Back in the 17th century, the Puritans banned holidays such as Christmas, which they declared to be a day of “fasting and humiliation.” In…
By: Christopher J. Ferguson
Published: Oct 15, 2022
Back in the 17th century, the Puritans banned holidays such as Christmas, which they declared to be a day of “fasting and humiliation.” In recent years, a new movement of moral puritans have taken aim at holidays, ranging from Thanksgiving, to July 4 and Columbus Day. Humiliation seems, once again, to be the guiding intention. Not spared from this moral purge has been Halloween.
Recent years have seen schools canceling Halloween celebrations, often citing “inclusivity” concerns. That appears to be continuing this year, with at least several schools across the US canceling Halloween on their campuses. Not surprising, these decisions are creating howls of protest from families; something that might suggest to schools that these efforts at “inclusivity” may be backfiring.
Indeed, cancelling Halloween is a horrible mistake.
To steelman a bit, schools are citing “inclusivity” because some families don’t celebrate Halloween for either cultural or religious reasons. If everyone can’t be involved, is it fair to let most kids have fun that a few kids aren’t? This isn’t an unreasonable concern. However, canceling Halloween is the wrong solution, and is going to cause more resentment than “inclusivity.”
Citing one group of kids as a reason to cancel events popular with a second group of kids is an excellent way to foster divisions and resentment between those kids (as well as groups of parents). It is, in fact, a disaster for inclusivity. You never want to give one group of people a reason to be resentful toward another group. Taking away a beloved holiday is always a poor idea.
In fact, secular holidays such as Halloween are an excellent way to bridge cultural gaps. Some kids may elect not to participate because their families’ religious beliefs forbid it. Such kids should be provided with fun, game-like alternative activities to do while other kids are engaged in Halloween celebrations. Other kids may wonder why they don’t dress up, but that’s a fine opportunity to talk about cultural differences, and most kids will accept that. Point being: kids who don’t want to participate in Halloween can be reasonably accommodated without canceling the holiday for everyone else. No one should be forced to participate, but we can’t cancel everything in our culture for tiny minorities of individuals who don’t participate in a cultural tradition. That’s not practical or reasonable. It is, indeed, a humiliation.
But Halloween is also a great way for kids who perhaps have recently come to the US to learn about one of our most excellent holiday traditions. This is a good thing! The bar for participation in Halloween is incredibly low. It doesn’t require any particular belief in anything. For kids who’s families can’t afford costumes, the schools could do costume drives, or make simple costumes from second hand clothes (or bedsheets for ghosts). A fun, secular, candy-driven holiday is a fantastic way to bring people together, and welcome them into part of US culture.
In general too, more holidays are better than fewer. They reduce stress, and bring people together. The whole movement to cancel holidays, even the controversial ones, is deeply misguided and harmful. Instead, I’m convinced by the argument that we should make more holidays, and make more of them official.
Instead, school officials (and the progressive movement more generally) appear to be casting themselves as the enemies of fun. Historically, it had usually been conservatives who were enemies of fun (and, sure, they’re still at it often enough), so it’s odd to see the progressive movement take this dark, ugly turn. Enemies of fun always have some kind of “save the children” or “this is morally good” argument for why they oppose fun. Yet, history rarely judges such movements with much generosity. There’s a reason few people look back on the Puritans with any cultural fondness. If anything, we’re still trying to escape some elements of that tradition. Let’s not let a few fuddy-duddy school administrators hold us back.
So I say, as a psychologist, schools…let the kids celebrate Halloween. It’s the healthiest thing for everyone.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween#Spread_to_North_America
Anglican colonists in the southern United States and Catholic colonists in Maryland "recognized All Hallow's Eve in their church calendars", although the Puritans of New England strongly opposed the holiday, along with other traditional celebrations of the established Church, including Christmas.
Like Puritans before them, the New Puritan Church of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion base their moral outrage entirely on the emotional fragility of some undefined third-party other, due to some undefined offence.
Of course, it’s less about actually protecting anyone, and more about demonstrating their own piety and moral superiority in comparison to the sinners.
We have to stop legitimizing religious fanatics.
It is interesting, though, that the Anglican and Catholic Churches were more progressive regarding Halloween than the present-day Puritans.