Today I checked the evites for my Halloween soiree and I got a decline from a girl I played tennis with this summer.
It reads:
Kelly, Thanks for the invite. For religious reasons I do not celebrate Halloween. I appreciate being included. I hope you won't take this personally, but human sacrifice and other Halloween traditions should be feared not celebrated.
Wha?
Do you think I should have let everyone know that I could not find anyone to volunteer for human sacrifice? If only we had a guest worker program in this country. Then there would be people to do the jobs that Americans won't take.
Seriously... I had no intention of killing anyone at my party.
Human sacrifice!? Man, you Americans know how to throw a Halloween party. Seriously though, where exactly does one get the idea that human sacrifice is part Halloween? OK sure, a goat or two may buy it, but humans? That's just crazy.
Posted by: Charles | October 16, 2006 at 10:15 AM
Is she part of the religous rite???
Posted by: Rob | October 16, 2006 at 10:31 AM
OMG, that is so 2 centuries ago. It reminds me of a comment left on my blog about the cartoon series, "The Grim Adventures Of Billy And Mandy" which inspired a post I wrote entitled Celebrate Death. Not that anyone who has a strong belief in the religious right, who I refuse to call Christians, is going to read it.
You want the definition of Christianity? Read what the Amish did after the horrible school shootings when several Amish went to console the wife of the shooter AT HIS FUNERAL! And the grandfather of one of those killed insisting on forgiveness and to do what they can to help the wife and kids of the killer of his granddaughter. I believe that's the "Forgive those who trespass against us" rule.
Plus All Saints or All Hallows Eve (or Halloween) is supposed to be about remember those who have died and to CELEBRATE their lives, but thanks to those who want nothing more than to make money off all holidays, Halloween can be just as crass as Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter and the bane of all holidays, Valentine's Day.
Ugh, I shouldn't let this antiquated beliefs get to me, but frankly it's only Hollywood and a few nutters (if I may borrow that term from my UK friends) that have put the idea that Halloween is all about zombies, demonic rituals and giving your virgin daughters to Beelzebub. That's just sexist. What about your virgin sons! I mean, if homosexual is a thing of Satan then I'm sure he wants the boys more than the girls.
Ooo! That's funny! I'm may 'flesh' this out on my blog now. :)
Posted by: Howard | October 16, 2006 at 11:37 AM
Marx said that religion was the opiate of the masses, but it appears some religionists are more stoned than others.
Fundamentalist Christianity is religion for drama queens. Now ... pardon me. I gotta go carve anti-witch talismans above all my window and doorsills before Halloween.
Posted by: Kit | October 16, 2006 at 11:48 AM
What the hell? I don't even know what else to say to something like that.
Posted by: ANO | October 16, 2006 at 11:52 AM
Hey guys...
I didn't even know and still don't know if human sacrafice is tied to halloween... I just wanted an excuse to dress up like Faye Valentine.
It's only a costume party. I hired a DJ... There will be meat on skewers... but I doubt it will be human flesh... I hope to Gawd it won't be human flesh!
I'm not doing any "ceremonies". There may be a costume contest. I won't be dancing naked under the moonlight... unless of course I drink to much and things get out of control. Okay maybe people will get naked... but it has nothing to do with celebrating Halloween.
Really I never knew she belonged to a religion that prohibits halloween.
Just strange.
K
Posted by: K | October 16, 2006 at 01:21 PM
The whole human sacrifice angle was something cooked up by the Christians a long time ago. Basically they wanted to demonize pagans who, for the most part, were a peaceful lot -- certainly more so historically than Christians have been.
Howard has the right thinking in that many of those who claim Christianity are not very good Christians at all. Being that the religion is supposed to follow the teachings of Christ and the contents of the New Testament it stands to hold that many Christians past and present have done a very poor job of following their own religion.
Now hopefully I won't bog your comments down with people promising me hell in the afterlife.
Posted by: James Cooper | October 16, 2006 at 02:25 PM
Being the snarky person that I am, I'd right back and say "Would you feel better if we sacrifice a a virgin so it's not just any human?" Hopefully this person doesn't have kids because undoutably she would have it banned from their school robbing the kids the once a year chance to dress up like Superman and not get mocked.
Posted by: Scooter McGavin | October 16, 2006 at 02:28 PM
James,
This blog repells those types with it's half naked ads and multiple references to private parts.
Scoot...
She had two girls.
K
Posted by: K | October 16, 2006 at 02:32 PM
Most of these people think I'm already going to hell, so I say on with the sacrifice!
WOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!
Posted by: Ricardo | October 16, 2006 at 03:11 PM
No human sacrifice?
Okay, I can RSVP now then. Can't make it. That's the reason I was gonna go...
Posted by: Mr. Fabulous | October 16, 2006 at 03:46 PM
Ditto. It's just not a party without the sacificial virgin. I would volunteer, but the virgin part - well, it's been a while.
Posted by: Maritza | October 16, 2006 at 04:45 PM
could be mormon. i had a friend growing up who was mormon, and they didn't celebrate anything fun. no birthdays, no halloween, basically nothing that honored or celebrated anything that didn't revolve around god. yawn.
i used to kidnap her on halloween so she could pretend to be a damn kid like the rest of us. her parents didn't like me.
i'm all for the virgin sacrifice (because i'm way safe)
Posted by: elizabeth | October 16, 2006 at 05:58 PM
Well duh moron, I'm Chritian and I wouldn't say something so stupid. I think most chiristians know Halloween isn't about people sacrificing people at parties.
Posted by: Joanna | October 16, 2006 at 06:22 PM
Respect where respect is due. Your friend politely declined - citing religious reasons - and not a word more needs to be said. The line about fearing and celebrating was a bit over-the-top (since the origins of Halloween have little to do with human sacrifice), but it should simply be left at that ...
Posted by: absent.canadian | October 16, 2006 at 06:26 PM
The best Halloween I had was when I dressed as a bloody tampon. It was the best costume ever! Tampon earrings, cotton puff head with a string hanging from it....
classic.
Posted by: Manic Mom | October 16, 2006 at 08:54 PM
Hummm,
Being the witch that I am. I don't recall human sacrifice in the ritual of Samhain (Hallowe'en). The ritual is of the death of the crone and the the rebirth of the maiden. There is a dagger and blood(well wine) involved. But thrusting the dagger into the cup of wine is not to kill.It's supposed to be a falix of the hunter being thrust into the Queen's "cup". Unless shrivelling while dancing naked on a cold fall night is a sacrifice, well....it ain't happenin!
Posted by: Lynn Tucker | October 17, 2006 at 12:27 AM
Um, yeah. I think I'd be erasing that person from my list of invitees for anything ever again. Halloween = human sacrifice. Huuuuuh?!
Posted by: Sue | October 17, 2006 at 09:27 AM
That's 4 for human sacrifice..
3 not so much...
2 for dancing naked... (included me, the sacrifice would be messy)
Posted by: K | October 17, 2006 at 10:56 PM
Alcohol but no human sacrifice? How gauche'! LoL Sounds like a piece of work! Never heard that one before!
Posted by: FateWineRoses | October 18, 2006 at 03:01 AM
...and just what do you have against human sacrifice? If it was good enough for hundreds of generations of our ancestors...
Posted by: utenzi | October 18, 2006 at 02:05 PM
Several years ago I frequented a chat site (Sidetracked Home Executives) and you wouldn't BELIEVE the amount of women on that site that were against Halloween for religious reasons. Most of the 'Anti-Halloween' types were along the lines of Fundamentalist Religious Moms that homeschooled their kids.
Now I have no kids, am a lefty liberal Jew and thought the whole thing was REEE-DIC-U-LOUS. So I wisecracked that any holiday that celebrated with candy was my kind of holiday.
Close to 10 members stopped speaking to me from that point on.
Yeah. REE-DIC-U-LOUS, huh?
Posted by: Kath | October 19, 2006 at 08:56 PM
I landed up here from a Google search: "Yoga Human Sacrifice". I am attempting a personal understanding of a sensational double murder case in India, and since after a number of lie-decetor tests, narco-tests etc the local and the federal police are still in the dark, my theory is that it was a human sacrifice instigated by yoga practice. I am mentioning this here because this site is called "www.yogacoffeeoutlook.com"
Yoga is evil. An ancient evil. Halloween is like a new born babe when compared with yoga.
Posted by: HPyroli | June 19, 2008 at 01:01 PM