the Joseph of Arimethia masks just aren't selling
attempts to alter (some might say censor) language and perceptions to be more sensitive and/or inclusive are derided by conservatives as politically correct. affirmative action is ridiculed as reverse discrimination and "quotas" that cater to minorities. and yet many of the same people who hold those beliefs have no problem derailing Halloween in schools, thereby forcing school districts to cater to a minority sensibility for fear of offending those who can't just let their kids play dress up and eat some candy because it's not in Revelation (which is plenty scary, actually) or the Qur'an.
Binghamton University philosophy professor Eric Dietrich sums up my feelings pretty well when he says, "Halloween is a flare-up of huge social problems we're facing. If you show me a United States with no holiday where you can be creatively weird, I will show you a United States with no hope."
Comments
This drives me nuts! One of my co-workers was telling me her daughter, who goes to public school here in Brooklyn, was not allowed to celebrate "Halloween" at school, but instead was having "Silly Hat Day". The part in that article about the pressure some kids feel to dress up seems extreme to me. I'm not saying that kids, poor kids specifically, don't feel pressure, but there is pressure every single day, just to wear what's fashionable. I don't feel like Halloween neccessarily adds to that in such an extreme way.
Sigh. I was just remembering my stellar Red Fraggle costume one year. Face painted yellow w/ food coloring and flour, oversized red turtleneck, red yarn over my ponytails. Good times.
Posted by: the wife | November 1, 2005 12:02 PM
Love that quote, quite a motta to live by!
Posted by: chris | November 1, 2005 02:48 PM