why the education department do not allowed prayers in school but yet promote halloween in school?

Question

i strongly believe in promoting good than evil. what is the views of the public?

Answer 1

Good question.

+ Halloween +

Halloween is actually like Christmas Eve. The night before a Christian holy day.

It is the eve of All Saint's Day or All Hallows Eve or Halloween. Just like "hallowed be Thy name."

But just like Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday), Halloween has taken on a life of its own.

Christians including Catholics do not fear death, evil, or satan. In Christ, we can laugh in the face of death.

From an email I received: Being a Christian is like being a pumpkin. God lifts you up, takes you in, and washes all the dirt off of you. He opens you up, touches you deep inside, and scoops out all the yucky stuff--including the seeds of doubt, hate, greed, etc. Then He carves you a new smiling face and puts His light inside you to shine for all the world to see.

With love in Christ.

+ Prayer in Public School +

Any structured prayer in public schools will favor one religion over all others.

The Catholic Church agrees with the U.S. Constitution as currently interpreted by the U.S. Supreme Court and does not support "structured" prayer in public schools.

In the Vatican II document, DECLARATION ON RELIGIOUS FREEDOM, DIGNITATIS HUMANAE (Human Dignity), the Church states:

The human person has a right to religious freedom. This freedom means that all men are to be immune from coercion on the part of individuals or of social groups and of any human power, in such wise that no one is to be forced to act in a manner contrary to his own beliefs, whether privately or publicly, whether alone or in association with others, within due limits.

Children will continue to privately pray before tests just like they always have.

http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_decl_19651207_dignitatis-humanae_en.html

+ With love in Christ.

Answer 2

Hmm why the education department do not allowed.... try this:
"Why doesn't the education department allow"
Also, it's but OR yet, not both, and whichever one you choose, I'd put a "they" in there after it.
Finally do you want to say you believe in promoting "more good than evil" or "good more than evil?" And "what IS the views...?" try "are" since there ARE multiple views.
I wonder what you've been learning at school...

Now that I've fixed the grammar, time to answer the question. The first thing I'll supply as an answer, however, will be another question. Why do you believe halloween is evil? Admittedly, more people do evil things on halloween because of mischief night, to get back at those who give less than adequate candy, etc. but does that make the holiday evil? Although halloween is tied to a pagan ritual, are pagans evil? If you say yes to this, then you really need to learn tolerance, because all that "pagan" means is polytheistic. Many religions are still pagan, including hinduism, wicca, etc. Would you call every single hindu in the world evil? If this answer is yes, then I guess we'll have to agree to disagree.

Answer 3

Halloween is no longer seen as a religious holiday. It was incorporated into general American mainstream as a day for kids to dress up and have fun. It's nothing more then a commercialize day. Why do some schools have Christmas trees but no Menorahs? The school system does promote religion to some degree by having Christmas Day, December 25th, as a legal holiday. In respect to prayers, their are so many religious faiths that it can't be legal to be allowed in school. That is the separation of church and state. What I don't understand, and I do not think it's wrong for prayer of any kind, is if someone is devout in their faith, why don't they send them to religious schools instead?

Answer 4

Halloween is a community event, or festival. It is a part of our culture. It can be participated in my any denomination, and participation isn't mandatory.

Prayers are sacred and the church freely offers education in the form of Sunday school. These people are most effective in teaching Christianity to children.

And while praying is good for the soul, there is potential for discrimination. Muslim children would face East while praying, while Christian children would recite the Lord's Prayer. Add to this children from other religions like Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Wicca/pagan religions. Even agnosticism and atheism. This would be a daily division and exclusion which could be quite a difficult climate for children and teachers.

Far better to offer a world religions course, to educate on the similarities of religion (monotheism, for example) and different traditions around the world and in our own communities. Knowing the differences between a synagogue and a mosque, as well as the similarities.

It could be presented along with historical fact and cultural respect.

Answer 5

Here, man.

The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom, and northern France, celebrated their new year on November 1. This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31, they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. In addition to causing trouble and damaging crops, Celts thought that the presence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Druids, or Celtic priests, to make predictions about the future. For a people entirely dependent on the volatile natural world, these prophecies were an important source of comfort and direction during the long, dark winter.

To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities.

During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other's fortunes. When the celebration was over, they re-lit their hearth fires, which they had extinguished earlier that evening, from the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter.

By A.D. 43, Romans had conquered the majority of Celtic territory. In the course of the four hundred years that they ruled the Celtic lands, two festivals of Roman origin were combined with the traditional Celtic celebration of Samhain.

The first was Feralia, a day in late October when the Romans traditionally commemorated the passing of the dead. The second was a day to honor Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. The symbol of Pomona is the apple and the incorporation of this celebration into Samhain probably explains the tradition of "bobbing" for apples that is practiced today on Halloween.

By the 800s, the influence of Christianity had spread into Celtic lands. In the seventh century, Pope Boniface IV designated November 1 All Saints' Day, a time to honor saints and martyrs. It is widely believed today that the pope was attempting to replace the Celtic festival of the dead with a related, but church-sanctioned holiday. The celebration was also called All-hallows or All-hallowmas (from Middle English Alholowmesse meaning All Saints' Day) and the night before it, the night of Samhain, began to be called All-hallows Eve and, eventually, Halloween. Even later, in A.D. 1000, the church would make November 2 All Souls' Day, a day to honor the dead. It was celebrated similarly to Samhain, with big bonfires, parades, and dressing up in costumes as saints, angels, and devils. Together, the three celebrations, the eve of All Saints', All Saints', and All Souls', were called Hallowmas.


PRAYERS are just sayings to your god to say how much you either love him, hope for him to protect you, to save you from any evil or peril, etc.

Halloween didn't always mean the devil. Nor did it always mean the day to dress up and be different!

Answer 6

The people that work in the schools are not allowed to promote Halloween, but the students are free to dress up if they wish. And what's so evil about Halloween? It is when the veils between the worlds are the thinnest, and people can connect with their deceased loved ones. What's so bad about that?

Answer 7

Halloween has nothing to do with good or evil. It's actually a fall celebration to ward off evil--that's why people have jack-o-lanterns and wear costumes. The light to ward away the darkness and the masks/costumes to confuse spirits from taking them away. Plus, Halloween is not considered a religious holiday by most standards.

Answer 8

First off, for kids, Halloween is about costumes and candy. The idea of "witchcraft" or "evil" or "occult" doesn't occur to them. None of those words came up for me when I was a child and I don't know anyone else who thought about them, either. I looked forward to Halloween for candy and dressing up, not for causing harm.

Also, while a child might understand the word "evil", I don't think many youngsters would understand "witchcraft" or "occult" and what they mean. Kids are innocent and fun loving, not little demons.

Secondly, prayers are NOT banned in school. Children can pray any time they want, be it before class, a test, or lunch, whenever. The school district cannot punish them in any way for praying or reading a Bible or sharing their faith with other students. They can punish a child for discriminating against others(ie: students beating up another because the beaten student was atheist), but they can't expel a child for praying before a meal.

However, the prayers that ARE "banned" that seem to have religious people in an uproar is teacher or faculty-led prayers. This was done away with in 1963 and with good reason. In a public school, not every child is the same faith. Period. You can deny it all you want, but not every child that attends school is religious, let alone Christian.

To require a non-religious or non-Christian student to recite a prayer(and according to my mother, who does remember the days of prayer in school, it was the Lord's Prayer. Not sure if this is standard or just what her school did, but for the sake of arguement, I'll take it that when prayers were said, it was this one), tells them that they don't count or matter in the district because they don't share the district's faith. It's like telling them; "We don't want your kind here, so get out and find someplace where they'll take your sinful kind." Hardly promotes a healthy learning atmosphere, especially when you consider that children are REQUIRED by law to attend school.

And if that's not good enough, let me make this arguement. If you're a Christian and thusly raise your children to be Christian as well, you wouldn't want them to go to school and be taught to go against the beliefs you're teaching them by, say, worshipping Buddha as Buddhists, right? You're the parent, the school doesn't have a right to tell your children to go against what they're taught at home, right? I bet if a school did that, you'd take your children out of the district pretty fast.

If it's not fair for you, it's not fair for non-Christian and non-believers to have to tell their kids one thing at home, then send them to a school where said beliefs from home are contradicted. Therefore, having a principal or teacher lead a prayer of any kind was ruled unconstitutional and forbidden because it requires those who are not of the same faith to pray in a faith they don't belong to. Children are required by law to attend school, so if a school requires prayer, a child who has no choice but to be there is forced to go against their beliefs.

So prayer is by no means forbidden in school. Teachers and faculty cannot lead prayers on basis of the fact that not everybody in the district is the same faith, but they can't punish, expel, or fail a student for being religious. The idea that they can is complete nonsense. If a district allows it, they're in the wrong, and they can be prosecuted for it, so get over it. Your kids can pray.

Answer 9

No one is stopped from praying in school. Students and teachers can pray silently as often as they wish.
The state (i.e. teachers, school officials etc) are not allowed to lead or coerce prayer from students in school.
Didn't Jesus say go pray in a closet?
Send your kids to private school where everyone can pray all day long if they wish. Personally, I don't want my kids being taught religion in school, that's what family and church are for.
Halloween is no more evil than Christmas, they are both practically secular holidays now. Christmas, in particular, is pagan in origin.
So enjoy!

Answer 10

Halloween is not evil. It's celebrated by dressing up and getting candy. Halloween is not a religious holiday either.

Answer 11

Because Halloween is not a religion, and there are no prayers connected to it.