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The 4th reason might be the most unexpected. But isn't it the most true?
I know, I know. Our culture is way too into Halloween, in ways that are unnerving and excessive if not downright evil.
But I’m a big believer in the power of ordinary common-sense — a power celebrated by Catholic intellectuals from Aquinas to Newman. Human beings are made in the image and likeness of God, so when human beings are involved, there is a silver lining to every dark cloud.
At Halloween, that’s a lot of darkness. But here are four silver linings:
1: At Halloween, mainstream culture finally admits that the supernatural is real.
The philosopher Charles Taylor makes a key distinction between the way we see ourselves now vs. the way people always saw themselves before.
We used to have “porous selves” he said — we were beings existing in a world that included lots of inhabitants, seen and unseen, that impact us daily, from our own souls, to spirits distinct from ourselves. Now we are “buffered selves” — autonomous, sovereign individuals, less like porous sponges and more like billiard balls that bounce off each other.
This self-conception seems impenetrable and unchangeable, until Halloween, when we forget all that and admit it: There is another layer to reality, dimensions beyond what we can see and explain, or explain away.
2: And that means Halloween reminds us that we are not ultimately in control.
Continued below.
I know, I know. Our culture is way too into Halloween, in ways that are unnerving and excessive if not downright evil.
But I’m a big believer in the power of ordinary common-sense — a power celebrated by Catholic intellectuals from Aquinas to Newman. Human beings are made in the image and likeness of God, so when human beings are involved, there is a silver lining to every dark cloud.
At Halloween, that’s a lot of darkness. But here are four silver linings:
1: At Halloween, mainstream culture finally admits that the supernatural is real.
The philosopher Charles Taylor makes a key distinction between the way we see ourselves now vs. the way people always saw themselves before.
We used to have “porous selves” he said — we were beings existing in a world that included lots of inhabitants, seen and unseen, that impact us daily, from our own souls, to spirits distinct from ourselves. Now we are “buffered selves” — autonomous, sovereign individuals, less like porous sponges and more like billiard balls that bounce off each other.
This self-conception seems impenetrable and unchangeable, until Halloween, when we forget all that and admit it: There is another layer to reality, dimensions beyond what we can see and explain, or explain away.
2: And that means Halloween reminds us that we are not ultimately in control.
Continued below.
4 Ways Halloween shows that faith is unavoidable
The 4th reason might be the most unexpected. But isn't it the most true?
aleteia.org