October 7th, 2019...and editorial...

Oh my...

It has been all over the news. Schools are cancelling Halloween festivities. They say it is because it isn't inclusive enough. There are a number of articles you can read if you want (here, here, here). This phenomenon isn't new...it has been going on for years, but it "feels" like things are shifting faster and faster these days and old traditions are falling away. Or maybe I'm just getting old and less willing to accept change.

In one article (here) the author wrote "The reasons for rejecting Halloween celebrations vary. Many evangelical and fundamentalist Christians see Halloween as an occult celebration, while Jewish law prohibiting celebration of "Gentile" holidays has led some Orthodox members of the faith to shun it as well. Jehovah's Witnesses also forbid members from celebrating Halloween, but many faiths, such as Mormonism, Hinduism (which has its own fall holiday, Diwali), and Buddhism leave it up to individual members to decide whether they want to celebrate Halloween."

You know, I don't want to dive into a religious or political debate here, but as each year passes I see changes that I don't like, that I don't agree with.  And seriously, this sort of thing leads to other staples being stripped away. If the reason behind this is inclusivity then what else is going to go by the wayside? What NEW traditions won't start due to lack of inclusivity?

We've seen so many traditions and holidays attacked over the years.  In my opinion this leads to alienation not inclusion. If I went to another country that had different traditions, religious beliefs and holidays I would either choose to join in or not participate.  I wouldn't think I deserved changes be made to feel included. I wouldn't ask for a thing of my new country.

Thank goodness my kids go to a private school that celebrates Halloween.  Thank goodness they can grow up with traditions that mean something to me.

Maybe I'm not "woke" enough, but I'll tell you this sort of thing leads to a very slippery slope of a boring and homogenized existence where we can't celebrate each other, our differences, our differing cultures and traditions.  No thank you.

Get off my holiday (lawn)!

Wish everyone you see a Happy Halloween...don't let the tradition die...

Mark Harvey