Posts Tagged ‘fort worth’
THE ORIGINS OF HALLOWEEN!
Monday, October 31st, 2011
The following article was written 10 years ago by elder Richard T. Ritenbaugh, son of pastor John Ritenbaugh who once pastored here in Illinois and Michigan. He wrote about an incident 10 years ago, when the Mayor of Fort Worth, Texas cancelled official “TRICK OR TREAT” so-called “celebrations” across the city!
Here is his essay on this day, Halloween:
Here is his essay on this day, Halloween:
Howls of protest arose this past week because the mayor of Fort Worth, Texas, advised residents not to allow their children to trick-or-treat from door to door this year, due to the recent terror attacks on the U.S.
His critics prated on several “how dare he?” themes:
How dare he “cancel” Halloween?
How dare he take such “fun” from our children?
How dare he dampen our esprit de corps during our war on terrorism? How dare he further stifle our recessed economy?
How dare he!
Though this happened in just a few places, it became a modest national uproar, even appearing as a major topic on national talk shows. A majority of Americans just love Halloween—many enjoy it more than Christmas, July Fourth, and Super Bowl Sunday! In terms of its impact on the economy, it already ranks second to Christmas, and it is comparable to Super Bowl Sunday and St. Patrick’s Day in beer sales. Only Christmastime sees more sales of holiday decorations, and of course, candy sales are off the charts before Halloween!
What is the attraction? Are people really into ghouls, spirits, devilry, and monsters? Are Americans really that attracted to the otherworldly theme of the holiday? No, probably not. Polls to the contrary, most Americans do not believe in demonic or even angelic spirits enough to think of Halloween as some kind of celebration of them.
The answer lies in the donning of costumes and the consumption of alcohol: Halloween is the year’s biggest escape from reality!
The ancient Celtic celebration of Samhain (November 1), from which All Saints’ Day and All Hallows Eve derive……
READ THE REST OF THE ARTICLE: CLICK HERE