Church leaders say the promotion and commercialisation of Halloween is wrong and say "scare events" which include horror maimings should be avoided.
Those seeking a thrill this weekend have been bombarded with numerous offerings from "scare farms" where visitors are chased by zombies and ghouls as well witnessing fake maimings.
But Luke Walton, the Bible Society's Arts and Culture Manager, urged parents to boycott events, which are sold as "family fun" days-out.
Mr Walton said: "There's so much horror or violence in the world today why bother paying to see it?
"Just switch on your TV and watch the news - that's enough to give anyone nightmares.
"Failing that, look forward to the sleepless nights you'll have after the kids have enjoyed their 'family fun' day out."
A spokesperson for the diocese of Liverpool also urged families to reject ghoulish Halloween events in favour of alternative attractions.
the spokesman said: "We feel that it is important that churches offer an alternative to Halloween.
"The church’s calendar celebrates All Saints Day on November 1st which is an opportunity to celebrate the lives of saints and their inspiration to us as Christians.
"A number of churches offer great alternatives to Halloween events with light parties becoming increasingly popular.
"We have seen a very successful campaign called Halloween Choice which provided a lot of alternative resources as well as a chance for young people to vote for their favourite hero.
"We are aware that a number of people do find Halloween related events disturbing and want to provide an attractive alternative for those people."
The comments come after the Vatican slammed Halloween as "anti-Christian", describing the day as "dangerous."
The October 31st rituals relate to the Christian feast of All Saints on 1st November.
The Pope's condemnation followed similar criticism from Catholic bishops in Spain who earlier this week urged parents not to let their children dress up as ghosts and goblins.
The Vatican's official newspaper L'Osservatore Romano quoted liturgical expert Joan Maria Canals as saying: 'Halloween has an undercurrent of occultism and is absolutely anti-Christian'.
L'Osservatore praised a church at Alcala de Henares which had decided to hold a prayer vigil on Saturday night, and the Paris archdiocese's idea of having kids play a lucky dip dubbed 'Holywins' instead.
It added that: "These and similar initiatives in South America allow Catholic communities to have an alternative to the feast, to bear witness to their faith and Christian hope in the face of death."
ends
No comments:
Post a Comment