When I was a kid (Oh, no! That again!) Halloween was simply a time to dress outlandishly and share candy with the neighbors.
I say "share" because I was born during the Baby Boom, and kids were abundant. Here and there an older couple would pass out candy and get none of it back, but most kids making the rounds had parents at home handing it out while their kids collected it from the neighbors. Very egalitarian.
The predominant American culture then was Christian. Yes, there were other faiths and those of no faith, but most families in suburbia and small-town America were tacitly Christian. Not in-your-face right-wing extremists protesting abortion, inappropriate contentography, and gay marriage, but quiet households where June Cleaver would be right at home.
Witches, ghosts, and other symbols of supernatural evil were decorations or costumes for children. No one took them seriously because the culture had such a solid Christian foundation. The pagan roots of Halloween provided delightful - but not too scary - sources of entertainment for young and old.
Then, gradually, the culture became less Christian, and the harmless symbols of evil became more menacing. Not because Christians huddled in fear as the world became enlightened, but because the symbolic, imaginary evil became all-too-real in the daily news and everyday life. As a reaction, Christians shunned Halloween more and more, reacting to the popularization of institutional faithlessness.
And in doing so, they lost sight of a great truth: the Devil cannot stand being mocked.
The best way to de-energize evil symbols is to ridicule them. Make them caricatures for children and symbols of folly. So if we go back to the earlier, more casual use of Halloween as a fun festival for children and adults, we can affirm the victory over evil won for us by Jesus Christ, and demonstrate it to our children and the watching world around us.
And maybe have a little fun also!
I say "share" because I was born during the Baby Boom, and kids were abundant. Here and there an older couple would pass out candy and get none of it back, but most kids making the rounds had parents at home handing it out while their kids collected it from the neighbors. Very egalitarian.
The predominant American culture then was Christian. Yes, there were other faiths and those of no faith, but most families in suburbia and small-town America were tacitly Christian. Not in-your-face right-wing extremists protesting abortion, inappropriate contentography, and gay marriage, but quiet households where June Cleaver would be right at home.
Witches, ghosts, and other symbols of supernatural evil were decorations or costumes for children. No one took them seriously because the culture had such a solid Christian foundation. The pagan roots of Halloween provided delightful - but not too scary - sources of entertainment for young and old.
Then, gradually, the culture became less Christian, and the harmless symbols of evil became more menacing. Not because Christians huddled in fear as the world became enlightened, but because the symbolic, imaginary evil became all-too-real in the daily news and everyday life. As a reaction, Christians shunned Halloween more and more, reacting to the popularization of institutional faithlessness.
And in doing so, they lost sight of a great truth: the Devil cannot stand being mocked.
The best way to de-energize evil symbols is to ridicule them. Make them caricatures for children and symbols of folly. So if we go back to the earlier, more casual use of Halloween as a fun festival for children and adults, we can affirm the victory over evil won for us by Jesus Christ, and demonstrate it to our children and the watching world around us.
And maybe have a little fun also!
