# Reclaiming HALLOWEEN for Christ? Are you SERIOUS? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 9, 2010, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reclaiming-halloween-for-christ-are-you-serious/556589 "2010-10-09T08:41:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ea5d25/32.png) [@Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Scrappy_Hero_Pup)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2010, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reclaiming-halloween-for-christ-are-you-serious/556589/1 "2010-10-09T08:41:39Z")
Not in the Pit because I’m not angry, just a bit… flummoxed. Full disclosure: I am a Catholic, and a conservative Catholic at that. I believe in… well, my particular beliefs are for another thread. But let’s just say I dig me some Jesus. Somehow this facebook thread (which I guess is the new big thing) came up on my homepage: [http://www.facebook.com/q/Thinking-a-lot-about-reclaiming-aspects-of-culture-for-Christ-how-would-you-reclaim-Halloween/10100241381271810?qa\_ref=sh](http://www.facebook.com/q/Thinking-a-lot-about-reclaiming-aspects-of-culture-for-Christ-how-would-you-reclaim-Halloween/10100241381271810?qa_ref=sh) Reclaim Halloween? HALLOWEEN? Halloween is a secular holiday based in pagan tradition. At frickin’ BEST, it’s a Bizarro All Saints’ Day, where you can pretend to be a ghost before you observe the Holy Day. And even that is a REACH, if not a reach and a half. Even the Catholic Church’s exorcism department has no beef with Halloween. And some joker is trying to reclaim it for Christ? It was never Christ’s to begin with. Lighten up, ya jackwagon. Next on the agenda: reclaiming Cesar Chavez day for Zeus. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2010, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reclaiming-halloween-for-christ-are-you-serious/556589/2 "2010-10-09T08:55:45Z")
Pretty fucking stupid, alas since I don’t have a facebook account your link just brings me to a log in page. ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2010, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reclaiming-halloween-for-christ-are-you-serious/556589/3 "2010-10-09T09:50:43Z")
Why are you shocked? Christians have been stealing Pagan holidays for two thousand years, they’re not going to stop now. I want Samhain back, damn it! ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2010, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reclaiming-halloween-for-christ-are-you-serious/556589/4 "2010-10-09T10:00:06Z")
I can see some people thinking that _every_ holiday and celebration should be related to Jesus in some form or another, and thus “reclaiming” Halloween would be a step backwards for the Pagans and a step forwards for Christianity. Just a guess. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2010, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reclaiming-halloween-for-christ-are-you-serious/556589/5 "2010-10-09T10:05:33Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2010, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reclaiming-halloween-for-christ-are-you-serious/556589/6 "2010-10-09T10:45:57Z")
I’m not sure why you call this a pagan holiday. I guess it is in the sense that Mardis Gras is a pagan holiday. But, unless there was another spiritual festival going on at the time, I’m why you can say it didn’t just come from the All Saints’ Day tradition. Scare the evil spirits away so they don’t keep people form celebrating All Saints Day. Granted, that idea isn’t exactly Chrisitian now, but it was Christo-pagan at best back then. You have a better point with Christmas and Easter, both of which were designed to replace pagan holidays. I do agree that what they actually do to reclaim Halloween doesn’t make a lot of sense. All we ever did was have a carnival for people to have an alternative to Halloween. It’s like an alterna-prom. I don’t know what that has to do with Jesus. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2010, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reclaiming-halloween-for-christ-are-you-serious/556589/7 "2010-10-09T13:39:29Z")
Reclaim…I don’t think that word means what you think it means… ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2010, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reclaiming-halloween-for-christ-are-you-serious/556589/8 "2010-10-09T13:44:18Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I’m not sure why you call this a pagan holiday. As **Steophan** says, it’s [Samhain](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samhain) in a modern guise. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2010, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reclaiming-halloween-for-christ-are-you-serious/556589/9 "2010-10-09T13:48:16Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > Reclaim…I don’t think that word means what you think it means… Well, I for one would be tickled if more Christians got involved with [Reclaiming](http://www.reclaiming.org/). 😃 ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2010, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reclaiming-halloween-for-christ-are-you-serious/556589/10 "2010-10-09T13:51:09Z")
I’d like for Halloween to be reclaimed for **children**. Am I the only person who’s annoyed by the parents who don’t just accompany their children while trick-or-treating but also come to the door and hold out their bag? Get the fuck out of here! ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2010, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reclaiming-halloween-for-christ-are-you-serious/556589/11 "2010-10-09T14:11:17Z")
This doesn’t surprise me a bit. Back in 2004, a local paper ran a poem urging everyone to remember Jesus when celebrating **the 4th of July**. Here’s a [link](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=5034601&postcount=73) to the poem, if anyone’s interested. If some folks think the 4th of July is getting too secular, it’s no stretch of the imagination for me to think a lot more folks consider Halloween too secular. ---
**Author:** ![Aswan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c68b51/32.png) [@Aswan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aswan)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2010, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reclaiming-halloween-for-christ-are-you-serious/556589/12 "2010-10-09T14:17:08Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > You have a better point with Christmas and Easter, both of which were designed to replace pagan holidays. Off topic. Okay, I understand the Christians co-opting Saturnalia, but Easter? Forgive my ignorance, but please fill me in. Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2010, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reclaiming-halloween-for-christ-are-you-serious/556589/13 "2010-10-09T14:27:15Z")
> [@Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](#): > > Reclaiming HALLOWEEN for Christ? Are you SERIOUS? Well, these days a lot of the so-called representatives Christianity ARE scary. . . . . . . . _ding_ “My, what Scary costumes. Who are you…!?” “I’m Sean Hannity. I’m Fair & Balanced!” “I’m Glen Beck. I hold hate rallies to Take Back America from the ideas of MLK! …and, I cry a lot…” “I’m Christine O’Donnell! I’m NOT a witch!” “I’m Sarah Palin! I want your kids to have the exact same family values that mine do!” “I’m John Boehner. Have you seen Marcy? 'Cause she’s not next door…” ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2010, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reclaiming-halloween-for-christ-are-you-serious/556589/14 "2010-10-09T14:27:28Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I’m not sure why you call this a pagan holiday. I guess it is in the sense that Mardis Gras is a pagan holiday. But, unless there was another spiritual festival going on at the time, I’m why you can say it didn’t just come from the All Saints’ Day tradition.. Because there is actual historical evidence of a pagan holiday at the time, which has already been mentioned: samhain (pronounced “sow-wen”, as it is Gaelic and not English). Actually, several pre-Christian European groups seem to have had a holiday around that time. So no, it’s not some sort of corrupted All Saints’ Day, it really is a pagan holdover. Arguably, All Saints’ was the Catholic Church attempting to paper over yet another Pagan holiday rather than vice versa. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2010, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reclaiming-halloween-for-christ-are-you-serious/556589/15 "2010-10-09T14:27:34Z")
So Jesus is doing marketing for Wal-Mart now? ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2010, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reclaiming-halloween-for-christ-are-you-serious/556589/16 "2010-10-09T15:37:41Z")
It really shouldn’t be a surprise that the holidays associated with solstices and equinoxes have roots older than Christianity. ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2010, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reclaiming-halloween-for-christ-are-you-serious/556589/17 "2010-10-09T16:11:25Z")
> [@Aswan](#): > > Off topic. Okay, I understand the Christians co-opting Saturnalia, but Easter? Forgive my ignorance, but please fill me in. > > Thank you. [Maybe not even Saturnalia.](http://www.touchstonemag.com/archives/article.php?id=16-10-012-v) ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2010, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reclaiming-halloween-for-christ-are-you-serious/556589/18 "2010-10-09T16:22:19Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > It really shouldn’t be a surprise that the holidays associated with solstices and equinoxes have roots older than Christianity. While this is true, Halloween/Samhain isn’t associated with a solstice or an equinox. That’d be Mabon/Jashne Mihragan/Chuseok/Harvest, a few weeks earlier, celebrated in a gazillion different ways in as many countries. ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2010, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reclaiming-halloween-for-christ-are-you-serious/556589/19 "2010-10-09T16:49:03Z")
> [@Aswan](#): > > > [@BigT](#): > > > > You have a better point with Christmas and Easter, both of which were designed to replace pagan holidays. > > Off topic. Okay, I understand the Christians co-opting Saturnalia, but Easter? Forgive my ignorance, but please fill me in. > > Thank you. Yep. Dunno how reliable [this page](http://www.thercg.org/books/ttooe.html) is as a cite, but it covers the basics: cultures had been holding resurrection and fertility rituals at the spring equinox long before the birth of Christ, and the name Easter is possibly derived from the names of a good dozen or so fertility goddess of the time. ---
**Author:** ![Aswan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c68b51/32.png) [@Aswan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aswan)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2010, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reclaiming-halloween-for-christ-are-you-serious/556589/20 "2010-10-09T17:06:59Z")
Okay. Spring Equinox, fertility rites. I can buy that. The Church PR Department does not miss any opportunities. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reclaiming-halloween-for-christ-are-you-serious/556589.md?page=2)