Do you know there are debates in America about whether adult should celebrate Halloween?
And if you are Christian, you probably have questioned at one time or another whether
you should celebrate Halloween because obviously, it's a pagan holiday!
Or is it?
Let's find out, with People Also Ask.
Hi, I am Shao, welcome to What People Also Ask, where I search something seemly obvious on Google
and share with you some of those PAA aka People Also Ask, which is a feature telling you what other
people are searching on Google that related to your query.
Believe me, some of those PAAs would really turn your world upside down, like, you have
no idea what's the deal with Halloween, you really don't.
So today's keyword is "Halloween"
Let's start with the first PAA:Why is Halloween so popular?
The answer to this question was extracted from an article titled "Why has Halloween
become so popular among adults?"
Published by The Conversation, which is a network of not-for-profit media outlets that
publish copyright-free news stories on the Internet
Here's what extracted by Google:"Halloween has always promised the chance to be creative
and to become something else.
But in embracing the holiday, emerging adults are doing more than reject traditional adulthood.
They're playing with identity in a way that puts their skills and cultural competence
to work."
The first thought that came to my mind after I read this article is : What
the hell is this paragraph talking about?
Here I want to remind you that Google's People Also Asks are algorithmically extracted by
Google so sometimes they do make mistakes and extract something out of context.
That's why I always also read their original article too.
As it turns out, it's a very thought-provoking article talking about why Halloween has become
more popular amount young adults specifically.
In 2005, just over half of young adults celebrated Halloween.
By 2018, that number has grown to over 70 percent.
The author argued that the young adults' embrace of Halloween could have something to do with
the fact that adulthood itself has changed.
Here are some excerpts from the article:
If Halloween has become more popular among adults, it’s because traditional markers
of adulthood have become less clear and less attainable.
Traditional markers of adult responsibility and independence – family, career, homeownership
– have either been delayed or abandoned altogether, by choice or necessity.
Transitions to adulthood have become uncertain, drawn-out, and complicated.
He also pointed out several other theories that proposed by sociologists and cultural critics
to explain this phenomenon.
I highly encourage you to read this article, the link is in the description.
For some reason, I relate to this whole article quite a lot.
When my Mom was my age, she already has a kid and she already had her own family, her own career
And look at what am I doing now?
Making Youtube video and carefree
Which I would argue is a more enjoyable lifestyle in a lot of ways.
So let's move on to the next PAA: Where is Halloween banned?
The answer to this question was extracted from an article titled: This Halloween, some
US towns will ban teens from trick-or-treating.
published by Quartz, which is a business-focused English-language international news organization,
it is launched in New York City in 2012, and is owned by Japanese business media company
called Uzabase.
Again, Google made a mistake, because the answer extracted by Google is specifically
referring to banning teens from trick or treating, not about banning Halloween altogether.
But still, it's a very interesting article talking about there are actually cities making
it illegal for teens to trick or treat.
And you can actually go to prison for that.
"How old is too old to go trick-or-treating?
As Halloween approaches, Chesapeake, Virginia says the answer to that question is anyone
over the age of 12.
City officials recently announced that doorbell-ringing candy seekers over the age of 12 could face
a misdemeanor charge, up to six months in jail, and $25 to $100 fines.
What?!
Imagine your children go trick or treating and end up in jail!
What's wrong with those politicians.
It's not like celebrating Halloween is a sin or something.
Wait, maybe it is.
because obviously there are a lot of people asking " Is Halloween a sin?" on Google which is
the next PAA we are gonna talk about.
The answer to that question is extracted from an article titled "Is Celebrating Halloween a Sin?" published
by Lullabylark.com, which I believe is a personal blog of a Christian Mom named Erin.
Here's the excerpt extracted by Google:
In understanding whether celebrating Halloween is a sin, we have to know that it is based
on both pagan and Catholic traditions of connecting with the dead in hopes to gain power, in
pagan tradition, or to make intersession, in the Catholic tradition.
But, the scripture makes it clear that neither is possible.
Again if you didn't read the whole article, you probably will think this excerpt kind of out of context
So I have read the article for you.
I believe this article represents the viewpoint of the protestants, but not of the Catholics.
It pointed out the Halloween has both Pagan and catholic roots.
It has pagan root because it is widely believed that Halloween originated from an ancient
Celtic festival of Samhain.
Celts believed that on Samhain, the souls of the dead would visit their homes - and
that those who had died in the past year would travel to the next world.
As a result, people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off ghosts.
Which later became the tradition of wearing costumes in Halloween and Jack-o'-lantern.
They also believe that the presence of spirits can enhance their priest called Druid’s
ability to predict the future.
As to the catholic root of Halloween, it has something to do with the all soul's day in
the Catholic calendar.
Especially the practice called souling where the poor would go around asking for a pastry
called soul cake with the promise of praying for the donor's deceased loved ones.
Which later become the tradition of trick or treating.
But why do they pray for the deceased you ask?
As it turns out, a lot of Catholics in medieval times believed almost all Catholics will go
to purgatory where they will be tortured by fire until they are purified.
The good news is unlike hell, which non-believers will go to after they die, Catholics only go to purgatory which is temporary.
But “temporary” can mean a very long time.
According to an article titled "Tetzel on 7 Years in Purgatory for Every Sin" published
by Patheos, which is an online media company providing information and commentary about
religion.
In medieval times, It has been widely taught that each sin must be punished by seven years
of purgatorial fire.
Let's say you are a very good person and only commit one sin per day, which is not very
likely because that includes eating too much butter and use Facebook as a verb.
But let's say you only commit one sin per day
You will be facing 2,555 years for the sins you commit per year.
And if you live to 70, you would be facing 178,850 years of suffering in purgatory.Isn't that crazy?
That is why it is important to pray for the dead because they also believed the prayers can
shorten the time your loved ones spending in Purgatory.
But this kind of belief also enables the corrupt practice of selling indulgences which later
provoked Martin Luther's Reformation of the Church.
That explains why most of the Protestants don't approve of the concept of Purgatory, hence
they don't approve of All soul's day, hence, they don't approve of even the catholic root
of Halloween.
But not all Christians oppose Halloween because the next PAA "Is Halloween Pagan?"
is extracted by an article titled "Guess what?
Halloween is more Christian than Pagan" published by The Washington Post.
This article is written by Beth Allison Barr, who is a historian at Baylor University, who is also
a Christian Mom who does celebrate Halloween.
According to Beth, we have very little evidence about the actual practices of Celtic people
and their festivals and most of the traditions we associate with Halloween are actually medieval or
early modern in their origin not “pagan.”
I recommend you to read this whole article if you get a chance, I will put the link in the description to. Very interesting article
Alright, let's recap.Today we learned that there are a lot of crazy cities banning teens from trick or treating
There are more adults are now celebrating Halloween and they do have their reasons. There are some Catholics and Christians do celebrate
Halloween while other Catholics or Christians do not.
During my PAA trip, I read another very interesting article titled "Religious Roots, Secular Festivities:
Halloween Takes A Hit In Schools" published by Hartford Courant which is a daily newspaper
in Connecticut.
This article talks about the predicament school facing when tried to decide whether to celebrate Halloween or not.
Because by doing so, they will exclude children whose religions prohibit the celebration of Halloween
So today my question is, do you think there should be Halloween celebrations in public schools?
Let me know your thoughts, Bye.