Halloween

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Halloween, 31 October, is a day in which candy is traditionally handed out to children. Some states have prohibited sex offenders from participating.[1] Halloween in recent years has become more of an adult oriented, non-secular celebration which has been largely embraced by the gay community. In 2010, Americans spent an estimated $800 million on costumes for children and $1 billion on costumes for adults. [2] Halloween has never been a particularly popular within the BL community despite it's relationship to boys and the cultural crossover with the gay community. This is likely due to the myths that "pedophiles" kidnap otherwise hurt children on Halloween despite the fact that there is no documented proof of this occurring. According to Emily Horowitz, Associate professor of sociology, St. Francis College in Brooklyn, NY

In North Carolina, a sheriff tells parents to check the online sex offender registry before allowing children to trick-or-treat. In Montana, a town offers a "trunk-or-treat" event where kids can get Halloween candy from trunks of cars in a parking lot to avoid potential danger. In New York, "Operation Halloween: Zero Tolerance" prohibits sex offenders from wearing masks or costumes or answering their doors on Halloween, and, as a parole source says, "There is certainly nothing more frightening than the thought of one of these men opening their door to innocent children." In Oklahoma, a city council is considering an ordinance forbidding sex offenders from decorating their homes or passing out candy on Halloween. In Orange, California, sex offenders can't answer their door or have outside lighting on Halloween, but an additional ordinance requiring window signs saying, "No candy or treats at this residence" was recently revoked after attorneys argued it was a form of cruel and unusual punishment.

Why worry about sex offenders on Halloween? Research shows no evidence of increased child sex abuse on Halloween and no evidence that a child was ever a victim of sexual abuse by a stranger while out trick-or-treating. [3]


History and traditions

Halloween or Hallowe'en a contraction of "All Hallows' Evening"),[4] also known as Allhalloween,[5] All Hallows' Eve,[6] or All Saints' Eve,[7] is a yearly celebration observed in a number of countries on 31 October.

According to many scholars, All Hallows' Eve is a Christianized feast initially influenced by Celtic harvest festivals,[8] with possible pagan roots, particularly the Gaelic Samhain.[6][9][10] Other scholars maintain that it originated independently of Samhain and has solely Christian roots.[11]

Typical festive Halloween activities include trick-or-treating (or the related "guising"), attending costume parties, decorating, carving pumpkins into jack-o'-lanterns, lighting bonfires, apple bobbing, visiting haunted attractions, playing pranks, telling scary stories and watching horror films.[12]

References

  1. http://criminal.findlaw.com/criminal-charges/halloween-sex-offender-laws.html
  2. Halloween craze started in gay culture
  3. Manufacturing Fear: Halloween Laws for Sex Offenders
  4. Thomas Thomson, Charles Annandale (1896). A History of the Scottish People from the Earliest Times: From the Union of the kingdoms, 1706, to the present time. Blackie. http://books.google.com/books?id=YVgJAAAAIAAJ&q=Hallowe'en+contraction&dq=Hallowe'en+contraction&hl=en&ei=Y6i8TtXJOcargwe2lN28Bw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CD8Q6AEwBDgK. Retrieved on 31 October 2011. "Of the stated rustic festivals peculiar to Scotland the most important was Hallowe'en, a contraction for All-hallow Evening, or the evening of All-Saints Day, the annual return of which was a season for joy and festivity." 
  5. Palmer, Abram Smythe (1882). Folk-etymology. Johnson Reprint. p. 6. 
  6. 6.0 6.1 Merriam-Webster's Encyclopædia of World Religions. Merriam-Webster. 1999. http://books.google.com/books?id=ZP_f9icf2roC&pg=PA408&dq=all+hallow's+eve+christian+origin&hl=en&ei=dUyvTrfhIYetgwen5YiCAg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CE8Q6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q&f=false. Retrieved on 31 October 2011. "Halloween, also called All Hallows' Eve, holy or hallowed evening observed on October 31, the eve of All Saints' Day. The pre-Christian observances influenced the Christian festival of All Hallows' Eve, celebrated on the same date." 
  7. NEDCO Producers' Guide. 31-33. Northeast Dairy Cooperative Federation. 1973. "Originally celebrated as the night before All Saints' Day, Christians chose November first to honor their many saints. The night before was called All Saints' Eve or hallowed eve meaning holy evening.". 
  8. "Halloween." History.com. Retrieved 24 October 2013.
  9. Nicholas Rogers (2002). Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night. Oxford University Press. http://books.google.com/books?id=stWZ_UDteMIC&pg=PA22&dq=halloween+christian+holy+day&hl=en&ei=wCiwTu-tN8j00gGJ5bjGAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9&ved=0CG8Q6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=halloween%20christian%20holy%20day&f=false. Retrieved on 31 October 2011. "Halloween and the Day of the Dead share a common origin in the Christian commemoration of the dead on All Saints' and All Souls' Day. But both are thought to embody strong pre-Christian beliefs. In the case of Halloween, the Celtic celebration of Samhain is critical to its pagan legacy, a claim that has been foregrounded in recent years by both new-age enthusiasts and the evangelical Right." 
  10. Austrian information. 1965. http://books.google.com/books?id=9FU7AQAAIAAJ&q=all+hallow's+eve+wear+masks+Christian+souls+vengeance&dq=all+hallow's+eve+wear+masks+Christian+souls+vengeance&hl=en&ei=u1CvTtjjFOKHsAKEudDkAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAA. Retrieved on 31 October 2011. "The feasts of Hallowe'en, or All Hallows Eve and the devotions to the dead on All Saints' and All Souls' Day are both mixtures of old Celtic, Druid and other pagan customs intertwined with Christian practice." 
  11. Rogers, Nicholas (2003). Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night. Oxford University Press. p. 22. ISBN 9780195168969. "Festivals commemorating the saints as opposed to the original Christian martyrs appear to have been observed by 800. In England and Germany, this celebration took place on 1st November. In Ireland, it was commemorated on 20th April, a chronology that contradicts the widely held view that the November date was chosen to Christianize the festival of Samhain." 
  12. Halloween From Wikipedia