Trick or Treat

 

(NOTE: A portion of this post was banned from a newspaper because it did not fit the guidelines of the editorial board – so I decided to run it here.)

By Del Duduit

Trick or treat.

In two days, our home in Southern Ohio will be visited by several little children (and a few older ones) who will be decked out in a costume to beg for candy.

Angie always takes pictures before she rewards their efforts.

I can remember dressing up as a youngster and running home to dump out my bag full of goodies on the dining room table, and tossing out what I didn’t like. Mom and Dad would always inspect what I hauled in to make sure it wasn’t tampered with, and we did the same as parents.

But how did this all begin? Who came up with the idea to support the candy industry one day a year?

The tradition goes way back to the Middle Ages when a certain holiday existed in parts of Ireland and Britain. This observance involved people going door-to-door in costume, performing short scenes or parts of plays in exchange for food or drink. The custom of trick-or-treating on Halloween may come from the belief that supernatural beings, or the souls of the dead, roamed the earth and needed to be appeased.

At least as far back as the 15th century, among Christians, there had been a custom of sharing what was called “soul-cakes” from Oct. 31 through Nov. 2. It was called Allhallowtide. I’m not sure if that’s the same thing as rice-Krispie cakes, but I’ll imagine it was for argument sake.

People would visit houses and take “soul-cakes,” either as representatives of the dead, or in return for praying for their souls. Sounds creepy to me.

Later, people went “from parish to parish at Halloween, begging soul-cakes by singing under windows a verse like: ‘Soul, souls, for a soul-cake; Pray you good mistress, a soul-cake!'” (I don’t know what was in a soul-cake, but must have been worth singing for.)

They typically asked for “mercy on all Christian souls for a soul-cake.” Seems like a logical trade to me, especially if it involved Little Debbie snacks.

The wearing of costumes, or “guising”, at Hallowmas, was recorded in Scotland in the 16^th Century, and later in Britain and Ireland.

According to one 19th century English writer “parties of children, dressed up in fantastic costume went round to the farm houses and cottages, signing a song, and begging for cakes (spoken of as “soul-cakes”), apples, money, or anything that the goodwives would give them.”

Fast-forward to today. It has become what some describe as fun and whimsical. But there are some Christians who think it’s pure evil and a night for the devil to celebrate and be worshiped. I just think it’s fun, and I get to stock up on my winter supply of Milk Duds for Christmas.

I do not believe in ghosts, goblins, or the headless horseman. I don’t think there is anything wrong with Trick-or-Treat or that’s it’s evil. But I do know evil spirits are real.

Evil comes in the form of many things and has poked its way into our government.

Just look at California, where Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) signed into law a radical bill that would force colleges to provide free abortions on college campus.

The law mandates that all – note ALL — public colleges and universities provide abortion drugs for free to students up to the tenth week of pregnancy starting Jan. 1, 2023. The bill promotes abortion instead of providing young women with pregnancy support and options.

The new tourism slogan could be; “Go ahead and do what you want, we will kill your child for free. Only in California.”

 

When the law goes into effect, 34 public college campuses in the state will be forced to begin providing abortion drugs with the use of taxpayer dollars to fund this scheme.

That is evil.

The Democrat party has chosen death. Here is its stance on abortion from its party platform:

“The Democratic Party strongly and unequivocally supports Roe v. Wade and a woman’s right to make decisions regarding her pregnancy, including a safe and legal abortion, regardless of ability to pay.”

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They think killing an unborn child should be paid for with tax dollars and available any time. Death on demand.

Go to the party platform with caution because it says nothing about life. It’s all about death and the woman’s right to choose. The party has been successful and has brainwashed people into believing that a woman has a right to choose to kill a child who is living in her womb. That is evil.

This is a direct contrast to the Declaration of Independence” which states a citizen of this nation has three unalienable rights which include “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

It also says we all have been given these rights by our creator, which governments are created to protect.

Democrats and liberal socialists need to find and read this wonderful document. My guess is that the more recent politicians have no idea this paper exists. For one to have liberty and pursue happiness, one must first be afforded life.

Evil exists right here in Ohio.

Just recently, a federal appeals court panel affirmed a lower court’s ruling that blocked a law that banned abortions of prenatal babies with Down Syndrome.

A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit decided, 2-1, that the Ohio law violated the Supreme Court’s 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade, specifically by disregarding whether the fetus is viable at the time of the abortion.

Stephanie Ranade Krider, vice president of Ohio Right to Life, said, “unborn persons with Down Syndrome deserve the same protections afforded to those already born through the Americans with Disabilities Act.”

One party is deciding who is worthy to live, and will use tax-payer dollars to kills those who are unwanted.

Evil is real. Be careful who you hand out candy to this year. They might want more than a Snickers.

Trick or treat and Happy Halloween.

As promised, here is a picture of my grandchildren, Sophie and Joel decked out as Jack and Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas. Too cute!

Del Duduit is an award-winning writer and author who lives in Lucasville, Ohio with his wife, Angie. They attend Rubyville Community Church. Follow his blog at delduduit.com/blog and his Twitter @delduduit. He is represented by Cyle Young of Hartline Literary Agency.

His latest book, First Down Devotions: Inspirations from NFL’s Best, can be purchased from New Hope Publishers here, or on Amazon here

Be sure to join me live on #PJNET every Tuesday at http://PatriotJournalist.com/?meta=2