Yesterday, two of the most important national newspapers, El Universal and La Crónica, devoted huge columns to report Mexican Church’s position on Halloween, published on the weekly paper “Desde la Fe” (From Faith), stating that this celebration undermines catholic values and promotes demonic sectarianism.
(http://www.cronica.com.mx/nota.php?id_nota=330351)
Honestly, I find this position rather obtuse. As I mentioned last year, I stand for the preservation of Mexican traditional holidays, as well as for a bicultural education that permits our children a better comprehension of other cultures, but stating that Halloween is a pagan celebration with malevolent expressions promoted by satanic currents… well now, that is exaggerating.
If we go back into Mexican History, the traditional Day of the Dead was also inspired by a pagan ritual to the gods of Mictlan, the Aztec underworld of the dead. Right after the Conquest, Spanish Church had to incorporate a lot of the ancient rites into their beliefs in order to promote Catholic Religion among the natives, so this particular attack on “pagan rituals” seems totally out of place. On the other hand, adoring a bunch of images on the shrines does look as paganism to me, according to the Old Testament.
But the most interesting point to me here is that nowadays, Halloween doesn’t seem to have anything to do with the old Sam’hain celebrations anymore. As far as the regular Mexican citizen is concerned, Halloween is just an opportunity to buy a bunch of Chinese products to decorate their houses, wear funny costumes, throw raucous parties and allow their children to bother all the condo neighbors with their “may I have my little skull?” (our version of trick-or-treat). More threatening to the Catholic faith would be the “Saint Death” cult, I’d say, but since that is a narco expression of faith, the Mexican Church has conveniently kept silent about this spurious “saint”.
In conclusion, I find this situation rather scary. As I have mentioned before, in the dawn of the 21st century we have learned nothing about the dangers of blind faith and fanaticism. It is obvious to me that Mexican Catholic Church wants to keep its followers in the dark, making them fear any shadow that may “threat” the alleged “purity” of their faith, fooling them with this nonsensical attacks to a celebration that, besides the fun for the children, is nothing but mere mercantilism.
(http://www.cronica.com.mx/nota.php?id_nota=330351)
Honestly, I find this position rather obtuse. As I mentioned last year, I stand for the preservation of Mexican traditional holidays, as well as for a bicultural education that permits our children a better comprehension of other cultures, but stating that Halloween is a pagan celebration with malevolent expressions promoted by satanic currents… well now, that is exaggerating.
If we go back into Mexican History, the traditional Day of the Dead was also inspired by a pagan ritual to the gods of Mictlan, the Aztec underworld of the dead. Right after the Conquest, Spanish Church had to incorporate a lot of the ancient rites into their beliefs in order to promote Catholic Religion among the natives, so this particular attack on “pagan rituals” seems totally out of place. On the other hand, adoring a bunch of images on the shrines does look as paganism to me, according to the Old Testament.
But the most interesting point to me here is that nowadays, Halloween doesn’t seem to have anything to do with the old Sam’hain celebrations anymore. As far as the regular Mexican citizen is concerned, Halloween is just an opportunity to buy a bunch of Chinese products to decorate their houses, wear funny costumes, throw raucous parties and allow their children to bother all the condo neighbors with their “may I have my little skull?” (our version of trick-or-treat). More threatening to the Catholic faith would be the “Saint Death” cult, I’d say, but since that is a narco expression of faith, the Mexican Church has conveniently kept silent about this spurious “saint”.
In conclusion, I find this situation rather scary. As I have mentioned before, in the dawn of the 21st century we have learned nothing about the dangers of blind faith and fanaticism. It is obvious to me that Mexican Catholic Church wants to keep its followers in the dark, making them fear any shadow that may “threat” the alleged “purity” of their faith, fooling them with this nonsensical attacks to a celebration that, besides the fun for the children, is nothing but mere mercantilism.
