Season of Spin (repost 08)

Ah, it is again that time of year when powerful opponents with many followers attempt to influence the public by telling falsehoods against the other. No I'm not referring to the current political contest in the States, but I'm referring to Halloween.

Halloween, which is the Christian name for Samhain an old Celtic holiday, has long since been a boogie-man to many a pulpit percher. This year the 700 Club published their annual propaganda against the holiday (story here).

Now while we encourage ANY faith or practice that distracts from the Other Side, the celebration of Halloween is NOTHING compared to the campaign AGAINST it that comes every year. What a great way to win converts by telling candy collecting children and other fun loving celebrants that they are going to Hell. Handing out tracts and shouting out judgements actually pushes people further in our direction than if one reaches out in love and concern.

But are any of their arguments true? Is Halloween Satan's Christmas? Do modern Wiccans still hold evil rituals during this time of year? Well to tell the truth Halloween is rather a "meh" holiday around here. But that doesn't prevent the 700 Club from putting their spin on it. Let me do a "factcheck.org" by dispelling a few points against their campaign:

• Samhain, while truly the original name of the ancient Celtic festival, is NOT the name of their "Lord of the Dead". There was NO "Lord of the Dead". There is a "Lord of the Dance", and Michael Flatley scares the maggots out of me! Actually Samhain was the time of year, the time when the growing time ended and the long winter was to begin.

• The Celts did NOT sacrifice people for religious purposes at this time. There is only a single record of this and this was written by Julius Caeser. It was wartime propaganda.

• This wasn't a time to worship demons, but a hopeful time to honor long past relatives and to get messages of hope for the future.

• Costumes and "Trick-or-Treating" are actually from a later period and have much more to do with the Christian influences on the holiday.

• Halloween actually the Christian name which is short for "All Hallows Eve". November 1 is All Saints Day, a Church holiday to honor the saints and to give converted Celts a holiday to "replace" Samhain.

• His Lord Below had very little to do with the holiday other than promoting it as a distraction. It was just another "Also Ran" like other faiths. No more, no less.

• Wiccans typically celebrate Samhain on a date NEAR October 31. They don't want to be bothered by the many "Trick-or-Treaters" who are out on Halloween.

For more information, from an unbiased source, I direct you to the Library of Congress's website HERE. And for more info about Wicca I humbly submit this from Religious Tolerance.org HERE.

But maybe our best tactic here shouldn't be to dispel the rumors and falsehoods directed against us. Perhaps we should "turn the other cheek" as it were. For as long as people are fighting against this harmless bastardization of a now defunct belief system they aren't spreading the true and more dangerous message of the good news of the Nazarine. They aren't focusing on the real ills of the world and worrying about establishing good relationships with hurting and lost people. Their bad witness might win more converts for us than the mess Christmas has become.

Hmmm. Well, I could do with a rest. I've been up late nursing Toby, my Mongolian death worm through a bout of IBS. That's hell on a worm, they are ALL intestine!

- Happy Halloween,

Brackish

Down In Front! I Can't See Armageddon!

We all know how hard it is to get a good seat.  You stand in line and wait...and wait....aaaaannnd WAIT!  Then when you get inside the theater the only open seats where you feel comfortable sitting are in the middle of the row and you have to push by a phalanx of concert goers, all with food and no space to avoid stepping on their feet.  You no sooner sit down, when you have an overpowering urge to go to the bathroom.  So not wanting to miss a single note of music you strain for a few moments invoking the powers of your mind over your feeble matter, but it's no use.  You get up, do a tap dance on the feet of the people sitting next to you to get to the aisle, and head for the restroom.  Once relieved, you head back into that tangled mass of humanity only to find someone has taken your recently relinquished seat.

At least that's how I imaging it would be if I had a bladder, but I digress.

It would seem that ever since the Kid declared he was going to make a big comeback someday, people have be clamoring to get a front row seat at the End of Days Concert.  Jewish believers, so discontent with His first show, refuse to even acknowledge it.  The want to treat the Second Coming as His First. 

Critics.

Anyhoo, this has lead to the strange situation concerning the real estate around the area known as the Temple Mount, where it is believed the Kid will make his big entrance.  The Jerusalem Post relates the story of an unusual deal over a piece of real estate that stipulates that when the Messiah comes the ownership will revert to the original seller (story here).

That's a die hard fan!  I wonder how much the concert T-shirts will cost?

the Eternal Celine Dion fan,

Brackish