PERSPECTIVE

Halloween was fun once

by HOWARD M. BERLIN

10/31/2004

As you know, today is Halloween. It was once the pre-Christian eve of the new year and Samhain, a Celtic harvest festival when the souls of the dead were thought to revisit their homes to eat and drink. It eventually became the Christian All Hallows' Eve, before All Saints Day Nov. 1.

And it is the birthday of celebrities such as Dan Rather, David Ogden Stiers, Jane Pauley and the late John Candy to name a few. It is also my birthday.

I always considered it a special double celebration, like being born on the Fourth of July or New Year's Day. Alas, the once happy holiday of youth has disintegrated into pure meanness for too many people.

When I attended the Mary C.I. Williams and Harlan schools in Wilmington, my mother would bring in a birthday cake for my classmates and teacher to enjoy the day. I also remember being able to go trick-or-treating in my neighborhood and beyond on foot without fear of being attacked by gangs or some twisted individual tampering with the candy.

Households happily provided apple cider from large punch bowls, or handed out pieces of freshly baked spice cake, cookies, or bright red apples. Our parents didn't have to first take the loot to a hospital to get it X-rayed for pins and razor blades. They didn't throw away unpackaged treats for fear the contents might be drugs masquerading as candy.

The evening of Oct. 30 is commonly known as "mischief night." Kids used to sneak around the neighborhood to soap a few windows, string toilet paper from trees, or squirt shaving cream on things—harmless pranks. Nowadays vandals smash car windows and mail boxes. In Detroit on "devil's night," gangs of youths commit arson, often targeting old buildings and keeping the city's fire department virtually hamstrung.

Two years ago, the police chief of Saluda, S.C., said he would outlaw trick-or-treating if he could, and he recommended that people turn off their house lights and not answer their doorbells. Understandably, he felt miscreants had caused too much trouble to make Halloween fun. He is not alone in his thinking.

Small towns hold Halloween parties in local parks where police officers and other volunteers in costume hand out treats. Civic associations schedule chaperoned trick-or-treating during the late afternoon.

Religious groups have objected to Halloween. In today's increasingly diverse society, it is now virtually impossible to do anything without offending someone's cultural or religious views. Evangelical Christians, some Jews and Muslims have problems with the holiday's pagan roots and its association with ghosts, demons and witches. Passages from the Torah, New Testament and Qur'an are used to justify prohibitions against Satan and the occult. But these zealots, no matter how well intentioned, are missing the point that this was once a holiday for children without religious references. Instead, they fight Halloween costume parades held in the elementary public schools.

Unlike Christmas and Bible readings that were once a staple of public schools, public schools have had a long tradition of treating Halloween as a secular celebration. Constitutional issues prohibiting endorsement of a particular religion are not applicable.

Sadly, Halloween is no longer a children's day, or even fun. It has come to glorify evil acts and been distorted by some religious groups. Sigh.

Howard Berlin lives in Wilmington