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Halloween - Harmless or Harmful Fun?
- Thread starter tariqkhwaja
- Start date
Kilgore Trout
Misanthropic Humanist
Mine never are.
Caladan
Agnostic Pantheist
That makes much more sense than talking seriously and in the same breath about Halloween and evil spirits or actual witches.
Mr Spinkles
Mr
But, it seems that is indeed what he is talking about. Unless I am mistaken.
Bismillah
Submit
I think you would be in for quite a challenge if you wished to find a reference from the Qur'an or the hadith on Halloween. The problem is that it does not lie with my religious and cultural tradition.
My friend you are a bad example, being a secular humanist means you hold to no particular religious tradition.
Of course religion is exclusive and of course that matters very little. If it were an inclusive homogenous group why bother for the identifying label? Halloween is rooted in Western Pagan and Christian roots and has no precedence in the Islamic narrative. Thus I don't celebrate it, what more is there to understand
Mr Spinkles
Mr
Consider this:Bismillah said:Of course religion is exclusive and of course that matters very little. If it were an inclusive homogenous group why bother for the identifying label? Halloween is rooted in Western Pagan and Christian roots and has no precedence in the Islamic narrative. Thus I don't celebrate it, what more is there to understand.
(1) I don't normally celebrate the Chinese New Year. But I have nothing against it. If a bunch of Chinese friends invited me to celebrate with them, I would be happy to participate.
(2) I would never, ever celebrate Adolf Hitler's birthday. It represents something that I am ethically, philosophically, and politically against. If a bunch of Neo-Nazis invited me to celebrate with them, I would absolutely refuse, and I hope they come to their senses and stop doing it, too.
Now, (1) and (2) are clearly two different reasons for not celebrating a holiday. I am asking you which one is closer to your reasons for not celebrating Halloween (I'm sure in any case #2 is an exaggeration, but hopefully you see the distinction; the point here is not whether you equate Halloween to Hitler's birthday, but whether your reasons for not participating are of the kind described in #2, or the kind described in #1).
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tariqkhwaja
Jihad Against Terrorism
Because it is not just that it is not part of the Islamic narrative but actually goes against the Islamic narrative. It even goes against the Christian narrative but only if they see.
Caladan
Agnostic Pantheist
Is there a specific post you are referring to?
Mr Spinkles
Mr
Post #133:
[emphasis added]Bismillah said:
In contrast, I don't participate in Eid, Chinese New Year, etc. because they are unfamiliar customs. It has nothing to do with believing that I (or anyone else) should not participate in those holidays.
Bismillah is an intelligent person, so I am trying to understand why he believes Halloween, today, is based on religion, and why that matters.
Reason enough to label them "harmful"...
Mr Spinkles
Mr
To me the belief that Halloween is somehow wrong illustrates the broader superstition of the religious mindset, currently and historically, which leads to the unjustified rejection of many forms of art, literature, cinema, culture and science.
If you believe people should not participate in something like Halloween, then on some level, you must believe witches and goblins etc. is not all just pretend. It's very real and something to be taken very seriously. I have learned from other threads on RF that many Muslims believe there really are people like Voldemort from Harry Potter running around. What does Bismillah think?
If you believe people should not participate in something like Halloween, then on some level, you must believe witches and goblins etc. is not all just pretend. It's very real and something to be taken very seriously. I have learned from other threads on RF that many Muslims believe there really are people like Voldemort from Harry Potter running around. What does Bismillah think?
McBell
Unbound
If one is hell bent on labeling Halloween "harmful," merely disliking the spelling would work.
Bismillah
Submit
Oh I don't think modern day Halloween is anything but a secular holiday marketed for obvious capitalistic reasons. However, it's origins are obviously rooted in that of another culture.
However as a Muslim I take my religious tradition seriously. I find no reason to supplement it with the customs of other religions, mine is complete. Incorporating such holidays as Christmas would then be essentially demeaning that religion.
I don't want to dilute what I have for cheap trashy candy in other words.
Mr Spinkles
Mr
Bismillah, forgive me for laboring the point, but you are equivocating. Sometimes you indicate that it's a choice based on your personal preference. Other times you indicate that there is a higher religious or moral reason based on the fact you are Muslim. Which is it? Do your reasons for not celebrating Halloween apply to all Muslims? Or do you have a personal weakness for capitalistic candy which ordinary Muslims don't struggle with?
St Giordano Bruno
Well-Known Member
We did not have a tradition of Halloween when I was a kid, but we had much more fun with Gay Fawkes night close to the same time of the year and the weeks leading up to it letter fire crackers off and blowing up the neighbour's letter boxes. Since then with a spate of kids blowing their thumbs off and being badly burned it is since been banned. I think taking on Halloween instead is far more harmless fun then Guy Fawkes with all those nasty crackers.