Slog
News & ArtsWednesday, October 17, 2012
Religion JesusWeen?
Posted by Dan Savage on Wed, Oct 17, 2012 at 12:46 PM
Somebody forgot to swing by Urban Dictionary before announcing their attempt to redefine Halloween.
3
I thought "Harvest Festival" was their tradition? They advertise it as costumes, candy, games, and safe family fun at their churches. Maybe, Bibles and such are not selling so well these days?
I'm guessing these "Jesusween" individuals are the type to become angry if you wish them "Happy Holidays", too.
I'm guessing these "Jesusween" individuals are the type to become angry if you wish them "Happy Holidays", too.
4
Isn't that great! Canadian, of course. Here's Gawker's bit on it last year - they called the pastor in charge: http://gawker.com/5847535/celebrate-jesu…
6
I'm impressed that she can say "Jesusween" over and over again with a straight face. Any outtakes?
7
If they give out Bibles and propaganda instead of candy, they're gonna get their house wrapped, egged, pumpkin-smashed, etc., and rightfully so.
Jesusweenie Day: Invented to give Christian bookstores a Hallmark-like boost.
Jesusweenie Day: Invented to give Christian bookstores a Hallmark-like boost.
8
Halloween is an offspring of the Catholic Holy Day of Obligation, All Saints Day, which falls on November 1.
Silly Protestants. It's not all about Jesus, you know.
Silly Protestants. It's not all about Jesus, you know.
9
Jesus Ween is worth a chuckle or two, but anyone proselytizing instead of forking over candy is the real dick.
10
Coupla things....
1. Giving kids expecting candy Bibles and Christian literature is a sure way to spend the next day picking eggshells off your siding and toilet paper out of your trees
2. Does anyone on that side of the aisle ever stop to think about how everything they're supposed to do and like amounts to going out and buying something from a "Christian" vendor? Chick-fil-A appreciation, buying Bibles and whatnot from the local bookstore, and by extension, publishing house, paying money to get in to see a certain preacher, ect. Just saying. Seems like a lot of this religious fervor is supported less by a love for Jesus and more by a love of an easy paycheck/gullible customer base.
1. Giving kids expecting candy Bibles and Christian literature is a sure way to spend the next day picking eggshells off your siding and toilet paper out of your trees
2. Does anyone on that side of the aisle ever stop to think about how everything they're supposed to do and like amounts to going out and buying something from a "Christian" vendor? Chick-fil-A appreciation, buying Bibles and whatnot from the local bookstore, and by extension, publishing house, paying money to get in to see a certain preacher, ect. Just saying. Seems like a lot of this religious fervor is supported less by a love for Jesus and more by a love of an easy paycheck/gullible customer base.
12
I'm a little old to trick-or-treat, but if anyone gave me a Christian Bible instead of candy, I'd consider egging their house.
13
One of the best concerts I ever attended was Ween playing shortly before Halloween in Boston. They had the Nashville backing band and were playing country songs and the new Mollusk tunes along with all their back catalog. Sometimes Dean or Gene would take a break and leave the other on stage while they smoked a joint in the wings (clearly visible from the edges of the stage, where I was). The slide guitarist drank half a bottle of Jack Daniels over the course of the show and did the encore with a hockey mask on (and his pipe stuck in the hockey mask's mouth slits).
Damn that was a good show.
Damn that was a good show.
14
@8:
It's also my Birthday (which made my dearly departed, extremely devout Irish-Catholic Grandmother insanely happy), but be that as it may, let's not forget that All Saints Day was planted where it was in order to co-opt the Gaelic ritual feast of Samhain marking the end of the harvest season, and which traditionally occurs on October 31st. "Halloween" is simply a more modern corruption of "All Hallow's Eve".
So basically, what we have here with "Jesus Ween" is an attempt by Christians to co-opt an attempt by secularists to co-opt a previous attempt by Catholics to co-op an ancient pagan celebration.
Apparently, we're just going to keep going back-and-forth on this one every century or so, until, with any luck, people will eventually end up completely confusing the pagan and Christian elements of the holiday, and we'll end up with a celebration of the day little Jesus dressed up as a sexy, sexy saint and went door-to-door asking for candy for the poor, and sending to Hell anyone who refused to offer it up.
It's also my Birthday (which made my dearly departed, extremely devout Irish-Catholic Grandmother insanely happy), but be that as it may, let's not forget that All Saints Day was planted where it was in order to co-opt the Gaelic ritual feast of Samhain marking the end of the harvest season, and which traditionally occurs on October 31st. "Halloween" is simply a more modern corruption of "All Hallow's Eve".
So basically, what we have here with "Jesus Ween" is an attempt by Christians to co-opt an attempt by secularists to co-opt a previous attempt by Catholics to co-op an ancient pagan celebration.
Apparently, we're just going to keep going back-and-forth on this one every century or so, until, with any luck, people will eventually end up completely confusing the pagan and Christian elements of the holiday, and we'll end up with a celebration of the day little Jesus dressed up as a sexy, sexy saint and went door-to-door asking for candy for the poor, and sending to Hell anyone who refused to offer it up.
16
Stupid, asshole religious extremists. Next they'll ban Christmas presents....
Fuck off, Jesus freaks. If you love him so much why don't you follow his teachings?
Fuck off, Jesus freaks. If you love him so much why don't you follow his teachings?
17
@16, oh hell no, they're NEVER banning Christmas presents. That's the part that's telling. They're gonna keep buying shitloads of crap for December, but they're going to demand that the clerk making minumim wage remembers to wish them a "Merry Christmas" while simultaneously refusing to accept that this person might like health care.
19
History lesson here:
(And my teacher thought I wasn't paying attention in those classes at Famous Witch U... HA!)
Historically, Samhain represented the final harvest of the year. What you didn't get in from the fields by then was left there for the Gods/Spirits/Nature.
Additionally it was seen as the time when the Rule of the year transitioned from the Goddess to the God, and when the Veil between the Worlds was at it's thinnest, allowing one to offer a final goodbye to a loved one who had passed in the year previous.
With the growth and expansion of Xianity, slowly this celebration took on macabre overtones that persist to this day ... the thinning of the Veil became "a night when monsters walk" - a sharing of bounty became "trick or treat" .
As you can see, the Gods of the Old become the demons of the New.
(And my teacher thought I wasn't paying attention in those classes at Famous Witch U... HA!)
Historically, Samhain represented the final harvest of the year. What you didn't get in from the fields by then was left there for the Gods/Spirits/Nature.
Additionally it was seen as the time when the Rule of the year transitioned from the Goddess to the God, and when the Veil between the Worlds was at it's thinnest, allowing one to offer a final goodbye to a loved one who had passed in the year previous.
With the growth and expansion of Xianity, slowly this celebration took on macabre overtones that persist to this day ... the thinning of the Veil became "a night when monsters walk" - a sharing of bounty became "trick or treat" .
As you can see, the Gods of the Old become the demons of the New.
20
Please keep up this inane behavior, Christians. It'll only push more people to join the Dark Side with the rest of us unbelievers, and I guarantee we have more fun on Halloween.
22
What the hell is up with the woman with the acrylic fake french manicured stripper nails holding the bible?
23
Don't most secular American people already have bibles in their houses, even if they're not religious, unless they identify culturally with another religion? Like non-practicing Jewish or something. Because my house has 2 kinds of bibles at least and we are not religious. I don't think people don't read them because they don't have access
24
When I was a kid, I went trick-or-treating for Unicef. I think that's a lot more Christian than what these people are proposing.
Ya... and those nails are definitely a model of vanity, which is supposed to be sinful...
Ya... and those nails are definitely a model of vanity, which is supposed to be sinful...
25
Halloween is among my favorite holidays. I'm a little too old to go trick-or-treating, but if anyone is bold enough to come to the door offering Bibles or any of that crap, they'll certainly be getting an earful...and possibly egged.
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