Here in the bible belt, we hear quite a bit about the evils of Halloween. If the coverage in our local paper is any indication, most Southern Baptists (the dominant Christian denomination here) want nothing to do with Halloween and may even take their kids to church instead of letting them experience Halloween. Several pastors have been quoted in the paper saying that Halloween is evil and that all good Christians should turn their backs on it.
I can understand parents not wanting their children to trick-or-treat in high crime areas or having other concerns about safety (even though the whole razor blades in apples thing appears to be an urban legend). What I have more difficulty understanding is this conviction among many fundamentalist Christians that demons actually prowl the earth on Halloween. I realize that their religion must create threats to maintain itself, but there are so many real threats to safety (e.g., international conflict, poverty, crime, climate change, etc.) that could be addressed instead. Worrying about demons seems downright silly, although I recognize that it has unfortunately serious consequences.
