posted September 12, 2005
I wanted to respond to Mr. Blackburn's Opinion Piece in yesterday's Chattanoogan. While he claims to base his opposition of a Red Bank Halloween event on parking and safety, I believe his prejudice against the "occasion," more then the event itself, rings through loud and clear. I have the strange feeling that if this was an event celebrating Christmas, that there would be no objection.
I have been involved in the Haunted House industry since 1976, and I have been hired by churches to build Haunted Houses for them as fund raisers and picked by other churches for my evil ways. The Little Shop of Horrors Haunted House in Red Bank offers a safe alternative to "Trick or Treating" for youngsters in the Red Bank area providing a public service and the proceeds from the event benefit a charity. What could be more noble?
There are some, however, in the religious community who believe that Oct. 31 is evil, and that those who celebrate such a day must be Satan worshipers. But no date on a calendar can be evil in of itself, and the truth of the matter is that Halloween is actually a Christian holiday. When the Catholic Church was trying to convert the Pagans to Christianity, there were two important Celtic celebrations that the Church could not keep the people from celebrating. So in an attempt to subjugate these popular calendar days, the church changed the date of two their holiest of days to coincide with Pagan dates already being celebrated. All Saints day, the holiest day of the Christian calendar was moved to Nov. 1, a day called Samhain by the Celts. The day before this holly day was known as All Hallow's Eve - the day we now know as Halloween.
Not even celebrated in other countries, October the 31st is a true American Holiday. It is second only to Christmas in retail sales with $3 billion predicted to be spent this year on everything from costumes to candy. Halloween has developed into a time of fantasy. It is the only day of the year that you are encouraged to dress up as something you are not. Halloween promotes community through decorations, and parties. And what other day of the year can you take your child door to door down your street and be greeted with a treat? What a great chance to meet your neighbor.
As we watch the assault on Christmas by the political correctness crowd, isn't it interesting that some in the Christian community are no more open-minded about Halloween than others are about Christmas? I would think that there are other more constructive things that the Lyndon Avenue Baptist could spend their time and attorney’s time on than closing a charitable event. Like maybe hurricane relief?
Oh, by the way, the other Christian holiday that was moved to coincide with a Pagan celebration, so that the Catholic Church could get the Pagans to convert to Christianity, was the winter solstice; Dec. 25. Not the birthday of Christ, but the day we celebrate it, that we now call Christmas.
Leonard Pickel
editor@hauntedattraction.com
(Leonard Pickel is editor of Haunted Attraction Magazine, a Trade Publication for the Haunted House Industry.)
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