Happy Halloween, whether you like it or not!

My first instinct was to blog about the physical confrontation that I had with a student last week, but I delayed long enough until it was Halloween, so I figure a holiday post is more in order (I'll talk about my brawl next week, I promise).

Anyway, today's post is spurred on by my morning commute, which is always accompanied by the calming tones of KLTY's morning show with Frank Reed, Darlene Stringer, and Perry Revis. It dawned on me very early in my commute that these three were trying very hard to not even use the word "Halloween"(although in fairness Frank would use the expression, "Halloween alternative" on occasion). The code word that was most often used was "Fall Festival", as in, "The weather is going to be wonderful for your little ones as they go out to Fall Festivals tonight." I've always thought of myself as a Christian in good standing (actually that is a lie. I've always seen myself as a Christian darn lucky to have a forgiving God), but I missed the memo where it became the standard assumption that all good Christians eschew Halloween entirely.

I know that this is a source of conflict among some of us, but I think that friendship is only real if we can disagree with one another and still love each other, so let's talk about this. I come from the camp that says, at worst, Halloween is a meaningless night that allows kids to dress up, have some fun, and get candy. At best, it is a national tradition that unites disparate people in a common cultural legacy that forges an American identity that values shared rituals over sectarian heritage. In short, Halloween makes a stronger united America.

One could argue that the use of costume is not so much about idolizing the assumed identity, but casting off the real identity. We mask who we are to show that what we are is nothing. If everyone is something weird, than there is no standard for conformity; no majority or minority. We must all be accepted (or rejected) based off of our own uniqueness instead of on our allegience to certain socio-racial subgroups.

Unfortunately, this is all a national and philosophical perspective rather than a religious one, which is my supposed area of expertiese. Of course, I'm Church of Christ, and we CoC'ers speak where the Bible speaks and are silent where the Bible is silent, and the Bible is pretty silent on Halloween. I did find an interesting Episcopalian article here that makes sense to me from the Christian Point of View. Read it and give me your thoughts.

I love you guys, and I hope you have a Happy "Fall Festival" today.