What the hell is wrong with some parents today?

I surf the Internet a lot, and hang out on a few parenting sites. I like to read some of the message boards and sometimes I'll even post. When you're a stay-at-home mom, sometimes the Internet is your only means of adult conversation during the day. But around this time of year, actually several weeks earlier, the crap starts up.

I'm talking about the "Halloween is evil" mindset. The "Halloween is the devil's holiday" idiocy. "My child is NOT going out trick or treating. That's when witches and Satanists conduct their sacrifices!" Good GRIEF.

These phrases are usually pronounced with many CAPS and exclamation points, to make sure everyone understands their righteous indignation. The ignorance displayed at this time of year is absolutely mind-boggling.

What I want to know is - has ignorance regarding Halloween always been this bad? When I was a kid, we had Halloween parties in school, which included taking a walk through the neighborhood in our costumes. The sidewalks were crowded with kids and their parents trick or treating on Halloween night; hardly any porch lights were off.

So what happened? Those parents who are so ignorant about Halloween, Samhain, Wicca and everything related used to be kids themselves. Didn't they go trick or treating? Didn't they enjoy it? If they did, what turned them around? Or maybe they were brought up by parents who had the same ridiculous notions. But I don't remember this attitude when I was a kid. Nobody I knew was kept inside, forbidden to go begging for candy. Unfortunately, I am seeing that in my own neighborhood; some of the kids haven't been able to go out trick or treating at all in the eight years we've lived here. I hate seeing these kids with their faces pressed up against their windows, their sad expressions plain to see.

Reading these inane spoutings is frustrating. But what's worse, what's really infuriating, is the refusal of these people to educate themselves. Links are provided as rebuttal, but these types of people will not use them. Instead they do the Internet equivalent of putting their fingers in their ears and going "la-la-la," and go about perpetuating the falsehoods.

And of course, the terrorist attacks didn't help this situation. Because now, even some of those people who were at least tolerant of Halloween, even if they didn't approve, are now protesting that celebrating the holiday is in poor taste. Disrespectful to those who died on September 11th.

Yes, September 11th was a very dark day. It affected every one of us in some way. We're living in different times, fearful times. But that does mean we shouldn't celebrate those things in life that give us joy? Are we supposed to hide in our homes from now on? The phrase "...then the terrorists will have won" has become clichéd in a very short time. At this point, I don't want ignorance to win.

And you know something else? I'd be willing to bet that those people who say we shouldn't celebrate Halloween won't be saying that about Christmas in a few weeks.

I'm pretty sure I'm preaching to the choir here. After all, this 'zine is called "Deviant Minds." You're not going to find Falwell's followers reading the content. But this crap has been bothering me for a while now, and I knew you guys would understand.

I hope you're all going to have a great time on Halloween, whether you have kids or not. And that if and when you do have kids, you'll pass on your own love of the holiday. As for me, I've got bags of candy ready to hand out, the kids have their costumes and pumpkins about to be carved with hideous faces. Screw ignorance. We're going to have a blast.

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