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| Halloween | |
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| Topic Started: Friday, 26. October 2007, 13:06 (965 Views) | |
| Rose of York | Sunday, 1. November 2009, 23:52 Post #61 |
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'dancing in a Christian spirit"???????? Doing a jig, aided by a glass of Benedictine? |
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Keep the Faith! | |
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| Emee | Monday, 2. November 2009, 00:22 Post #62 |
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garfield I read the same article in The Daily Mail and a thought struck me. The paper is just in a strop with the Catholic Church for what it sees as the breaking up of the C of E, Middle Class, conservative establishment that it feels our country is built on and should remain on. Follow my reasoning on this: Basically, this time last year the paper would have been on the side of most conservative pronouncements coming from The Vatican or from other members of our Church, viz the paper has in the past shown the harm abortion does, has decried the demise of sexual and societal morals, supports Christian values, and has held up our Church as a bastion of one that stands firm on such stances. But challenge the Anglican estalishment and make an offering for their clergy to join Catholic ranks and so further demise of their own shaky establishment? And how the palm wavers have turncoated... No I would expect to see more of this type of story garfield - ie linking The Vatican to negative stories rather than to positive news; in this case to Political Correctness can you believe?! The Vatican or otherwise coverage is ridiculed by linking it in the same article to political correctness and chilldren being made to remove their masks in the U.S. for being "too scary". Quite a sly move on the paper's part actually - it is saying: "Look at those Vatican spoilsports - they are destroying all our traditions." Basically with The Daily Mail it is the Establishment right or wrong - rock the boat and you're a socialist, an immigrant, an oddity, and now added to the list, a Catholic. Smooth little piece of PR on The Mail's part. For my part I chose to celebrate All Saints Day instead. I bought us an Angel Cake as my daughter was going to bake a cake for All Saints Day but the oven part of our cooker is broken. A thought came to me: we could have all the fun and games on All Saints Day - all the party games etc. and we could even have fireworks to celebrate All Saints Day. Therefore Catholic children need not feel like they are missing out on any of the fun (in the way that Jehovah's Witness children do at Christmas and birthday times) but in that way they are celebrating a legitimate Catholic and Christian festival - instead of one with dubious origins (Halloween) and one with a quite definite Anti-Catholic slant (Guy Fawkes Day) - yes I expect the Establishment-loving Daily Mail would have had a field day then as well had it been around in those days also...
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| SeanJ | Monday, 2. November 2009, 12:44 Post #63 |
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I can't vouch for the accuracy of this explanation of the origins of Halloween, but a lot of fits with what I already know, and the rest of it makes sense. SeanJ |
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| Mairtin | Monday, 2. November 2009, 14:20 Post #64 |
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It's nice when somebody comes up with the actual facts, well done Sean.
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| Gerard | Monday, 2. November 2009, 14:43 Post #65 |
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There is no way I buy that. The customs surrounding Hallowene in Scotland are too much like a remainder from the Celtic festival of Samhain for me to buy into a Christian origin in the Middle ages. It is an obvious case of Christianity substituting a Christian equivalent for a pre-existing pagan festival. Just as Christmas substitutes for the festival of the Winter Equinox. Gerry |
| "The institutional and charismatic aspects are quasi coessential to the Church's constitution" (Pope John Paul II, 1998). | |
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| Mairtin | Monday, 2. November 2009, 15:04 Post #66 |
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I think you're missing the point, Gerry. The fact that Christmas was "merged" with an existing pagan festival does not in any way undermine the Christian nature of Christmas; neither should the present day secularisation be allowed to undermine it. I think the same principle should apply to Halloween; the fact that it too was originally merged with some pagan festival and that ghosts and ghoulies have been added by secularism in more recent times should not be allowed to obscure the fact that there is a big Christian tradition attached to it. There is something in Fr. Thompson's account that rings true with me too - I've always felt that Halloween was something more than a simple secular festival, that the three days of Halloween, All Saints and All Souls have to be taken as a total period; the very name "Hallow E'en" is a big clue :) |
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| Clare | Monday, 2. November 2009, 16:24 Post #67 |
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Putting the "Fun Dame" into Fundamentalist
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...on some pages, and then completely undermining its stance with things on other pages. Even though I have quoted articles from it, fairly often, I do find it pretty appalling. On the one hand it rightly bemoans the state of society, while simultaneously doing its bit to maintain society's sorry state! If it was really serious about wanting society to be better, it would stop printing such immoral rubbish elsewhere in its pages! |
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S.A.G. Motes 'n' Beams blog Join in the Fun Trivia Quiz! | |
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| Gerard | Monday, 2. November 2009, 17:49 Post #68 |
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Mairtin, Did you read the article Sean linked to? It is wholly misleading and if it does not actually contain untruths it is full of half truths - it is not even internally consistent. We agree, you and I, that Hallowene is the Christian "Eve of All Hallows". We also seem to agree that it substututed (or merged with) a pre-existing Pagan equivalent. But the article tries to give a different story altogether. I find nothing wrong, and much admirable, in the substitution. But I find the distortion and evasion of the historical truth repugnant. Gerry |
| "The institutional and charismatic aspects are quasi coessential to the Church's constitution" (Pope John Paul II, 1998). | |
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| KatyA | Wednesday, 13. October 2010, 11:53 Post #69 |
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It's that time of year again, and this year, our bishops are endorsing the "Night of Light"Catholic Herald |
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| KatyA | Wednesday, 13. October 2010, 12:00 Post #70 |
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Found the Press Release ( they hide things well on the bishops' site)Press Release |
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| Peter | Thursday, 14. October 2010, 11:30 Post #71 |
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What a nice idea to put a light in the window of your home to indicate that you are a follower of Jesus.Trouble is, will anyone passing by make the connection? It will also let potential trick and treaters know that you are in so they can bother you. On the 31st October, we and the people we know turn the lights off in their houses and retire upstairs, either reading a book or watching tv until the knocking has ceased. If you're not in no harm normally comes to your property. If the visitors think you're in and not answering, unpleasant things invariably occur. Personally I can't wait for it all to be over. |
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| Rose of York | Thursday, 14. October 2010, 12:45 Post #72 |
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It might lead to all the neighbours putting their own lights up, because (they think) you put it there because it's "nearly Christmas". |
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Keep the Faith! | |
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| Peter | Thursday, 14. October 2010, 13:31 Post #73 |
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Funnily enough Rose, there used to be a family living in our neighbourhood who would religiously put their Christmas lights up during the first week of November and they had sound effects to go with them! |
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7:53 PM Jul 11