Here is a debate... I'm sure this one is controversial.
Someone has said it was about death and spirits.
To me, these are things that are clearly about death:
Skeletons
Vampires (& bats, blood)
Zombies
Spiders (Like the black widow that is known for killing its mate.)
Spirits (Because it's like talking to the dead.)
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I think that the right way to go for Halloween is giving out healthy and tasty treats, and doing non-spooky costume parties. ; Just simply not doing anything is like having no Community, in fact, why not just have parties everyday? (Even though I'm not much of a party goer, unfortunately.)
Quote from: Fox on 01, November, 2014, 07:36:46 PM
Here is a debate... I'm sure this one is controversial.
Someone has said it was about death and spirits.
To me, these are things that are clearly about death:
Skeletons
Vampires (& bats, blood)
Zombies
Spiders (Like the black widow that is known for killing its mate.)
Spirits (Because it's like talking to the dead.)
--
I think that the right way to go for Halloween is giving out healthy and tasty treats, and doing non-spooky costume parties. ; Just simply not doing anything is like having no Community, in fact, why not just have parties everyday? (Even though I'm not much of a party goer, unfortunately.)
most of it is just fiction, so come on.
Not quite sure where you want to get with this topic, or even what you're trying to say...
Quotemost of it is just fiction, so come on.
Yes, I know, but the thing is, most of it seems to support the celebration of death... (I still believe in the existence of angels and demons, though.... but not under Halloween context. If you don't, I do not recommend telling me otherwise, because this goes with my choice of religion.)
Some of these have religious references...
Christmas is about Jesus's birth.
Hanukkah and Kwanza are Jewish/Muslim holidays...
Thanksgiving is what you are thankful for.
Easter is to celebrate Jesus dying on cross to forgive people's sin.
But Halloween, what good thing is it about that makes it worth celebrating?
I guess that's what I meant. I know that just simply having parties for fun can apply in all cases, though.
Iirc, halloween is to respect the spirits of the dead or whatver right? Its derived from pagan holidays for that sort of thing
Respecting the dead... hm... maybe.
I did think of it being like an Independence Day, since fireworks sometimes go on, if I remember correctly.
That does raise another question... When Halloween was first made a holiday, how was it celebrated? Was it even linked to spooky things?
Fireworks are on > Must be like independence day.
Much logical fallacy... Honestly I'm resisting criticizing this very, very much.
Here, Google and Wikipedia are your friend.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween
QuoteFireworks are on > Must be like independence day.
It's a simile, so it's not like I said it actually was an independence day. Both are still very different. (Except for the part where both are about remembering the past, however, one's about the dead, and the other is about the Declaration of Independence (US) )
Lots of reading in that link... and maybe that's why I never looked it up. Huge time waster, but thanks for suggesting it.
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So I guess I shall revise the question: (Or just simply add a question, so therefore, I'll keep the title of this topic the same, for now.)
Is it worth having a day to recognize all the people who have died? (For example, in some circumstances, it could be "no" due to grief.)
Think you could make the argument that Halloween isn't so much about reflecting on deceased relatives (that would be the Day Of The Dead) as it is a cultural holiday meant for children to dress up as cool or spooky characters and receive candy from neighbors. It's more of a fun holiday than anything else. Kids eat healthy enough already during all the other days of the year, it's nice to be able to spend a day away from all that normality, dress up, and elicit some candy from neighbors using the slightly threatening line 'trick-or-treat'. Obviously that original meaning for the holiday is there, but I find that it's moved on from its original founding to take more on more of a cultural role.
Wouldn't say it "celebrates the notion of death" at all, it celebrates the cultural role spooky things such as monster stories and horror movies play in society, which coincidentally are often connected to death in some way. You can go even farther as to extend its reach to pop culture, in general. It's essentially a holiday where you can dress up as your favorite character from a TV show or movie and treat yourself to some candy, both of which are things you are normally restricted from doing, for obvious reasons (walking around as Walter White from Breaking Bad while scarfing down some Milky Ways on a daily basis, might not be the wisest decision you could make).
Additionally, Kwanzaa isn't a Muslim holiday, it's a relatively new African holiday created in the late sixties by a civil rights activist for African-Americans to have "their own holiday" to celebrate their own heritage, but is by far the most uncelebrated Christmas holiday of the bunch, with most African-Americans simply celebrating Christmas or Hanukkah.
Interestingly, its creator was a felon named Maulana Karenga, who was charged with assaulting two women in 1971 with the help of his wife after being denied sexual intercourse with those women, with the victims having been "whipped with an electrical cord and beaten with a karate baton after being ordered to remove their clothes", according to their testimony. One victim testified that "a hot soldering iron was placed in Miss Davis' (one of the victims) mouth and placed against Miss Davis' face and that one of her own big toes was tightened in a vice. Karenga also put detergent and running hoses in their mouths. They also were hit on the heads with toasters". Maulana Karenga has since been released from prison, and claims to this day that he was imprisoned for political purposes, and likens his experience to that of a political prisoner.
[Kids eat healthy enough already during all the other days of the year]
How many fat people do we have in America? :P ; (This is mostly a question, I'm not saying I disagree, because I have not looked into the statistics.)
@Kwanzaa & Hanukkah: I don't celebrate those holidays, so I don't know much about them, but thanks. (Is there a Muslim holiday? Perhaps I got the names mixed up.) EDIT: Checked wikipedia: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muslim_holidays) , I guess the closest thing is Ramadan.... oh well.
Edit: I forgot to mention, but we also know someone (irl) who thinks there's nothing good about Halloween. So I guess that's at least 2 people who thinks Halloween is an evil holiday. (The mention in the first post was someone else...) ; Ofcourse, the irl guy is likely picky about things, anyway...
(I personally don't think it was meant to be evil (Otherwise, how would they have allowed it to become an international holiday?), but wondered if having a Holiday with a lot of spooky stuff going on was a good idea or not. For example, it might give mentally messed up people ideas. Like tricking someone into thinking they're being pranked, when in fact, they're not. I heard something on the news about this, and if I remember correctly, someone died. Might need to double check, though.)
I think halloween, as it's evolved, it more of a defiance of death and all things scary. Kind of a "you can't get us!" sort of thing - which is why everyone gets in costume and goes around with treats.
Personally, I've never been big on trick-or-treating, but that's because I always found the harvest festivals that happen that day to not only be more fun, but more rewarding in terms of goodies.
I like halloween because it's fun. There's really no other reason why I celebrate it. It's not mandatory which is why most people don't take the day off as adults but it's fun and candy is always appreciated.
Goody. I'm happy to see positive feedback.
I guess it's settled then?
Halloween is just another festive way of having fun. ; In that case, I wonder what festive things we could start relating to Golden Sun...
Any excuse for a party, amirite?
Depends on what or who you're celebrating. Halloween as we know it today is a blend of various traditions and events. Long ago some of these traditions involved the observance of olden mythological gods such as Donn or marked the time humans were sacrificed to gods by ancient civilizations. A few of these traditions evolved over time and fused with the modern day celebration "Halloween". (Walking around dressed as a monster or demon to blend in with those that roam the world during this time is one of the more relevant traditions involved.)
This isn't to say that Halloween is evil, but it does have questionable roots. Despite this a lot of people either celebrate it or create their own unrelated events to enjoy on October the 31st. It's good to know the history of a holiday beyond the more commercialized image that often clouds it.