Tis the season. Or tis it? (Sorry. Horrible pun)
And, am I going to seem a tad bit negative in this post? The word that comes to mind is "duh". I'm telling why I don't like one of the most popular holidays of all time. Soo, yeah, that might come off as a tad bit negative. Don't get me wrong, it's not like I go around kicking puppies this time of year, or trying to ruin people's Halloweens, but I just have a personal dislike for the holiday. If I ever have kids, I'll obviously let them celebrate it and all, but I'm not going to particularly encourage it.
So, I'm gonna go ahead and number off a few reasons why I dislike the holiday. (And I'll probably be comparing it to Christmas, since the two holidays are probably as opposite as you can get in my opinion.)
1) Halloween is a selfish holiday. "Trick or treat" can be paraphrased "Give me candy, or I'll egg your house." And all the kids in our culture are encouraged to go from door to door spreading the "joy". Compare that to Christmas, which is about giving. Yes, for little kids, they amount to about the same, but for mature people, there's a difference.
2) Halloween is a compulsory (that means forced on everyone) holiday. You really can't "not celebrate" Halloween. If you don't want to buy candy for all the kids in the neighborhood, you pretty much have to turn out the lights hide in the basement, ignore the ringing doorbell, and then hope that they don't egg your house anyways.
3) Halloween encourages vandalism. I don't have any stats, but I'm pretty sure that Halloween is the single night when the most vandalism occurs. Whether it's egging the houses that refuse to give you candy (or who are honestly out of town), or vandalizing cars, or whatever, a lot of bad stuff occurs that night.
4) Halloween encourages bad dental habits. Just kidding.
4) Halloween is a "dark" holiday. (And not just because it occurs at night) It involves witches and magic and spirits, and while most of that stuff is about as real as the Tooth Fairy (I was going to say someone else, but I decided against it), there are aspects of it that touch upon the occult, that's an area I'd just as well like to stay away from, an I think most people should as well. Want proof? How many movies about Halloween are horror films? (Well, of the ones aimed at people above the age of 12). I'd say, just about all of them.
5) Halloween, at high school at least, is a day for girls to dress in ways that would be against the rules any other day. Now, being a high school guy, I can't say that I mind too much about this one, but... well, you know. Ethics and all.
Dressing up in general really isn't that bad, but it's always the same costumes every year, from what I've seen the past 3 years. (Lets see... there's always an inflatable suit, such as a cowboy or a sumo wrestler, there's always a large number of people who simply wear wings and call it a costume (angels, faeries, whatever), there's always one or two guys who wear dresses, or in the case of last year, a miniskirt and a sports bra... usually the same old stuff)
I mean, there's very little positive about the holiday, once you pass the age of... 13 or so. I mean, for little kids it's fine. They have fun, get candy, and they don't egg people. But, it's the older crowd that's the problem. Yes, it's a day to dress up, but there are other days for that. (Heck, any day can be a day to dress up if you don't mind people thinking you're crazy) I mean, what exactly do people see in the holiday?
[Note]
Many people might accuse me of being "one of those crazy religious people" (as someone at my school put it the other day). Does my faith affect my views on this? Yeah, my faith affects all of my views in life. Certainly it effects #4. But a lot of this is my opinions on this is just that. I mean, my church youth group even has a costume party every year at halloween, so it's not like it's a strong religious view. I'm just not fond of the holiday.
Discuss if interested, I'd like to hear the community's take on the Holiday.
And, am I going to seem a tad bit negative in this post? The word that comes to mind is "duh". I'm telling why I don't like one of the most popular holidays of all time. Soo, yeah, that might come off as a tad bit negative. Don't get me wrong, it's not like I go around kicking puppies this time of year, or trying to ruin people's Halloweens, but I just have a personal dislike for the holiday. If I ever have kids, I'll obviously let them celebrate it and all, but I'm not going to particularly encourage it.
So, I'm gonna go ahead and number off a few reasons why I dislike the holiday. (And I'll probably be comparing it to Christmas, since the two holidays are probably as opposite as you can get in my opinion.)
1) Halloween is a selfish holiday. "Trick or treat" can be paraphrased "Give me candy, or I'll egg your house." And all the kids in our culture are encouraged to go from door to door spreading the "joy". Compare that to Christmas, which is about giving. Yes, for little kids, they amount to about the same, but for mature people, there's a difference.
2) Halloween is a compulsory (that means forced on everyone) holiday. You really can't "not celebrate" Halloween. If you don't want to buy candy for all the kids in the neighborhood, you pretty much have to turn out the lights hide in the basement, ignore the ringing doorbell, and then hope that they don't egg your house anyways.
3) Halloween encourages vandalism. I don't have any stats, but I'm pretty sure that Halloween is the single night when the most vandalism occurs. Whether it's egging the houses that refuse to give you candy (or who are honestly out of town), or vandalizing cars, or whatever, a lot of bad stuff occurs that night.
4) Halloween encourages bad dental habits. Just kidding.
4) Halloween is a "dark" holiday. (And not just because it occurs at night) It involves witches and magic and spirits, and while most of that stuff is about as real as the Tooth Fairy (I was going to say someone else, but I decided against it), there are aspects of it that touch upon the occult, that's an area I'd just as well like to stay away from, an I think most people should as well. Want proof? How many movies about Halloween are horror films? (Well, of the ones aimed at people above the age of 12). I'd say, just about all of them.
5) Halloween, at high school at least, is a day for girls to dress in ways that would be against the rules any other day. Now, being a high school guy, I can't say that I mind too much about this one, but... well, you know. Ethics and all.
Dressing up in general really isn't that bad, but it's always the same costumes every year, from what I've seen the past 3 years. (Lets see... there's always an inflatable suit, such as a cowboy or a sumo wrestler, there's always a large number of people who simply wear wings and call it a costume (angels, faeries, whatever), there's always one or two guys who wear dresses, or in the case of last year, a miniskirt and a sports bra... usually the same old stuff)
I mean, there's very little positive about the holiday, once you pass the age of... 13 or so. I mean, for little kids it's fine. They have fun, get candy, and they don't egg people. But, it's the older crowd that's the problem. Yes, it's a day to dress up, but there are other days for that. (Heck, any day can be a day to dress up if you don't mind people thinking you're crazy) I mean, what exactly do people see in the holiday?
[Note]
Many people might accuse me of being "one of those crazy religious people" (as someone at my school put it the other day). Does my faith affect my views on this? Yeah, my faith affects all of my views in life. Certainly it effects #4. But a lot of this is my opinions on this is just that. I mean, my church youth group even has a costume party every year at halloween, so it's not like it's a strong religious view. I'm just not fond of the holiday.
Discuss if interested, I'd like to hear the community's take on the Holiday.
