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Published on 10/23/1995 All articles from this issue

Halloween's religious origins? History says 'not so'

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By Keith Williams

There is always a small but usually strident number of people whose pleasure is gained principally from obstructing the pleasure of the large but usually acquiescent majority. Over the years it has been the practice of the acquiescent majority to acquiesce and this has given the minority an erroneous impression of their worth and the worth of their causes. It is good to know the majority is at last beginning to show it has decided enough is enough.

The petition to which the board has yielded is inconsistent. It admits most people do not regard Halloween as a religious festival, but bases all its arguments on a perception by its authors of its alleged religious content. Any present religious content is that invested by those who seek to claim some sort of occult significance for the day in order that yet another activity which does not conform to their minority view can be eliminated. Most of us neither know nor care about the occult! The board is equally inconsistent in stating it does not characterize Halloween as a religious festival but acting as though it is exactly that. Shall we hear next the board is excluding football because some of us regard it as a corruption of the near religion of Rugby Union? Facetious, I admit, but entirely relevant within the context created by this petition and surrender.

The facts set forth in the petition are close to the truth - as so often happens when extremists or agitators seek to impose minority views by disingenuous argument and near logic. The original Celtic festival was a celebration of New Year and an examination of the portents for the future. At this stage there was no religion on Oct. 31 although the Druids did tinker about with Oct. 31. Still, they established the Eisteddfod as a world class music festival and we're not going to ban that, are we?

The Romans, having invaded Britain, must have rather liked the coincidence of the Celtic festival with their equivalent of what is now a Thanksgiving for safe harvest and, rather than abolish it, they added to it to have some fun of their own. In fact the custom of carving root vegetables (in the U.S. represented by pumpkins) into faces is a celebration of harvest and has nothing to do with demonology - except in the minds of those who wish by an association to achieve some personal agenda.

Then came the first tenuous association of Oct. 31 with religion - the Christians, during the ninth century capitalized on the established time of celebration (to which had by now been added the idea of chasing away evil spirits of many kinds) and selected Nov. 1 as All Saints or All Hallows day, thus tuming the night before purely by chance into Hallows Eve or Halloween. So that's the real religious significance of what has always been regarded as a secular festival - it has the temerity to fall on the evening before a religious feast!

If the members of the board are to be consistent, then they must decide a religious petition on religious grounds and despite a generous leavening of disclaimers the petition is religious.

The Charter of Rhode Island 1663, which has not been repealed or abrogated, declares the right to religious liberty. This has been defined as the right of any person to form religious beliefs according to conscience and to give public expression in worship and teaching. It is way above tolerance which presupposes that one religion is superior, but we can put up with the rest.

Article Six of the U.S. Constitition and the First Amendment enshrine this right and it is speciflcally stated in the Ninth Amendment that they do not seek to limit it. Now it seems to me both are being abused to provide the kind of censorship for which we have so long criticized the former Soviet Union and for the abolition of which we have recently praised that country. Does the board prefer to resurrect that kind of censorship or to join the enlightenment which is bringing a new climate to world democracy?

Before ending it is worth expanding on the word democracy. In the 20th century, it has come to mean rule by representatives elected by popular suffrage - a concept which is colloquially described as majority rule. This does not mean suppression of the minority but it does mean the minority should be aware it is the minority and that it cannot prevail until, by ethical persuasion, it has converted enough of the majority to turn the tables at a subsequent election. Thus all members of the board should be aware of the power of the vote and should respect its expression.

Equality before the law does not give the minority a right to impose upon the majority. It gives each of us the right to be heard and the duty to accept a decision when there are more voters against us than in favor of us. We have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. How much longer will we allow pressure groups to erode those rights without response? Although I have no particular view about Halloween per se, I am sick of bans; I am apprehensive about what will be the next step along the road to social sterility and I fail to understand the need to harm the majority of children by stopping what to the majority of us is harmless fun.

Finally, I would like to refer to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It prohibits religious discrimination and that operates to protect the majority as well as the minority. The board should find the wisdom to uphold the majority and the strength to reject the killjoys.