Today, November 1st, is All Hallows Day, All Saints Day. Yesterday was Halloween – All Hallows Evening. For some it’s an opportunity for dressing up and having harmless fun, for traditions and celebrations; some focus on the horror books, films and characters that have become part of our culture – they enjoy the scary; others say it should be avoided as it’s dangerous, dealing with, opening yourself up to, forces of evil.
Behind the commercialism and history of Halloween there are questions about the spiritual, supernatural and religion… about life, death and beyond… about the conflict between good and evil, and the final outcome.
Yesterday Malala Yousafzai was on the radio and TV… Born in 1997 to a poor Pakistani family, as an eleven-year-old who spoke out about her right to an education; the Taliban were closing girls’ schools. Her campaigning gained publicity. In 2012, a Taliban gunman shot 15-year-old Malala in the head.
In a critical state she was transferred to hospital in Birmingham, UK. She recovered, went to school in Birmingham, received the Nobel Peace Prize when she was 17, went to Oxford University. She continues to campaign for human rights – particularly the education of women and children in her native Pakistan.
It’s a good Halloween story about abused religion, life and death, the conflict between good and evil, the ultimate triumph of good…
Yesterday afternoon I saw a mother with her daughter. Mother was wearing a ‘Let’s eat kids’ T-shirt. To me that summed up the mixed message of Halloween. ‘Let’s eat kids’ is a gory cannibalistic picture, illustrating the evil. ‘Let’s eat, kids’ is a happy family picture of a parent looking after her children, illustrating the good.
I was brought up to believe that life is about extremes – good and evil, God and the devil, heaven and hell. We choose one or the other – we cannot compromise. If I apply that to Halloween – it’s good or evil. Perhaps sometimes the difference between the good and evil is smaller – just a little squiggle, a comma.
malcolmsmusings.org 