Turn Off the Porch Light

A quick read on Wikipedia about the origin of Halloween tells you that here in America, we don't do it justice by half. It's really a day to celebrate the dead, not gorge on candy and run around in store-bought costumes. Who knew jack-o-lanterns were supposed to represent souls of dead people? Not me, and I went to school in America, from kindergarten  through college, and never heard a thing about it. Further proof of my conjecture can be found in today's Wall Street Journal, where an article therein discusses the candy aspect but nothing else.

Fretting over obesity and sugar and how to keep the little ones from over-indulging, there is not so much as a whisper of anything else to do with the holiday, which dates back to Celtic Christianity in about 1745. These days all we think about is how much candy is too much and what a shame that "Breaking Bad" costume is.

Here's my advice to modern-day parents: Just say no to the whole damn business, unless you are a witch or a pagan and you really celebrate the way you should. Otherwise it's making a mockery of an authentic religion, sort of like if Christian kids ran around dressed like matzohs on Passover.