Saving Halloween and Religious Tolerance

A letter to the school board superintendent on the issue of Halloween:

Last year X Public School decided that the students would not celebrate Halloween. No longer would October 31st consist of costumes and parties, instead children would be invited to wear orange and black. The same thing is occurring this year, and again I am deeply unhappy and disappointed. Last year I took my concerns directly to the board but as they clearly have not been considered seriously I am writing directly to you.

I am displeased about this for several reasons and I would like to share those with you, because I think they are valid concerns, and I believe they need consideration.

While there were many whispers and much tittering about why X did away with a traditional Halloween, the ultimate reason this holiday is not being recognized at the school is for the benefit of those students who do not observe the celebration. While I appreciate the sensitivity of this issue, I would like to point out that to most people, Halloween is completely secular. Thanksgiving is secular, and yet there has been no interruption to the traditional Thanksgiving meal provided for all of the students. Vegetarians, celiac, the allergic, and omnivores all join for a traditional turkey feast inside a neighbouring church. Birthdays are announced over the schools PA system. ‘God’ is mentioned in the national anthem. Valentine’s Day hearts and Easter eggs are not ignored.  All with no harm done.

So why is Halloween being treated differently?

Is it out of respect for those few families do not observe Halloween based upon their religious beliefs? If so, I should like to point out that in being mindful of the feelings of these few, my own religious convictions have been offended. You see, I happen to be pagan. Halloween is one of (if not THE) most important observations of the wheel of the year. As a pagan, I find it distressing that the school has stripped Halloween of every bit of meaning and pared it down to the mere recognition of two colours. This is the equivalent of taking every Christmas or winter holiday image and symbol and paring it down to nothing but a square of red and white. If X Public School is striving to please every religious fragment in their community, then I must insist that they consider my objections to the bastardization of this holiday on religious grounds as well.

It is getting silly now, isn’t it?

In an attempt to spare the feelings of a few, every single one of the children at that school is losing out. For over 300 years, Halloween has been celebrated in North American as a secular holiday. Nevertheless, they have discarded the value of tradition and become censorious to the point of absurdity. The school has picked at the bones of tradition until there is no meat left, and only when bare considered them acceptable.

While I may hope the costumes and parties will be reinstated at X Public School, I certainly will not hold my breath. As children we proudly showed off our homemade costumes, giggled, carved pumpkins and told spooky stories and silly jokes. Our children are offered scraps of what should be. They are given the next best thing to nothing. Even an offer from the local arts council to work with the children, creating costumes and engaging them in other activities was met with the response ‘Waste an entire day on art?’ Yes, Halloween and art will surely be the demise of us all.

Truthfully, what bothers me above all else on this issue is the way in which this has been handled. The complete lack of transparency has been abhorrent. I do not lie to my child and do not appreciate being put into a position where I have to explain to my son that the administration of his school has lied to him. He is supposed to trust and respect the people in his school community. Now, not only have they whittled down Halloween into a watery nothing, but they have lied as to why it has been done. If this issue is so important to the school that they are holding fast, despite complaints about the same being done last year, they should have the fortitude to be plain and honest as to why they are standing their ground.

Einstein once said, “Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters” Applied to the current situation, this is far more frightening than any ghoul or goblin.

*sigh*

Morning Inspiration 10.10.13

Mother Goose gets cheeky

Graphic 45 is featuring loverly layouts on the blog today. Included is this cheeky little 8" Mother Goose layout.

It's a messy, smudgy, realistic representation of childhood... well, childhood as it is in this family anyway ;) And who is that messy little blighter? That would be me.

Once a mess maker, always a mess maker.

For more pics and beautiful layouts by my fellow design team members hop over to the Graphic 45 blog.

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Morning inspiration 10.09.13

For the past few years my husband has taken to mushroom hunting. He grabs a knife, and takes our son for a stroll through wooded areas, looking for these particular mushrooms. They grow on trees, sometimes too high to reach, and are edible. I never noticed them before he pointed them out. Now that small flash of white upon dark bark catches my eye. I make a mental note of their position and tell him where I spied them for his next wild mushroom hunting expedition.

Morning inspiration 10.08.13

Behind our property the local golf course has a wild field. It's a lovely place to walk, and daydream. Right now much of the milkweed there has dried and cracked open, it's fluffy white seeds ready to fly.  I love milkweed. It's like a fairy tale plant. It is the sole source of food for Monarch Butterfly larvae and when it goes to seed, it sends wishes out into the world. You can't get much more magical than that.

For those unfamiliar with the plant, here are some extra photos.

Buying apples

Just a few pictures from our weekend trip to the apple orchard. It was a bit damp, but the rain held off while we picked a bushel of Liberty, McIntosh and Macoun apples at Pieter’s Appleyard.

Morning inspiration 10.07.13

It's been a rainy weekend here. It's still raining today. There's something awfully cozy and lazy about those grey days with a constant slow and steady spittle of rain. It makes me want to do laundry then roll about in the warm clothes from the drier. Perhaps I could settle in that fresh heap with a good book.

While some lament the end of hot and steamy days, I look forward to the damp cool mornings where the wet leaves stick to every surface. Others may find the spindly spent tendrils and lonely picked over patches in the decaying garden depressing but I love that slow death for revealing treasures new and once forgotten.