Quote:
Originally posted by brizzad
baker, louisiana
|
Baker officials hope to ban 'satanic' holiday
>By CHUCK HUSTMYRE
>Special to The Advocate
>
>BAKER -- Ghosts and goblins, costumed superheroes, even
>little girls dressed up like Cinderella -- none may be
>welcome on the streets of Baker next year if some city
>officials get their way and drive Halloween out of town.
>
>"We're going to introduce an ordinance to stop
>Halloween -- period," City Councilman Fred Russell said.
>
>During this week's City Council meeting, Russell
>announced that he was in favor of eliminating Halloween
>beginning in 2005.
>
>Russell is not alone in taking this stance because
>throughout the Bible Belt this October, others are
>speaking out on religious grounds against celebrating
>Halloween on Oct. 31 since it falls on a Sunday.
>
>Russell told council members he hears from 10 to 15
>people each year asking him to ban Baker's Halloween
>celebration. "People don't like it," he said.
>
>What disturbs some people about Halloween, particularly
>church leaders, is its association with witchcraft and
>anti-Christian values, Russell said.
>
>At the council meeting, Russell declared, "We are a
>Christian city. Jesus is lord over Baker."
>
>However, Russell acknowledged that any ordinance aimed
>at banning Halloween would need council approval.
>
>Mayor Harold Rideau said he, too, supports the idea of
>ditching Halloween.
>
>"That's one day I don't support," Rideau said. "It's
>not really a day you want to celebrate as a Christian."
>
>Halloween started as a Celtic New Year celebration in
>honor of the dead. It began long before the foundation
>of Christianity and continued after the Roman conquest
>of what is now Britain in A.D. 43. Halloween was first
>observed in the United States in the 1840s.
>
>Because Oct. 31 falls on a Sunday this year -- a day of
>worship for many Christians --Mayor Rideau said a lot
>of people in Baker felt it is an inappropriate day on
>which to celebrate Halloween.
>
>"It's also a safety issue," Rideau explained Friday. He
>said it is dangerous to have excited children running
>around on the streets after dark.
>
>The council voted Tuesday to change this year's
>trick-or-treating in Baker from Sunday, Oct. 31, to
>Thursday, Oct. 28, between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m.
>
>Councilman Charles Vincent is adamant in his desire to
>see Baker give Halloween the brush off. "I would like
>to see us eliminate it entirely," he said.
>
>Vincent described Halloween as a satanic celebration
>and said that honoring it on any day of the week is wrong.
>
>Police Chief Sid Gautreaux said that although it might
>disappoint his grandchildren, he is not a fan of Halloween.
>
>Trick-or-treating requires Gautreaux to put three times
>the normal number of patrol cars out on the street. It
>also eats up a big chunk of his overtime budget. "It
>wouldn't hurt my feelings in the least bit if they cut
>it out," he said.
>
>Yet, despite some support from city officials for
>striking the celebration of Halloween from Baker's
>calendar, children don't need to toss out their
>trick-or-treat bags just yet.
>
>Three of the five members of the City Council said they
>oppose doing away with Halloween. Councilmen Jimmy
>Pourciau, A.J. Walls and Trae Welch all said they would
>oppose any move to get rid of the annual costume and
>candy fest.
>
>"I don't have no problem with Halloween," Walls said.
>"I always enjoyed it when I was a kid." He said it is
>one of the few times of the year when people actually
>get out and meet their neighbors. "I don't think it has
>nothing to do with witchcraft," Walls added.
>
>Councilman Trae Welch, who is also a lawyer, said any
>proposed ordinance to ban Halloween would almost
>certainly run into immediate legal problems. He said
>the City Council cannot enact an ordinance barring
>someone from dressing up in a costume and knocking on a
>neighbor's door, either on Halloween or any other day.
>
>Welch said the council doesn't have the authority to
>tell people what they can and cannot celebrate. If the
>issue of banning Halloween does come up for a vote,
>Welsh said he has already made his decision. "I know I
>wouldn't vote for it," he said.
>
>Other city officials encourage safe trick-or-treating.
>Fire Chief Danny Edwards said firefighters will hand
>out candy at the fire station on Oct. 28.
>
>No messing with holiday
>
>East Baton Rouge Mayor-President Bobby Simpson said
>Friday after he announced trick-or-treating would fall
>on Sunday, the traditional Halloween day, "I didn't get
>one phone call."
>
>"I did get an e-mail from a lady in Baker, but Baker is
>going to do its own thing," he said.
>
>The one piece of advice former Mayor-President Tom Ed
>McHugh gave him when he took over the Mayor's Office
>nearly four years ago was not to mess with Halloween,
>Simpson said.
>
>In 1993, McHugh moved it off of a Sunday night to the
>preceding Friday night and suffered a lot of criticism
>over it. In 1999, McHugh suggested moving the hours
>from the usual 6 p.m.-8 p.m. to 4 p.m.-6 p.m., because
>there are more police on that shift. Again, he was
>haunted by critics of that decision, too.
>
>Zachary follows neighbors
>
>Mayor Charlene Smith of Zachary, who was asked Friday
>if any opposition had surfaced to Zachary's plans to
>observe Halloween on Oct. 31, replied, "We haven't
>heard any complaints about it."
>
>She added, "We usually follow whatever Baker and East
>Baton Rouge do."
>
>Told that the Baker City Council on Tuesday night
>switched Baker's trick-or-treat hours from Oct. 31 to
>Oct. 28, Smith replied, "We haven't heard about it."
>
What's funny is if you tried to ban Christmas...
Anyway they didn't ban it, I need one where it was BANNED.