Rhetoric Race and Religion
Halloween today isn’t all that Christian or all that scary any more. Our American celebration of Halloween has very little to do with observing a Christian “All Hallows’ Eve” before the “All Hallows Day” remembrance of the dead.
On “All Hallows’ Eve,” skeletons, ghosts and graveyards were supposed to be scary reminders of human mortality, and the threat of damnation like the image above. Carved pumpkins lit from within, or “Jack O’ Lanterns,” were originally to frighten “evil spirits” away. Halloween is now more a creation of Gothic and horror literature like Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein, Hollywood horror movies, and the candy and costume industries.
But if you do want to be frightened this week, here are some Christian theological themes that actually are scary:
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