Halloween

Ok, so I am just venting a little, but I am so tired of having Halloween cramed down my crawl! I choose not to celebrate it for what I feel are very valid reasons. I don't condemn or look down on anyone who does celebrate it b/c I feel that it is each persons personal decision. However, I do expect to be shown the same respect, but I am not!! It is rediculous that people actually get on my case or accuse me of being a mean parent or some kind of fanatic b/c I choose not to celebrate something I conseive to be against my beliefs. How amazing is it that we can dress up in Halloween costumes for work, but we can't say "Merry Christmas" - only Happy Holidays, so not to offend anyone. Why is it that it is Ok to offend Christians but not anyone else!! Anyways, Just for information purposes, I am going to list below, a totally unbiased account of the origins of Halloween as posted on the History Channels website.
Halloween's orgins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain. The Celts celebrated their new year on November 1st, which marked the biginning of Winter that was often associated with human death. They believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On October 31st, they celebrated Sumhain, when it is believed the ghosts of the dead returned to the earth. The ghosts would cause trouble and damage crops, and also made it easier for the Druids (Celtic priests) to make predictions about the future.
To commemorate this, the Druide would build huge sacred bonfires where the people gathered to offer sacrafices to the Celtic deities. During the celebrations, they would wear costumes and attemped to tell each other's fortunes.
By A.D. 43, the Romans had conquered most of the Celtic Territory and combined 2 of their festivals with Sumhain. Feralia, when they commemorated the passing of the dead and Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. The latter is how the apple was incorperated into the holiday.
By the 800s, Christianity had spread to the Celts and the Pope tried to replace the holiday by having All Saints' Day on Nov. 1st. This was also called All-hallows and so the Celts still celebrated the night before calling it Hallows eve and eventually Halloween.
The American tradition of "trick or treating" dates back to early England when during All Souls Day, poor citicens would beg for food and families would give them "soul cakes" in return for their promise to pray for the family's dead relatives. The church did this to encourage replacing the current practice of leaving food and wine for the roaming spirits.
The tradition of dressing in costume is both European and Celtic. Hundreds of years ago, winter was a time when food supplies ran low and the short winter days were full of worry b/c many people were afraid of the dark. People were afraid if they left their home on halloween after dark, they would encounter ghosts, so they would wear masks to avoid being recognized and trick the ghost into thinking they were one of them. To keep the ghosts away from their houses, people would place bowls of food outside to appease them and prevent the ghosts from entering.
By the way, American's spend an estimated $6.9 BILLION annually on Halloween, imagine if we used that money for something more useful. It is funny to me how on Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas we have all the charities to help the poor, where is that on halloween?