Now that Halloween is here, it can be a very controversial topic. The variety of questions continues to be: “What are you going to dress up as?” “Do you celebrate Halloween?” “Why, or why not?” These questions will be asked throughout October. I interviewed Evelin Cotto (11), if she thinks Halloween is either good, bad, or has no opinion. She said, “I don’t think it is bad because it’s a nice event to celebrate once a year, mostly for the kids, and it brings joy to people, not to mention people from different age groups can celebrate too.”
While it is normal that many people may or may not celebrate Halloween, some people question why people do not. The general conclusion is that people can be religious, but people who are not religious don’t celebrate for their own personal reasons. Angie Pineda (11) mentioned that she does not celebrate Halloween. When I asked why, she stated, “I don’t because I go to church and I believe in God.” Whether individuals are religious or not, people may not celebrate because they just don’t want to.
Later in that interview with Angie Pineda (11), I asked her if she likes Halloween, and she stated, “No, but I do like that adrenaline you get in the Haunted Houses.” Many people have different views on Halloween. Does this mean it is good, bad, or just a normal Holiday? After interviewing Kai Jackson (paraprofessional) about why he thinks people don’t celebrate Halloween, he told me, “Some people just don’t like to trick or treat, or getting candy from strangers, and other people like receiving Christmas presents rather than candy on Halloween.”
I personally have been asked what I was going to dress up as, and I always respond with, “I don’t celebrate Halloween.” When questioned why, I say that I am a Christian. People who are Christian, Catholic, Muslim, or any other religion, do celebrate it sometimes. Although I grew up not celebrating it, I never really felt the need to celebrate, if I’m being sincere, nor did I find it weird or unusual that I didn’t. It is known that certain groups of people practice satanic rituals during October, with crime spiking, and children being more vulnerable. October is seen as a dangerous month. Jackson added,”It can be, you used to be able to just let your kids out by themselves to go trick or treat but now you can’t trust the community because some people can put chemicals into those candies that are being passed out and your kids can get kidnapped.”
In conclusion, some people use Halloween as an excuse to be culturally insensitive (racist symbols, etc.), dressing up as offensive themes. (Some dressed up as Hitlers, and “Holocaust Babies”), insulting religions (dressing up as nuns, etc.). However, despite these facts, people see Halloween as a day to be whoever you want to be for a day. They should be allowed to be obnoxious, insensitive, creative, etc. I believe that it shouldn’t be normalized to act irrationally, we should respect everyone in general. Thus, I do not view someone who does celebrate Halloween as bad either. In the end, to each their own, everything compromises their pros and cons.
