Making Fun of the Devil

Some people really don't like halloween. It bothers them. A lot.  They want their kids to go to "Harvest Parties" --never anything called halloween and never out trick or treating.  I can't say I don't sympathize in some way - My mom didn't really let us go trick or treating or wear scary costumes. I'll probably do the same if I have kids. It makes sense that you don't want to expose kids to potential danger & what can be pretty disturbing costumes, especially if you, like me, aren't convinced there isn't some spiritual reality behind it.

Harvest Parties: The super cute version

All that said, I'm not one of them, and I just have one major bone to pick with them. They're afraid. And they want you to be afraid too. (Click here for the extreme version). If these people have a religious objection to Halloween, and they say that the God of Christianity is more powerful, then their tone on this issue should never be fearful or reactionary, yet it often is. They should never shudder or back down at the image of demons, witches, ghouls or devils.

It reminds me of Ignatius of Antioch, who has a pretty epic story. On the slow route to Rome to be put in the Colosseum, he wrote letters to encourage his friends, and in one (albeit one contested by some) he goes on to openly taunt the devil, calling him a fool and giving a play by play of how Satan's actions were 10 steps behind, specifically in the events surrounding Jesus' crucifixion. Satan didn't realize what he intended to be his victory was actually his defeat. There is a famous saying that "God and the Devil are in league with one another, the Devil just doesn't know it." This is what is implied in Ignatius' account to the Philippians, and he wanted to the world to know. Ignatius had multiple chances and friends in high places who probably could have gotten him released. He was not afraid, and neither should anyone be.

Hey,  idiot. Nice pants.

There seems to be a pretty decent case to be made for using halloween to make fun of the devil. If you hate the devil, shouldn't you fully exercise your victory? Think of it like completely destroying your rival team in sports then stealing their mascot and parading around like a fool in that ugly costume. In my mind, this may be entirely appropriate. Whether or not you believe in a real Devil that acts in this world, everything "devil" represents is not respectable. Satan is dumb - a fool. Feel free to treat him like it. In some ways, it's kind of ironic because Christians, by their own beliefs, should be the only ones who don't blink at the devil, but often it's just the opposite. Halloween isn't a bad occasion for Christians to parade their superiority (read: superiority over the devil, not other people. Some of you needed that clarification. As we saw in Example A, many of us have found Christians to be ridiculous idiots too. Seriously, these are often not the type of people anyone would want to associate with unless you really believe in the authentic historical gospel.)

So hey, halloween is coming up. You don't have to like it, just don't be scared. After all, isn't that the point?

Remember- I'm a Person

Usually it happens when you're walking down the sidewalk. It's the thing I love and hate about being out in public. People don't really know who you are. I was doing just that-- walking back to the office from CVS & decided to grab a coffee across the street.

Walking Shadow. Oliver Raffy, from the walls of Dubrovnik, Croatia

My head was up, laughing to myself as I remembered some dumb joke one of my co-workers had told a few minutes earlier. It was warm and beautiful outside. There was a big truck right in front of the coffee shop with four construction workers leaning up against it facing the street in the sun. They were smirking and I felt them looking at me. I looked up to say hi as a courtesy and immediately shrunk back. Not because they weren't smiling, but because of the way they were doing it.

They were looking right at me, but their eyes said they saw something else. I could tell I was an impersonal invaluable thing to them. I tried not to react, just to dignify the situation, make eye contact, say hello and keep walking. Not all of them were necessarily even bad looking, or too old, or too construction worker-y, but they made us into foreigners by their demeanor. I passed by and continued toward the coffee shop's glass window front and saw them all whip around in the reflection as soon as I'd passed, gesturing crudely. I stopped, my arm halfway reaching for the door handle, then turned around to face them. I stood there, all of us staring nervously, and I was trying to think of what to say.

"Remember - I'm a person," was all I could manage.

We all do it to some degree. We treat each other like caricatures--ideas that meld themselves to what we think the world does or should look like. I don't know any of those men, but I hope that I can continue to treat them like human beings. The truth about that interaction, which is commonplace, is that they were attempting to express their manliness, but did just the opposite.

When a man objectifies or disgraces a woman, he innately dishonors himself --and vice versa. It is impossible to separate. It will always be to the glory of all people (but especially true between men & women) to treat each other with dignity. When a woman cuts a man down it is to their mutual shame, even if he doesn't treat her badly. But by the same token, when one treats the other with respect, it is to their mutual honor & glory.