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Should Halloween Be Moved?
Should trick or treating happen on a more convenient night? Credit: Toshifumi Kitamura, AFP/Getty Images
This year Halloween falls on a Sunday. Horrors! Should the haunting holiday be moved to a more convenient day?
The New York Times points out that while some holidays, such as Thanksgiving, always fall on a specific day of the week, Halloween is always October 31. Because October 31 is a Sunday this year, local officials in Chatham County, Ga., are asking parents to take their tots trick or treating on Saturday. Savannah Morning News columnist Tom Barton writes that this violates the Linus Rule -- "There are three things I have learned never to discuss with people: religion, politics and the Great Pumpkin."
Regardless of when you go trick or treating, Halloween is the last day of October. Still, it would certainly be more convenient if it fell on a day that doesn't conflict with church and NFL football.
Do you think Halloween should be moved?
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 2)
10-29-2010 @ 3:32PM
Kookie said...Why are we so interested in changing so many traditions?
First thing we know the country will not be the same.
No prayer in schools, no pledge of allegiance to the flag, changing holdidays, losing freedom of speech, losing certain rights. When will it end.
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10-29-2010 @ 8:57PM
sue said...a very good AMEN, to you....we should stand up for the people how made this country free and the dates that they set for us.. in our city franklin,ohio, we do this on sat. right before halloween. it works out great for everyone here ...saying the Pledge to the big Flag of the U.S.A. is A GREAT THING TO DO... MAY GOD BLESS EACH AND EVERYONE, AND GOD BLESS THE U.S.A.
10-29-2010 @ 4:09PM
jane said...leave halloween where it is. cities can ask parents to go on another nite, but leave it be. i'm tired of everything being changed just for the convience of a few.
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10-29-2010 @ 4:14PM
lgmurphy11 said...I grew up in Cincinnati in the 1960's, and after a rash of Halloween vandalism and violence, the city decided to schedule trick-or-treating on the Sunday before Halloween (if it didn't fall on Sunday) from noon to 5 pm. We loved it because we could go out longer, and it was so much easier to maneuver when it was light out. Everyone just felt safer. I don't remember anyone (except maybe the troublemakers) getting upset about changing Halloween "traditions," but when I told neighbors about it after we moved to New York, they flipped out. Why do kids need to be out after dark?
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10-29-2010 @ 4:44PM
Sarah said...In my town, trick or treat is always on the sunday, from 4 to 7. last year, they let it be on the real halloween because it was a saturday. all of us kids and teens loved it, because it meant we could actually stay up late that night pigging out on our candy with our friends and have them sleep over. having trick or treat on a school night just doesnt make sense.
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10-29-2010 @ 4:49PM
Colleen said...Oct 31 is fine for Halloween. In the South whenever Halloween fell on a Sunday it was and is tradition to trick or treat on Saturday, everyone knows this.
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10-29-2010 @ 9:26PM
Linda said...Why are we even wasting time talking about something so stupid? Leave Halloween where it belongs, Oct. 31. Who are these people who want to change it, frustrated adults who didn't have happy Halloweens as a kid? Going out at night even if it is a school night was a great treat.
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10-29-2010 @ 5:44PM
jodi said...NO! Let the children have their day the same as we did when we were young. They have to grow up too soon in this day and age as it is. Not being a sports fan and knowing that most people have dvd's that record-RECORD IT!. If it's more important than a few hours with your children, your priorities all all wrong.
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10-29-2010 @ 5:48PM
Linda said...FYI Halloween/Samhain is a Pagan holiday. It is our NewYears. How would you christians feel if someone wanted to change the date of Christmas,,which BTW is celebrated as Yule by Pagans. Most holidays were Pagan before Christians took them over. And yes, that includes Easter/Eostera and May Day/Beltane. IMO some moron sits in a back room somewhere thinking up stupid ideas to unleash on the rest of the world. Fire him/her.
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10-29-2010 @ 6:40PM
bird said...What a load of crap, I get very annoyed with the idea of "moving" a holiday just so its more convenient. I will not being giving candy out until Sunday, because that is Halloween. GRRRR!
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10-29-2010 @ 7:15PM
Kelly said...give me a break! This is nothing new... I am 45 years old and trick or treated on October 31 no matter what day it fell on...
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10-29-2010 @ 10:40PM
Maureen said...Halloween is really All Hallows Eve, the day before All Saint's Day on the Christian calendar. Would you like to celebrate it on another day? How is that justified I also know it's a Pagan Holiday of importance. Leave it be and enjoy it.
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10-30-2010 @ 2:04AM
Lauren said...I am Christian and our neighborhood always trick-or-treated on Sunday. On those years, we didn't go, but mom always made up for it with lots of candy and scary movies. I never bothered me, so I don't see a need to change it.
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10-30-2010 @ 2:43PM
Dragon said...Friggen Christians ... always wanting to change the world to fit their narrow point of view. Witches will always celebrate it on the day it is intended. We have no problem with traditions and letting other people express their own celebrations whenever and however they wish to. Freedom ... it is what this country is supposedly based on. Christians are against freedom.
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10-30-2010 @ 2:50PM
Susan said...Yes it should, it should be on a friday or saturday, for younger kids and for adults having parties.
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10-31-2010 @ 9:05AM
Alicia said...Most younger kids are off the street by 6 or 7 in my hometown. That's more than enough time for them to sleep and children 9+ can manage a school day the day after Halloween. As for adults, it's easy enough to have a party the Saturday before without changing the date. Especially since most adults I know anyway party the entire weekend of Halloween.
10-30-2010 @ 8:36PM
Amanda said...To all those who agree that Halloween should be celebrated on the actual date, I agree 100%! We don't rotate Christmas or any other holiday from its original date just for convenience's sake, so why should Halloween be any different? Besides, it's only on a Sunday once every 6 years or so, depending on how many Leap Years are in between, so what's the big deal?
And to all the Wiccans and Pagans out there, a Blessed Samhain to you! My family and I celebrate Halloween as Samhain too, and for us it's a day to give thanks for the final harvest of the season, honor our ancestors, and say goodbye to the spirits of those who have crossed over this past year. Trick-or-treating for us is merely a secular observance, and definitely fun for the kids! Why ruin that for them because the Christians object to that day being spent doing something other than going to church? News flash, not everybody in America is Christian anymore! Not to mention by their logic, that means that community festivals shouldn't be held on Sundays because that would be spent out of church as well. Ditto sporting events! How far off this diving board do you want to go, gang?
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11-01-2010 @ 7:07AM
Bob MORALS said...YES NOT JUST MOVE IT TRASH IT, TO MANY SICKOS OUT THERE THIS DAYS ,SAD BUT TRUE.
ROBERTO.
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10-31-2010 @ 2:26PM
Alicia said...So you want to take away one of the best parts of childhood out of fears that have been proven to be unfounded? According to a recent study, there is no increase in molestation of children on Halloween and there has never been a child poisoned or injured by candy from a stranger, though there have been instances of parents and older siblings poisoning Halloween candy. So, sorry, but your "sickos" are mostly fearmongering urban legends.
10-31-2010 @ 2:33PM
jimrrm said...I agree, it makes it easier for kids to get up for school, for parents to get them to relax for bed and most likely easier for teachers, since they won't have to deal with a bunch of extremely tired, sugared up children.......
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