Your problem is clearly notwith the OP’s mother. Millions of Americans don’t participate at all, with no ill effects observed in their children. Millions more sift candy and allow their kids to eat some but not all, and almost every parent reserves the right to take their children, or not, to a movie, free or not. If you hate the idea of being at odds with your children over their basic impulses, Halloween itself is the thing you need to fear, but not as much as parenting itself.
Okay then: tell me about the religious persecution you’ve suffered. Was it being given free candy and a religious movie that you could see or not as you pleased? Or was it something (gasp) even worse?
Christian privilege was claimed, not religious persecution.
(gasp), indeed.
Alright, I apologize ahead of time if the swoon-factor isn’t radical enough for you, Johnny Utah, but remember, this is just one of the several thousand instances I can point to that leads to outbursts like this.
Recently, at work we were given a little speech on proper workplace etiquette, as a result of some dipshit doodling a swastika somewhere. In speaking of things that would be offensive, we were told by our direct supervisor, “For example, if someone wore a tshirt that said, ‘I’m and atheist and proud of it,’ that would offend me, because I’m a Christian.”
Yeah, I know right? Totally boring. A trivial little nothing. Hardly even worth mentioning. Again. For the millionth time. I mean is my job really worth speaking up? Nah. I’m a good atheist. I’ll shut up.
The privilege to hand out a small card along with candy is not uniquely Christian. Gasp. Also, Jack Batty, (Gasp),did in fact claim to be the victim of persecution. Gasp. And there’s still no argument that persuades an atheist like me that a woman in her own home can’t hand out whatever she wants in addition to the candy. I’m an atheist because I believe reasoned argument leads me there. I have no need to muzzle Christians, or anyone else I disagree with, especially in their own homes.
Indeed.
Bully for you. Just be sure to not put that shoe on the other foot. Just stay nice and quiet with the rest of us atheists too.
Were you told not to wear such a shirt, and were religionists not given a similar warning? If so, that’s wrong. Did you bother to complain? I’d be on your side. If anyone told you not to wear that shirt at home while handing out Halloween candy, I’d be even more on your side. But an atheist should be the last person to object to a person espousing religious belief or nonbelief from their own doorstep, especially when it consists merely of an invitation that can be ignored or declined. You have no beef with the OP’s mother.
I’m OK with my parenting. I resent being set up for an argument with my kids because someone is inappropriately pushing their religion on them. My gripe with Halloween is multifaceted, but it’s not that I’m incapable of regulating their sweet allocation :rolleyes:
Sorry, the world is chock-full of stuff you’ll have to argue with your kids about because someone is inappropriately pushing something you don’t agree with. That doesn’t make it anyone else’s problem but yours. The world is not obligated to make things easy for you.
FWIW, I sense a few distinct traditional market-based outcomes:
[ol]
[li]Word will get out and they’ll get fewer customers, and none by next year[/li][li]The traditional response to “inadequate” treats is tricks, so they should be ready for egging and TP’ing. (In the interests of civil peace, hopefully not more than that).[/li][/ol]
Really? Parents are magically aware of every damn thing their kids encounter, 24/7?
As a teen, I had at least 2 experiences where I was seriously proselytized at - over the course of an evening in one case, for an entire weekend the other. My mother found out later, because I told her about it. But she certainly couldn’t have been expected to foresee or prevent either situation (one was a friend’s birthday party, the other was a “babysitter” since my parents were going to be gone for 3 nights and thought that was too long to leave me alone; the older teen they hired to stay with me was cleancut, polite, and …batshit insanely religious).
First of all, let’s belatedly dispense with the notion that your kids even notice anything in their trick-or-treat bags that isn’t edible. Done. Do you never argue with your kids about anything they want, whether it’s a toy, a treat, or a movie, book or magazine? Even if you think a night at church is beyond the pale, are you prepared to give them everything they see advertised on TV? If that’s not the case, you are as well-equipped as any parent to deal with this. Your characterization of a card inviting someone to a religious movie as “someone inappropriately pushing their religion on them,” would be wrong even if they came to your door to do it, much less when it happens when you knock on theirs.
I don’t disagree.
Maybe they’re movies this church made themselves. I don’t know. But the titles are, more or less, that.
Oh, my mistake. I only had one right. Here are the others. Here are what the cards look like, by the way.
Your links don’t work. 
Those aren’t the names of the movies-those are each night’s themes. The ticket says that they will show new hits and Hollywood classics and tie them to Biblical themes.
I thought that might also be the case, but wasn’t sure. Does that change your opinion on whether or not they should be passed out at Halloween, though?
The cards are pretty straightforward as to what will be going on, and as long as there isn’t any bait-and-switch with the movies(showing movies from Christian film companies instead of actual Hollywood hits) I see no problem.
But it better be coupled with candy bars instead of tiny hard candy. 
Idle Thoughts’ Mum has a history of giving away books. His, specifically.
First of all, let’s dispense with the notion that you know my kids better than I do. They will actually look at non edible things in their baskets. Done.
I do actually argue with my kids about the things they want and I don’t give them everything. That’s why I said I don’t want to listen to my kids whinge, rather than saying I don’t want to have to go. There are already a million things we can argue about, thanks. We don’t need randoms adding new stuff.
It sounds like a film studies class with a Biblical bent, showing snippets of films that tie into that nights theme followed by long discussion or sermonizing afterwards. If they were showing full films, they would state what those films are, not just a theme.
It’s not a movie night.
See my preceding post. Still think its “straightforward”?
And even if it is a “movie night” as posited in the OP, I would consider the lack of titles to be deliberately obfuscatory and suspicious, especially when it is on a flyers given deliberately to young children.