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 Share                                                 October 31, 2009                              

American custom of Halloween observance
makes a mockery of religious practices of Wiccans

See the comment, below.

The American custom of Halloween observance is an abomination.  It consists of mocking the religious practices of Wiccans.

As an atheist, I'm no fan of religion, obviously.  However, I don't go around trying to scare or amuse people by dressing up like a Catholic priest on Christmas, a Hasidic rabbi on Yom Kippur, an Amish man on Sunday or a Muslim man during Ramadan.

So, why do American children and even some adults insist on dressing up like witches and warlocks, or in other costumes, on Halloween?  Warlocks and witches are the priests and priestesses of the Wiccan religion.

You may think that their religion is goofy but, as we atheists say, one man's religion is the next man's belly laugh.  This is America, where we are supposed to respect and be tolerant of diversity, not ridicule and insult people who are different from the majority.

I don't participate in Halloween.  I don't play along with mocking Wiccans by dressing up on Halloween or opening the door for trick-or-treaters.

Leave the Wiccans alone.  If you are not a Wiccan, ignore Halloween.

See the comments, below.

Please e-mail a comment to me at rob@robsherman.com to let me know what you think, and I'll post your comments, below.

I look forward to your comments on this one.  Do you agree with me that it's time to stop doing Halloween?

Please tell your friends about this through your social media networks and word of mouth.

Send personal comments, comments unrelated to this story or notification of typos that you see in any of my posts to rob@robsherman.com.

Thanks for visiting Rob Sherman News.

Comments:

Jamie Folsom asks: 

Honest questions, not being snarky here:
What do the Wiccans say? Is Halloween an exclusively Wiccan tradition? What about El Dia de los Muertos?

Response from Rob Sherman:

Here's what the Wiccans say, among other things:

Samhain (once again Halloween) is the most coveted sabbat by the Wiccan (and many Pagan) religions.

Halloween, plain and simple is our favorite time of year. A true time for witches, Witchcraft itself, and Wiccans alike who feel that on this night the separation between the physical and spiritual realities is it's least guarded and it's veil the thinnest.

For more, go to this Wiccan web site:  http://www.witchway.net/halloween.html