Season of Spin (repost from Oct. 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

Very Mad Ave

A church in West Virginia has come up with an unconventional way of attracting new parishioners. They are advertising in the name of "Our Father Down Below". Their billboard, seen in this article, reads: "I hate the New Life Center in Cedar Grove! - Satan", and they provide a website address. Well, well, well, so posing as a devil to do an angel's work. Where have I heard that one before?

The funny thing is, that while the message may or may not be true (I never investigated to see how alive this church is) people are actually offended by it! Partially I think it is because we are so effective in doing our jobs. There is a line in the movie "The Usual Suspects" which goes, "The greatest trick the Devil ever played, was to convince the world that he doesn't exist." People tend to think God is a bromide, an opiate, and Satan is a scare tactic. Our progress report concerning this was a hot topic at our last office party, I assure you.

So then begs the question...why are we doing a blog when we want our movements to be concealed? Why does ABC report about security weaknesses and troop movements when the enemy surely owns at least one television? Mostly it is to encourage those who do good (bad) work and to inform others in the field. And we are so confident that our propaganda machine has done it's job, that no human will pay attention. After all we recently recruited Goebbels to our slogan writing team, and we have an offer out to Ron Popeil. I mean most people reading this will just think this is another human blogger clogging up the pipes and tubes of the blogosphere.

*wink*
Brackish