Evil Ritual or Good Clean Fun?

Every year in early October, Halloween props,home where they could ration your consumption
decorations, and costumes begin to fill the(while they rifled through some of the "good
entrances and isles of malls, departments stores,stuff" for themselves). You remember hayrides,
and even grocery stores. Advertisements forcostume parties, and visiting the local make-shift
haunted houses, costume parties, and otherhaunted house or haunted woods. You watched
events start popping up everywhere. As we areHalloween television specials and just had a lot of
reminded of the Halloween season, the argumentfun with your friends and have special memories
about Halloween starts brewing. Is Halloween aof this scary holiday.
wicked ritual based on satanism and witchcraft orEvil Tradition
is it a time to have harmless fun with friends?While many people find no harm in Halloween,
The debate continues.there are also many that avoid any activity or
Halloween is celebrated every year on theget together that has anything to do with
evening of October 31st. Many people loveHalloween. Many believe that the origins of
Halloween time and enjoy dressing up as theirHalloween are based on satanic rituals and
favorite character, taking their kidswitchcraft and any participation or celebration in
trick-or-treating, eating candy, and going toHalloween activities is condoning witchcraft,
costume parties and think of it as just clean fun.satanism, and other evil based traditions.
However, other people think of Halloween as anConflicting Beliefs
evil ritual based on satanic practices and should beThere are many conflicting beliefs on the history
avoided at all costs. This brings up an interestingof Halloween. One belief is that it began as a Celtic
debate with many passionate and heatedpagan festival originally named Samhain in Ireland
arguments on each side of the issue.where Celtic priests (known as Druids) performed
Simply Good Clean Funrituals by offering sacrifices or crops, animals, and
If you are like many people, you have fondsupposedly even humans to please the gods. This
memories of Halloween as you were growing up.was done to ensure the sun would return when
You remember picking out the costume of yourthe winter season ended and the evil spirits would
favorite super hero or your mother making abe scared away. Another belief is that much of
scary ghost outfit made of a white sheet withthe information about the origins of Halloween are
some holes cut out for the eyes. With a littlebased on inaccuracies, myths, and other fiction
plastic jack-o-lantern or paper sack, youand that no historical proofs link Halloween to
journeyed about the neighborhood with yoursatanism or witchcraft.
friends going door to door quoting the well knownSo, is Halloween an wicked ritual? Is it clean fun?
phrase "trick or treat". You couldn't wait to seeIs it what we make of it now regardless of it's
what kind of candy or treat you would get.origins? Should we avoid it at all costs? Should we
Sometimes you would eat some of the candy ascelebrate it as a time of plentiful harvest? What is
you wandered the neighborhood even thoughyour opinion? The debate continues...
your parents told you to save it until you got