CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) – I know some very religious people, and I consider myself religious, who don’t take part in Halloween. They say it’s Satan’s holiday. It’s not.
I encourage everyone to see today for what it is: a holiday for kids to dress in costume and get candy from their neighbors. Certainly kids don’t believe we’re worshiping the devil today. For every Frankenstein or Dracula costume, I see at least as many CareBears and unicorns. Laugh-a-lot Bear does not belong to the occult.
I actually find it curious that adults, who should know better, spend a lot of time and energy making Halloween into something it isn’t.
For instance, it’s not the night of the living dead. The vast majority of the people I’ve known who’ve passed away over the years were good people. It’s nonsense to think they’d come back from the afterlife as evil. I actually like the idea of a day set aside to remember the departed.
There are Halloween myths that refuse to die — about candy bars with pins in them, or fruit with embedded razor blades. These stories simply aren’t true. There are actually four documented cases – only four – of apples with razor blades. And I remember a time when hospitals were x-ray’ing candy before kids could take it home to eat.
Now I think there are some precautions for Halloween. Stay in your own neighborhood. Stay in groups. Don’t go into a stranger’s home. I think that’s all common sense.
But, no, your children are at no greater risk of being abducted tonight than any other night of the year. Your black cat isn’t in danger tonight.
Actually, there is only one statistic that I’m aware of that makes Halloween more dangerous than other nights for your kids: getting hit by a car. It gets dark early. Most customs are hard to see. There are more kids out and about at night who don’t always look both ways before crossing the street.
So, be safe. And happy Halloween.
Chris Conley
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