Is Halloween considered a disrespectful celebration is some countries?

Saver: Is Halloween considered a disrespectful celebration is some countries?
Because a lot of countries (particularly in europe) “celebrate” the day of the dead which is a very serious day. So are there people that think the fun celebration of halloween is somehow a Pagan tradition and is disrespectful to the dead?

Answers and Views:

Answer by MSB
I am a Pagan and an American… I don’t think it is disrespectful at all.

We have a harvest festival from Oct 30 to Nov 1st and honor our ancestors.

But we always afford the kids a little time to get into costume and go trick or treating for the secular Halloween celebrations.

And we let them go to any Halloween parties or events that take place during October before our holy day begins.

We think it’s a great fun, community thing to be part of, celebrating Halloween… and it doesn’t really take anything away from our religious observance of our holy days.

I just hate it when people say silly things like Pagans/Witches worship the devil or do evil things on Halloween, because that’s just not true.

Answer by Becky
I found a site that tells about other countries and how they feel about halloween. Some do celebrate like us, but there are others that look at halloween in a whole different perspective.

Answer by llanolyn
I am fine with it, but I am *TIRED* of all the myths floating about, surrounding the origins of Halloween. People seem to forget that the secular holiday “Halloween” is a “North American thing” and isn’t really celebrated anywhere else.

I’m going to share some quick Halloween facts. Some that may shock you. However, all can be supported with evidence and may challenge some of your preconceived notions. I’ll go over other details of Halloween events later.

– Halloween is not a Christian appropriated holiday. It’s true. Often it is called this, but it isn’t. In fact, with the exception of Saints Days such as St. Wolfgang, St. Arnulf, St. Bega, St. Urban and St. Quentin (which frankly aren’t widely recognised) the day would go past with out recognition at all. Unless maybe you celebrated Reformation Day, as it is also the anniversary of Martin Luther’s little additional to a Cathedral door. Otherwise, the day is marked as a purely “secular holiday.”

– All Saints Day is on November 1… and has little, if anything to do with the dead. Let alone them coming back. While, as most saints are “dead,” some are people who (at least if you are a Christian type who would believe in it) have never died. Such as Michael, Raphael, Gabriel, Elijah, Enoch, Mary… to name a few.

– All Saints Day was not placed to shoved out another holidays, for 4 reasons.
1) Samhain, the day Halloween / All Saints is accused of muscling out, was celebrated in fall when the Irish were still pagan. When they went Catholic, All Saints was celebrated in Spring, shortly after Pentecost. Some rites still celebrate in this manner. If anyone wanted to celebrate both All Saints, and Samhain… time allowed for it.

2) Samhain in ancient times, according archaelogists, was celebrated according to lunation. That’s a lunar calendar to you and me. So, keeping with the 12 month cycle, following the moon at a 29 or 30 day cycle, even if the first time this holiday was celebrated it was on October 31, the next year it would be on October 26. That’s also assuming they numbered their days and months the way the Romans did, which they didn’t. This innovation came later.

3) All Saints Day was celebrated on different days in each country until the 8th century when a “standardised” day was set by Pope Gregory III, himself a Syrian. He decided the German date was best. Celtic holidays were not celebrated in Germany, and the certainly weren’t in Syria either. And by this point, most elements of pagan Ireland were extinct.

4) Trick or Treating at Halloween, and gift giving at Christmas, may have the same origin. How ironic that they now are the two most popular holidays. These practices were borrowed from a Western (mainland) European holiday called “Martinmas,” after its patron, St.Martin. He is a St.Nicolas-like figure for the holiday, and this holiday is still practiced to day.

It is abundantly clear that elements of the holiday were borrowed from various different peoples, from different areas, with different beliefs. It is also clear that Halloween as we know it, and have known it for a long time, has been a playful activity, free from religious trappings. A chance to get out and have fun, rather than butt heads over where it came from.