Briefly on the Halloween

By Herbert Vego

WHILE All Saints Day is supposed to be a solemn day to pay respect to the departed, it is also “enjoyed” as a celebration of Halloween in many countries, including the Philippines.

Hallow simply means holy, as the Lord’s Prayer suggests (“hallowed be thy name”).

“Halloween” stands for “All Hallows’ Eve,” which is the evening before “All Hallows’ Day” (All Saints’ Day)”. Originally observed on October 31, it is the Christian vigil that precedes All Saints’ Day on November 1 and All Souls’ Day on November 2, a time for honoring the saints and praying for the departed, respectively.

In many parts of the world, the Christian religious observances include attending church services and lighting candles on the graves of the dead.

But like many other Christian traditions, it originated from pagan roots. Halloween originated with the pagan ritual Samhain in ancient polytheistic Celtic religion in Europe.

In fact, the Bible contains no direct references to Halloween. Bible verses – such as Deuteronomy 12 and 1 Corinthians 10 — instruct Christians against participation in pagan practices directly involving witchcraft, the occult, and the worship of idols.

Halloween activities include trick-or-treat, costume parties, carving pumpkins into jack-o’-lanterns, lighting bonfires, apple bobbing, divination games, playing pranks, visiting haunted attractions, telling scary stories, and watching horror films.

American historian and author Ruth Edna Kelley of Massachusetts wrote the history of Halloween in the US in the Book of Halloween (1919), which touches on customs that arrived from across the Atlantic. All Halloween customs in the United States are borrowed directly or adapted from those of other countries.

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UNDERSTANDING HOMOSEXUALITY

ONE time I found myself viewing an orthodox Jewish rabbi who warned his audience against homosexual acts as “sinful,” citing the verse Leviticus 18:22, which forbids “lying with a man as with a woman.”

The rabbi said that the prohibition “is addressed only to the Jews.”

He must have forgotten that the book of Leviticus is not only a part of the Jewish Bible or the Torah.  It is also in the Christian Bible, as are Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

In I Corinthians 6:9, Paul warns, “Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate shall inherit the kingdom of God.”

Just like Christianity, Orthodox Judaism does not recognize same-sex marriage.

But as in Christianity, the issue has been a subject of debate with modern Jewish denominations.

The modernists question the capacity of a homosexual to change his nature. I agree.

I remember the 11 years I spent in Metro Manila (1970-1981) as a freelance reporter covering the entertainment beat, where most of my colleagues were gay.  And so I felt “abnormal”.  There were times when I had to ape their ways in order to be “in”.

Today’s biggest Christian sects no longer make much ado about homosexuality. It would be very embarrassing to take action against homosexuals, considering the high percentage of gay priests and ministers who have come out of the closet. As future generations take over possessions of religious power, the relaxation of policies against homosexuals are expected to continue in recognition of the scientific discovery that homosexual feelings are directly caused by genes, hence not chosen and are unchangeable in adulthood.

It may be argued therefore that if God indeed created homosexuals at birth, why would He punish them for treading the natural path?

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‘WE ARE THE ORIGINAL AUSTRONESIANS’

“WE are the original Austronesians,” my friend Victor Martin Soriano told me.

For the information of today’s young Filipinos, Martin was that young Ilonggo who gained national fame by swimming the Iloilo-Guimaras Strait continuously – a distance of 4.2 nautical miles (7.7 kilometers) on August 7, 1994.

And who are the Austronesians?

The Austronesians are a diverse group of people who migrated from the Philippines to other islands of Southeast Asia and the Indo-Pacific region.

The Austronesian language family covers a vast geographical area, stretching from Madagascar to Easter Island, and from Taiwan and Hawaii to New Zealand. It encompasses approximately 1,200 languages spoken across Southeast Asia, Oceania, Madagascar, and Taiwan .

Martin debunked the notion that we descended from the China mainland.

“China has all the fake artifacts to show that Filipinos originated from PingTan,” he said, referring to an island off the Fujian province of China.

I am in no position to discuss the matter extensively.  Suffice it to say that in a chat with this writer, Martin said he had assembled some information materials to prove his claim, which are now accessible in the Austronesian Museum at the Iloilo City Public Library on Fajardo St, Jaro, Iloilo City.