It’s nearly Halloween. Candy and costumes are disappearing from store shelves faster than ice on a hot plate. Decorations are everywhere, in homes and businesses and schools and office buildings. And so I’ve been watching the news networks, and listening to talk radio, and searching the Internet. And I’m wondering what’s wrong. Where are all those news stories? You know, the ones where some person or organization or even the ACLU complains about religious symbols being displayed in public places like courthouses or schools, and how the display of those religious symbols implies government approval of a specific religion, which of course violates the so-called “separation of church and state."
Unless you were comatose last Christmas, you remember the furor over this issue. Some major retail outlets told their employees not to say “Merry Christmas" to their customers, and shoppers retaliated by taking their Christmas business elsewhere. In one instance, shoppers asked for Christmas trees and were directed instead to the “holiday tree" aisle. (Of course, since these shoppers didn’t want a “holiday tree", they informed the employees they’d look at other stores for a Christmas tree.) There were so many instances of manger scenes and living Nativity displays being deemed inappropriate that news channels had to pick only the more sensational ones. And boy, did they ever. We were treated every night to yet another instance of the government going “too far" in “promoting religion" in a society that evidently had seen too much.
So why is the media silent on this subject at Halloween?
These people can’t be stupid. (Okay, let me rephrase that: These people can’t be THAT stupid.) Anybody with a computer and Internet access (or a local library, or even a good encyclopedia) can find out that most of the traditions celebrated at Halloween are derived from pagan religious rituals. Many stem from the Druids, the Celtic priests in ancient France and Britain. Dressing up as ghosts or demons to confuse evil spirits and offering “treats" to appease the dead are just a few of the practices originating from the Druids’ spiritual rites. Other familiar Halloween symbols, like witches and black cats, are derived from the Wiccan religion. And we can’t forget the images of devils and demons that can be traced to various Satanic groups.
Some would argue that these are “dead" religions, that they are no longer active. I would heartily disagree. While not in the same numbers as their forebears, Druidic practices continue to the present day. Modern-day Wiccans use this time of year to promote the idea that they’re not evil, but are nature-loving individuals in tune with the cosmos. Satanic cults do exist and do continue to practice their rituals. These are not dead religions; they are all alive and well.
It is not my intent to attack or besmirch anyone who practices any of these religions. Rather, it is to show that the groups who attack Christianity at Christmas are hypocritical in their assertion that religious references in the holiday season imply governmental endorsement of that religion. I say this because these groups do not treat all religions equally. Just because a religious group isn’t large or doesn’t have a following of millions doesn’t mean it’s safe. (Was Jim Jones safe? Was David Koresh? How about the Heaven’s Gate cult?)
Think about it. The only news stories I’ve heard regarding Halloween are those where someone’s outdoor décor was considered “too scary" for small children to view. There was also a story about an organization complaining that incorporating an insane asylum theme in a haunted house was insensitive to mental patients and only helped to promote a negative stereotype. Nothing whatsoever about religious symbolism in Halloween decorations, or about any individual or group taking an agency to court because it posted Halloween decorations on government property.
Am I saying not to celebrate Halloween? No. I am suggesting maybe it’s time to make people who raise these arguments practice what they preach. If it’s wrong for the government to “promote" Christianity by allowing religious symbols in government and public places at Christmas, then it’s just as wrong to “promote" pagan religions (which are very much alive!) by allowing symbols from those religions to be displayed in the same places at Halloween. If we must remove the religious references from Christmas, we must also do the same for Halloween. Not to do so would be seen as promoting or endorsing one religion over another, which the “separation of church and state" expressly forbids.
You can’t have your cake (or Halloween candy, or Christmas cookies) and eat it too.
