The True Meaning of Halloween

I'm upset. The city of Harrisburg chose to observe the infamous pastime of "trick-or-treat" this past Thursday, some 5 days before Halloween. This, we did not know. We were on our way back from a nice night out with the family when we noticed the little ghosts and gobblins infiltrating our neighborhood. So, with haste, we sped wrecklessly through our neighborhood, past the haunting little ones, and into the house. The kids quicly donned their ghoulish attire and spent the next thirty minutes sucking up candy from all available sources.

Commercialization is ruining the true spirit of the holiday (or evilday?). It's supposed to be the night of endless pagan rituals, allowing the spirit world to make contact with the physical world through witchcraft and sorcery. Now, little children wander through neighborhoods scrambling for candy in a mad rush. It's all about the candy. I bet that next year, we'll see Halloween candy and decorations on the shelves the day after July 4th! It gets earlier and earlier each year! I'm thinking of picketing Hershey Foods - I believe their lust for candy bar sales are a big reason that we've lost the spirit of the season.

And the costumes! How many children realize that the costume is designed to scare away evil spirits or to hide your true identity from them? Instead, we pay big time money for the latest superhero costume. What does Batman have to do with Halloween?

I think the ACLU is behind this, trying to ruin the true meaning of Halloween. What do you think?