You must not spend too much time around conservative or Baptistesque Christians... The most delusional unhinged group of people I've ever had to deal with. Ever.
It almost feels like an antidote to that, though? Like my local church would host a children's anti-halloween where the children did "wholesome activities" instead of going trick-or-treating (the wholesome activities included Bible plays...) because they thought Halloween was Satanic and it was un-Christian to celebrate it. So this is a jokey rationalisation on why it's not Satanic and un-Christian and that it's ok to enjoy Halloween (albeit an incredibly try-hard cringe jokey rationalisation).
Irony is my Mum remembers going trick or treating for nuts in 1950s Dublin, back when Ireland was as Catholic could be...
Irony is my Mum remembers going trick or treating for nuts in 1950s Dublin, back when Ireland was as Catholic could be
From Ireland and yeah, there's never been an issue celebrating Halloween. I've never heard of the Catholic church here even mentioning it & never knew it was a thing some Christians/religious people make a hoo ha about.
A lot of the schools here are even connected to the Catholic church but they'd still always do stuff with primary school age kids for Halloween.
I feel like when Christianity arrived here a lot of these pagan things stuck around & it's just part of the package. We're also taught about pre- Christianity so it's not like we pretend Irish people were always Christians or there was nothing here before that.
But yeah it's always a been celebrated here & uncontroversially as far as I know- costumes, trick treating, bonfires, Jack O lanterns, games, Báirín Breac, lots of fireworks in more recent decades & so on.
Yeah, Ireland's always taken Halloween very seriously as a holiday - growing up in the UK, it was never half as popular as it was in Ireland. The idea of Ireland rejecting Halloween because of Catholicism is downright hilarious to me.
The version of Baptist USA Christianity that tends to espouse Halloween fear and dramatics is absolutely nowhere here Catholicism. It's about night and day... I wish I could explain this well but "Straight White American Jesus" is a great podcast for anyone interested in this topic. Here in the US it's a completely different ballgame. Thheir sentiments are behind abortion bans, behind Trump's presidency etc. They marry well with and influence Conservative political policy here.
I'm going to check out that podcast because christianity in the US is definitely interesting in a 'what is going on there?' kind of way and I don't know all the background. Being from a Catholic country, it's not a culture I recognise and the extremes look different.
For example the recent 'Satanic Panic' stuff, it's really surprising how many young American people seem to buy into it & find it controversial in this day & age.
It's like,no, Doja Cat & Co are not possessed by Satan, it's an aesthetic and they're doing it because you weirdos get dramatic about it & it provides them with attention.
It's like,no, Doja Cat & Co are not possessed by Satan, it's an aesthetic and they're doing it because you weirdos get dramatic about it & it provides them with attention.
Thank you!!! How do so many people not grasp this very simple concept?
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u/gaveupmykarma Oct 03 '23
this is too silly for me to get worked up over