Keep Halloween Pure And Simple

To the Editor:

Newtown’s Main Street Halloween is arguably the year’s finest night on the town. In America, Halloween is the largest revenue-generating holiday behind Christmas, generating upwards of four billion dollars annually. A cultural survivor of our pre-Christian, agrarian roots, our modern-day Halloween has no religious or governmental affiliation.

As such, the Republicans should not be placing campaign brochures masquerading as treats, in the sweet-filled bags of small children. And, the folks at Grace Christian Fellowship should not have set up their carnival of redemption in front of town hall, blasting their psychedelic Jesus puppet show. The puppet show’s message, “Hey kids, don’t let these scary nightmares frighten you. You have Jesus. Just believe in him, and all the scary stuff will disappear” was entirely inappropriate.

After an enjoyable walk down the east side of Main Street, the Jesus puppet show put me in a really foul mood. Just as the Grinch attempted to ruin Christmas with a twisted vision of a wonderful holiday, Grace Christian Fellowship nearly ruined my Halloween.

Are they simply projecting fear and a hatred of Halloween? One of their tenets of belief, posted on Grace Christian Fellowship’s website says, “Those who die without accepting the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior suffer eternal separation from God and are hopelessly lost. They will live eternally in the Lake of Fire with no further opportunity for hearing the Gospel or repenting. The Lake of Fire is literal.”

Man, this is scary, scary stuff! Even Wes Craven couldn’t write ‘em like that!

Look, I am not anti-religion. I am against inappropriate, opportunistic preaching and evangelizing to our children of varied faiths and backgrounds. Grace Christian Fellowship, I think you owe our community a public apology for this over-the-top attempt to undermine each of our own individual family’s values.

Let’s make a new rule, Newtown. No more self-serving religious or political campaigning anywhere up and down Main Street. Let’s keep our Halloween pure and simple; allow it to serve as a societal mirror reflecting our diversity, our bogeymen and our society, while providing treats, tricks, magic, and harmless fun for our families to share.

And the folks at the church, let’s make a deal. You keep your preaching out of Newtown’s Halloween festivities, and I promise not to set up a loudspeaker in your church parking lot blasting “Stairway to Heaven” backwards.

Scott Wolfman Wolfman Productions, Inc.

30 Obtuse Road, Newtown                                      November 2, 2005