it's all good.

I think some of these people need to get out of thier protestant American towns and take a trip to the the heart and history of Christendom: Rome. You would freak out at the signs of Medieval Catholicism with ghouls, gargoyles and skulls carved in marble all over cathedrals and churches…Death (St. Francis and his ever-present skull) and Bone Churches (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capuchin_Crypt) and crypts and relics are some of the coolest parts about Catholicism. I'm Catholic, not Puritan.

It's the same reason you let them get spooked by evil witches, crones, trolls, etc. in fairy tales and later, stories of all kinds of good vs. evil. You can't have light without dark in this world. To me, that's more sickeningly sweet than all that candy.

Boo!

It inspired me to muse on all the reasons I LOVE Halloween. LOL.

I wrote up a post on my blog. It's totally non-combative – I have no problem with other parents making whatever choices they think are best. My perspective is about a zillion times lighter than most of those posted here.

After all – different neighborhoods, different cities – different countries in some cases – different customs, different kids, different sensitivities. So…different perspectives and different choices.

Anyway…here's my post: http://peaceandpekoe.blogspot.com/2009/10/why-i-love-halloween.html

1. The week before the Big Day, I take the kids to a fabric store and buy one yard of fabric for each. I won't pay more than $3 per yard. And I buy safety pins and one remnant each for any kid who wants one.

2. The kids come home and fashion some sort of Saint's costume out their single yard of fabric and safety pins, as well as any accessories that they scrounge up.

3. On the 30th or 31st, after pumpkins go on sale, we carve pumpkins, drink hot chocolate, put the pumpkins out with Christmas lights strung through them, and then watch Charlie Brown.

4. The nearest Saturday to Halloween we go to the Catholic Homeschool group's All Saints party. They are very forgiving of the kids' non-commercial costumes. We come home with a lunch bag full of candy, instead of a garbage bag full of candy.

Then we wait for Advent!