Happy Halloween! said Google when I opened the browser today. The thing is, it's actually not Halloween today, today is Oct 10th and as far as I can tell, Halloween is on the 31st.
Also, there is nothing happy about Halloween. Or is there? Maybe I've just missed the point. Maybe scary glowing pumpkins with carved oversized eyes and teeth are actually funny? And skeletons. Well, it doesn't get much better than decorating your garden with remains of dead people. Oh, and I would have forgotten the ghosts. Yeah, they are surely fun too, jumping out of nowhere with a not at all frightening boo!
You see, I'm not into Halloween at all. Putting aside all the religious reasons, I just consider it a completely pointless "celebration".
Why celebrate death and all things horrible and spooky? Somehow it is acceptable to dress up as a serial killer for the occasion, but in what sort of a world we live that this is considered funny? Shouldn't we condemn everything that condones acts and attitudes which are destructive to the society? But instead, for Halloween, the moral value of these does not matter. We put in the cupboard all the objections to murder, torture, animal sacrifice and witchcraft. All of a sudden, for one night in a year, all these are perfectly fine. And, lo!, there are even sweets involved! (or alcohol, depending on the age bracket)
Not to mention the fact that I don't see any reason why celebrating death can have any appeal at all. Death is not funny at all, despite what the image search on Google can lead you to believe. Let the dead rest in peace. Pray for them, light candles in their memory or sponsor a park bench with their name on it. But please don't dress up as our dearly departed. It's in a very bad taste. It's as if we were dressing up as people with cancer or other terrible disease. You wouldn't do that, would you?
Commercialised as they are, Christmas and Easter at least celebrate something, or rather someone, Jesus. Halloween is completely pointless, there is no spirituality or other justification behind it. It is yet another way of making us spend money. Because obviously you need orange-wrapped chocolates for the occasion, right? Oh, and don't forget the pumpkins. Pumpkins are actually seasonal vegetable in the UK in October, but this doesn't seem to be a good enough reason for supermarkets to sell them. No, what is necessary is to place the pumpkins in a box with bats and spiders on it to increase its appeal.
There's nothing happy about Halloween. Full stop. I have nothing more to say on that matter. Enjoy your Sunday. And Monday. Without the cobwebs, skeletons and black cats.
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