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VIEWPOINT

Not so happy holidays

Richard Staples ponders the ins and outs of Halloween - in the UK and the USA

Personally, I’m not a big fan of the end of October. Halloween has become so commercialised that even the pagans are worried about it losing its meaning.

A couple of years ago we spent the end of October in America. Our American cousins, well my children’s cousins actually, had prepared for us to join in a trick or treat night. In Florida this is somewhat different. The skies are bright blue rather than dark and forbidding, the weather is warm and sunny, not wet and cold and the concept of trick and treat, American style, is rather different too.

In the United States, Halloween is a time for fancy dress parades. Children and adults walk up and down in all sorts of costumes, through shopping malls, residential areas, wherever. Residents and shop-owners sit outside their establishments giving out sweets to the children as they pass by. There is clearly no fable, nursery rhyme or law that ensures that you don’t take sweets from strangers in America.

The whole point of the parade is not to frighten the wits out of each other or to demand money with menaces. It’s a fun event enjoyed by children and something that has very little to do with faith or religion. Bit like the way they celebrate Christmas.

Birmingham Council got into trouble some years ago for embracing the American dream of “Happy Holidays” celebrations rather than “Happy Christmas”. Concerned that such open marking of a Christian feast day might offend a multicultural city, they strove for a politically correct form of message in the council’s events and cards to mark the season. Such watering down outrages Muslim, Hindu and Jewish groups as much as it does Christians. With the festivals of Eid, Diwali and Hanukah all to be celebrated before the year is out, it’s a tough time for atheists and humanists.

This is not the time to talk about Christmas, this is not after all a supermarket magazine for the month of August. So, before you get cross with another early mention of Christmas, let’s get back to Halloween and how it is marked in this country.

There exists a climate of fear surrounding this festival. I hate the prospect of a knock on the door, knowing that if I open it I have to offer sweets to small children. By doing so I endorse the idea not only of the dark festival itself, but that I am afraid they may flour bomb my car if I don’t give them all my Minstrels. Quite frankly, I’d prefer to open the door to Jehovah’s Witnesses. That’s probably what hell is like. Continual knocking on the door at the crucial bit in the film you are watching. Up you get to find there’s a stream of JW children crying out trick or treat. If you fail to offer enough sweet stuff you are given a copy of the Watchtower and invited to the nearest Kingdom Hall at the weekend.

Much of the scary side of Halloween comes from the notion of witchcraft linked to Halloween. Quite frankly, the suspicion and fear of witchcraft has diminished greatly since the arrival of Harry Potter. Many Christians dislike the books, but in fact they explore the realms of magic, fantasy and adventure – much like libraries of children’s books before them.

JK Rowling portrays good and bad witches. In the character of Harry Potter good is seen to triumph. As for the magic, having enjoyed a performance by evangelist and escapologist Steve Legg, my children and I know – “It’s not magic, it’s just a trick.”
So we are under pressure this year from the children to allow them to walk the village, trick or treating. In fancy dress it is not a fearful night. If you only call on people you know, it’s a controlled night.

I have a particular downer on Firework Night. As a callow youth I was mugged on firework night in a small Surrey village where these things just don’t happen. I say mugged and that indeed was what it felt like at the time, but someone did come up to me and demand I gave them my scarf. This was not a friend asking - I had never met them, so it was not a favour being asked.

Ever since, I have been fairly cautious about Guy Fawkes Night. Since moving to Yorkshire of course, I also realise that York-born Guy Fawkes was probably set up – but that could be local bias.

What is not bias is the symbolism of the burning of the effigy, exaggerated by the tradition in Lewes in East Sussex of turning the effigy into the figure of the Pope. This I guess is not the greatest act of ecumenism known to mankind.

It would appear that at the beginning of the 21st century, it’s time that Christians stopped the infighting and started looking out towards the world. By doing that we might just discover a world crying out for spiritual answers to the big questions of life – and being given no clues.

Richard Staples is a broadcaster with BBC Radio Bradford

© Christian Family Network
is run by CPO, supported by
Care for the Family, Marriage Resource, Positive Parenting,
Care, Women Alive, Christian Herald and many others.


		VIEWPOINT Not so happy holidays Richard Staples ponders the ins and outs of Halloween - in the UK and the USA Personally, I’m not a big fan of the end of October. Halloween has become so commercialised that even the pagans are worried about it losing its meaning. A couple of years ago we spent the end of October in America. Our American cousins, well my children’s cousins actually, had prepared for us to join in a trick or treat night. In Florida this is somewhat different. The skies are bright blue rather than dark and forbidding, the weather is warm and sunny, not wet and cold and the concept of trick and treat, American style, is rather different too. In the United States, Halloween is a time for fancy dress parades. Children and adults walk up and down in all sorts of costumes, through shopping malls, residential areas, wherever. Residents and shop-owners sit outside their establishments giving out sweets to the children as they pass by. There is clearly no fable, nursery rhyme or law that ensures that you don’t take sweets from strangers in America. The whole point of the parade is not to frighten the wits out of each other or to demand money with menaces. It’s a fun event enjoyed by children and something that has very little to do with faith or religion. Bit like the way they celebrate Christmas. Birmingham Council got into trouble some years ago for embracing the American dream of “Happy Holidays” celebrations rather than “Happy Christmas”. Concerned that such open marking of a Christian feast day might offend a multicultural city, they strove for a politically correct form of message in the council’s events and cards to mark the season. Such watering down outrages Muslim, Hindu and Jewish groups as much as it does Christians. With the festivals of Eid, Diwali and Hanukah all to be celebrated before the year is out, it’s a tough time for atheists and humanists. This is not the time to talk about Christmas, this is not after all a supermarket magazine for the month of August. So, before you get cross with another early mention of Christmas, let’s get back to Halloween and how it is marked in this country. There exists a climate of fear surrounding this festival. I hate the prospect of a knock on the door, knowing that if I open it I have to offer sweets to small children. By doing so I endorse the idea not only of the dark festival itself, but that I am afraid they may flour bomb my car if I don’t give them all my Minstrels. Quite frankly, I’d prefer to open the door to Jehovah’s Witnesses. That’s probably what hell is like. Continual knocking on the door at the crucial bit in the film you are watching. Up you get to find there’s a stream of JW children crying out trick or treat. If you fail to offer enough sweet stuff you are given a copy of the Watchtower and invited to the nearest Kingdom Hall at the weekend. Much of the scary side of Halloween comes from the notion of witchcraft linked to Halloween. Quite frankly, the suspicion and fear of witchcraft has diminished greatly since the arrival of Harry Potter. Many Christians dislike the books, but in fact they explore the realms of magic, fantasy and adventure – much like libraries of children’s books before them. JK Rowling portrays good and bad witches. In the character of Harry Potter good is seen to triumph. As for the magic, having enjoyed a performance by evangelist and escapologist Steve Legg, my children and I know – “It’s not magic, it’s just a trick.” So we are under pressure this year from the children to allow them to walk the village, trick or treating. In fancy dress it is not a fearful night. If you only call on people you know, it’s a controlled night. I have a particular downer on Firework Night. As a callow youth I was mugged on firework night in a small Surrey village where these things just don’t happen. I say mugged and that indeed was what it felt like at the time, but someone did come up to me and demand I gave them my scarf. This was not a friend asking - I had never met them, so it was not a favour being asked. Ever since, I have been fairly cautious about Guy Fawkes Night. Since moving to Yorkshire of course, I also realise that York-born Guy Fawkes was probably set up – but that could be local bias. What is not bias is the symbolism of the burning of the effigy, exaggerated by the tradition in Lewes in East Sussex of turning the effigy into the figure of the Pope. This I guess is not the greatest act of ecumenism known to mankind. It would appear that at the beginning of the 21st century, it’s time that Christians stopped the infighting and started looking out towards the world. By doing that we might just discover a world crying out for spiritual answers to the big questions of life – and being given no clues. Richard Staples is a broadcaster with BBC Radio Bradford © Christian Family Network is run by CPO, supported by Care for the Family, Marriage Resource, Positive Parenting, Care, Women Alive, Christian Herald and many others.