Halloween needs to be taken out of the schools..................?

Question

Halloween, All Saint's Eve, and the original (Pagan) Samhuinn (Celtic in origin) are considered a Holiday.

How many school decorate their classrooms for Halloween?
If these were Christian church decorations in the classrooms (like a nativity or the Cross), WHOA! We'd hear an outcry!! Look out for all the law suits!

Look in the classrooms and hallways. Do you see Christian symbols on the walls during other holidays like you see symbols at Halloween?

Do the schools have Halloween AND Christmas AND Easter parties?

What other holiday is mandated and regulated in the school system like Halloween.?

Christian parents should be bold enough to insist that if God must leave the public school... so must every other religion...

Halloween started out as a pagan celebration like Christmas etc. The catholics turned it into a Christian holiday. Research it for yourself.

Also, I would like to know WHAT schools celebrate holidays as long as they don't mention Jesus.

Also, as far as taking Halloween out of the schools because Christmas was taken out -- your damn right.

If, as an increasingly visible Wiccan and pagan subculture insist Halloween is a religious or spiritual holiday, what does this say about the First Amendment aspects? Do demands that "alternative" religions and spiritual groups be accorded the same legal status as mainstream churches change the nature of Halloween?

Just as Christmas Eve is the beginning of the celebration of Christmas, so Halloween is the beginning of the celebration of All Saints. This feast is about remembering those who have gone before us who we believe to be in heaven because of the way in which they led their lives here on earth. Some were martyrs who lost their lives for their beliefs. Others were teachers, founders of religious communities, some devoted their lives to care of the poor and infirmed, and some wrote great works of theology. Saints are examples of faith for you and me.
Halloween is a Christian feast.
www.vermontparishes.org/catholicquestions/

I WANT CHRISTMAS - EASTER AND BIRTHDAYS IN SCHOOL. DON'T YOU GET IT................. THEY HAVE BEEN REMOVED FROM OUR SCHOOLS SO WHY NOT HALLOWEEN? WHAT'S FAIR IS FAIR.

IT'S THE PRINCIPLE

Answer 1

My son is in high school. I have several friends with kids in different high schools as well. ALL of them celebrate Halloween, Christmas and Easter. They even put on Christian plays during Christmas and Easter. "All the law suits" I keep hearing about all of these law suits, but oddly enough when I do searches on main News sites, I can't find any info. I would think it would be in the news, considering the Majority claims to be Christian. Each school decides... the Board of the School VOTES on how they will handle these situations. The closest thing you can find going to the courts is when they took LEAD prayer out of the schools, which is why I agree... if you take one religion out... take them all. I have never stated that one religion be observed over another... including my own (Celtic). I'm sure you wouldn't want me to lead "prayer" at your childs school. I don't want someone else leading my child in any religious ritual. I don't even do that and he's my kid.

I suggest that if people want to speak out, they should go to their schools and do so. THAT is where it is happening. It isn't in the courts. Most schools have their own websites and you can find all of their info there. If you still have a question, then you email the principal of the school or find the # for the Board of Ed.

Answer 2

It is kind of hard to determine just what you are trying to say through all that rant, but as a Pagan, yes, Halloween, better known as Samhain (Sow-ain) to us Pagans, is a holiday. It is one of our most important holidays.
I believe very strongly in the separation of Church and State, that includes all religions.
Halloween has become more of a secular holiday these days, but I do agree, if they take out the celebration of Christmas and Easter (Pagan holidays originally both) then Halloween should go to.
By the way, it WAS pre-empted by the Christians to make it a Christian holiday. As usual the Christians take over all the Pagan Holidays.

Answer 3

Halloween is not a religious festival anymore, it is just a time to have fun. So that's why schools use Halloween symbols, because they are not religious, they are just fun. However, not everyone is Christian, so the nativity isn't an appropriate symbol for school, but everyone can relate to a Christmas tree. Sure they have parties for Halloween, but they have parties fo Christmas and Easter too, just not religiously, so that's why Christian symbols are rarely used. People just want people of all races to join the festivities and not only a select few communities. So, we have nothing against Christianity, but we just want people to fit in. That's all. Great question though!

Answer 4

If you don't like Halloween then turn off your light and lock the door on Oct 31. Or stay open pass out tracts with the candy.

All Saint's Eve is, in fact, one of the old church holidays. Nothing pagan about that.

You also find that the American approach of doing orange & black, goth, skeletons, pumpkins, etc, is, well - American. The Mexico version is a bit different. But if you go to Europe there is no celebration of Halloween.

You need to lobby your local school board - thank goodness we stil have local control of schools so if a community does not like Halloween, they can celebrate a "Harvest Festival" or something.

But I believe that some people are a bit over the top in their "hatred" of Halloween. It's not necessarily satanic.

Answer 5

I have seen Santa Claus and Frosty the Snowman decorations in schools in December, and bunnies and chickies (and decorated eggs) in the spring. So why not the non-religious part of Halloween, as well?

OK, maybe some of the decorations, such as witches, are actually referring to a religion, namely Wicca. But usually the witch images are sufficiently ugly that they are not promoting Wicca in any relevant sense.

You may be right that the best thing to do would be to put holidays of all sorts out of the schools. They might decorate for the seasons, but not for any specific holiday. Or they might just forget the whole idea of decorations which are dependent on the calendar.

It is really up to the parents and the school board and the administration what they want to do with this, unless someone takes it to court and gets a judge involved.

Answer 6

Do you really believe that there are no Christmas related symbols in schools during that holiday season? They might not be expressly Christian symbols, but then most Halloween decorations are not Pagan symbols. Besides, you don't often find pagans trying to beat their religion into the heads of others, maybe that's why Christian symbols are no longer up in schools.

Answer 7

I go to school and I volenteer in a pre-school. christmas tree posters and drawings are hung on the walls. the children do projects.
I had to do a class project duing december. we asked the kids what they celebrated. most celebrated christmas. one celebrated romadon. they drew pictures of what their family did on the holiday and wrote down the stories they told us. one girl in the other class (not the one I worked in) was a jehova witness and didn't celebrate any religions-instead we asked her what she did on winter break.
same thing for easter.
in high school we had assemblies and typically at least one student and most of the groups played a christmas song in their act.

halloween is no longer a pagan holiday. its commercial. its for children to have fun, dress up, and eat candy (and adults could have fun with it as well)
thats why valentine's day has religious roots but even private, religious schools have parties where their students bring in cards with cartoon characters.

now if schools talked about magic and religious rites that are part of halloween you'd have a case

Answer 8

Pastor Billys says: Great cause, bad understanding of history. Halloween was actually started by anti-Catholics not Catholics to make fun of the Christian Creed and praying for the dead like Paul who prayed for Onesiphorus. II Timothy 1:16 and II Timothy: 4:19.

I'm Catholic and I don't agree with the practise as it is anti-Catholic in origin and tends to celebrate the darkness instead of the light.

The argument of pagan holidays made Christian is pretty silly because you could make the same argument for practically any day of the calendar year. It would seem you can't please all the people all the time.

Answer 9

Most of the symbols and decorations used by schools at Halloween are actually Christian symbols that have been adopted to remove the religious aspects of Samhain and replace them with the idea that pagan beliefs are evil and satanic.

Witches are ugly, spirits and skeletons are scary, vampires and ghouls threaten your immortal soul--these are CHRISTIAN ideas, not pagan.

Answer 10

It's people like you who are the reason we can't even have parties in a school. As a teacher, we don't even let children bring in cupcakes to celebrate their birthdays anymore, because you know there is going to be one parent throwing a fit over it. We don't celebrate Halloween or any other holiday under the sun.....hope you're happy....because the kids sure aren't.