I got this in my email today from my zealot JW Aunt. This is the first time she has ever sent me anything of this nature. She is completely aware than I am not a JW and that I celebrate holidays. I have never expressed any sort of disagreement with the WTS with her, ever. It has always been my vow to keep quiet on the subject unless it is brought up to me first.
So, here is the article and the link she provided. I would like to be able to make a short reply to her. Especially anything regarding the hypocrisy and how it's so suppose to be evil and corrupting. I would appreciate some input.
Read down to the later part of the article. It mentions JWs.
http://newshound.de.siu.edu/fall02/stories/storyReader$1024
Thanks!
Andee
Not everyone celebrates Halloween
Samantha Robinson Daily Egyptian Walking down the street dressed in costumes, going door-to-door, hosting parties and just simply having fun are normally things associated with Halloween and the "everybody celebrates it" attitude shared by many. But that is not entirely true. While there are millions of people who celebrate the dark and gloomy night, there are many who opt not to participate in any of the festivities because of personal or religious beliefs or because of incidents that occurred during previous Halloween nights. Year after year, people participate in activities celebrating Halloween, but do they know why and when the day became a day of celebration? According to a documentary by the History Channel, the origins of Halloween date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (sow-in). The Celts celebrated their new year on Nov. 1, which marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of a dark, cold winter. This time was also associated with death and Oct. 31 was the day that the worlds of the living and dead blurred, making it easier for the dead to return to earth. This is where many of the modern-day myths associating Halloween with death, ghosts, witches and anything evil derived. The day was used as a day for Celts to block the dead from entering their homes and try to have a peaceful and productive winter. Here on SIUC's campus, there are students who do not celebrate Halloween, but they are few and far between. Some students said they do not believe in all of the "evil spirit stuff," but they like to dress-up and go to parties. For them, it is all in fun and not a devil-worshipping day. Tiffany Hubbard, a senior from Schaumburg, said she does not believe in Halloween and the only reason she does anything is because she has a daughter. "If I did not have a daughter, I would not think about it," she said. "I was not raised like that; my mother did not emphasize it." For her it is more about not letting her daughter feel like the oddball in school, while all of the other kids are dressed in their costumes and having fun. There are a number of people who do not believe in Halloween. But because so much emphasis is placed on it in schools, they allow their children to dress only in "good characters" and not demons or ghost. The Jehovah's Witnesses are the most widely known group of people who do not celebrate Halloween. There have been many public criticisms about the religion not celebrating any holiday with attacks being made on their beliefs and practices of "depriving children of their youth." In response to the criticism, Jehovah's Witnesses stick to their belief that "holidays are false and unnecessary, or their backgrounds are noted or pertain to another religion." In an issue of the Watchtower, the Jehovah's Witnesses magazine, an article simplified their beliefs and stated the reason they do not celebrate holidays is because they are of "Pagan origin" or "worldly people" celebrate them. Robin D. Jones, a senior in communication design, has been a Jehovah's Witness her entire life. She has never celebrated holidays and said she does not believe she missed out on anything growing up. "My personal convictions have always been strong and when I was young, learning how holidays originated, I was able to make up my own mind about celebrating them," Jones said. Some international students do not celebrate Halloween either. This is because of cultural differences or just plain un-fascination with the day. Kaori Ochi, a senior in Spanish from Japan, has been here for two years and said she does not celebrate Halloween because they did not in Japan. "It's a cultural thing. We celebrate Obon at the end of summer in August," she said. "It's the festival of the dead." Obon is a time when dead relatives are guided to the living so they can celebrate together. In Japan, a traditional Obon has families hang paper lanterns to guide the spirits to the homes of relatives and after the festivities, the lanterns are placed in the sea to guide the spirits back to their world. But everyone does not do things the same. Some families choose to bring the spirits in different ways. "We go to the cemetery to get the spirits and take them home," Ochi said. "We celebrate with them and then take them back to the cemetery." Those who do not celebrate the holiday do nothing out of their ordinary routine. They go to school, work, or where ever their day takes them. They just opt not to glorify a day that many have a misconception of as a "devil holiday." Once the sun goes down and the kids begin their trick-or-treating rounds and parents get ready for their costume parties, others, such as Hubbard, sit in their homes and spend a nice quiet evening at home. "It's not really a big deal and I just don't see any point in it," Hubbard said. Samantha Robinson can be reached at [email protected] Copyright 2002 Daily Egyptian
(Italics mine)