Hallowe'en? Is it really just a bit of fun?

It's just a bit of fun, isn't it? Surely dressing up in a silly costume with the sole intention of getting free sweets isn't really bad is it?

No, on the face of it, it isn't. But surely there are deeper issues here that the modern celebration of Hallowe'en is papering over. The longest pagan traditions of hallowe'en are that it is the barrier of the summer time and the winter time; a time when the worlds of the living and the worlds of the dead are said to overlap. In terms of that description, then the Pagan festival is well placed - the beginning of a new chapter in the calendar, and the preparation for the real winter to come. Very practical and very ordinary.

From a Christian point of view, there can surely be nothing to be concerned about with such a festival. If this is the way that another belief system needs to behave then we dont have any problems. Until you look at the way that Christians have both usurped the festival and bent the meaning to be something else. You see, walking around the streets begging for money or 'soul cakes' is pretty benign. Getting your children to dress up as demons or devils is another matter altogether. Such matters should not be mucked about with.

As Christians, surely we should be encouraging at best for our children to participate in the way that was originally intended; even going part the way and allowing them to dress as skeletons, ghouls and (in some cases) the witches out of the 'Wizard of Oz' are pretty mundane - this keeps the whole event on a level that is both spiritually and practically sound. But when the Christian symbols of all that is evil are brought to the fore, then we have a new image we're allowing our children to represent. We're telling them that it's absolutely fine to be at one with the Devil. I know it's stretching things a little far, but the Devil does have his worshippers.

And the pagans cant be particularly happy about all this. Firstly, the Christians have nicked their festival. Then they've bent the image of their priestesses into something of a joke. How can this be good for anyone, Christian or Pagan? We live in a multi-pluraist society, one in which many religions are represented. How can we take images of two of those religions and bend them in the name of 'fun' - particularly when some of those images represent utter evil?

Maybe this is all a little extreme. But there are more practical matters involved too. We spend all year telling our children not to accept gifts from strangers - if they offer you something to run as far and as fast as you can. Then Hallowe'en turns up, and we have them walking down the streets, knocking on doors begging for sweets from people they've never met (incidentally, we do this at Christmas too - we invite a complete stranger with a long white beard and red jacket into our homes to leave us gifts, all this from a bloke we've never met before!).

Yes, society has its problems. I often wonder why.