Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Mommy, Why Don't We Celebrate Halloween? by Linda Hacon Winwood

The 13 Words!: Spreading "Christianity" through fear and hate, one trick-or-treater at a time.

The Creature from the Back Cover!: "Mommy, Why Don't We Celebrate Halloween? helps children understand why Christians shouldn't celebrate Halloween. It reveals, in story form, the truth behind the activities that have become such an accepted part of Halloween traditions. Children who read this book and talk about it with their parents will learn how the "fun" of Halloween harms them. They will also learn what to say to others who do not understand the true meaning of Halloween."

The Facts that Attacked Mars!: Mommy Why Don't We Celebrate Halloween is written by Linda Hacon Winwood and illustrated by Al Berg and published in 2004 by Destiny Image Publishers, Inc. There is a whole series of Mommy Why books written by different authors such as : Mommy, Was Santa Claus Born on Christmas Too?, and Mommy Why Can't I Watch That T.V. Show.

The Monster Speaks!:Well, to say that this book angered me would be an understatement. As a bit of a preface, I am tolerant of any and all religion. I don't care what people choose to believe or not believe. But, and this is important, I do not want to be preached to, especially if your religious beliefs are tied up in hate and a refusal to understand those that are different.
Ok, that's out of the way. This book is preachy, misguided, misinformed, and barely hides the hate that the author appears to have for anyone not of the same religious persuasion as she (the author was raised in the Catholic church, and seems to have some issues with the church).

The story is simple enough, a little boy and girl ask their mom why they doesn't celebrate Halloween. As an answer, the mother resorts to scare tactics masquerading as religious reasoning: trick-or-treating harms your relationship with Jesus, the Catholic Church(known as Roman rulers in the book) is responsible for the evils of Halloween, etc etc etc. In my opinion it's not a good idea to create such an atmosphere of fear with such a small child. How much fun could it possibly be to be 5 years old and afraid that everything you do is going to send you to hell?

It's fine if people wish to not celebrate Halloween,I respect their decision, but why must the same lies, misinformation, and scare tactics be used again and again? There has to be a better way to go about it. But, to each their own I guess. I suppose their is a market for this book. According to the author on her website, Anthony LaVay (son of Anton LaVay who wrote the Satanic Bible). called her publishing company to say,
"Thank You for producing this book and please thank Mrs. Winwood for writing it. It's about time someone wrote a book for children. If parents knew what still happens on that night, they would never let their children out of the house. This book will really make an impact."
Mrs. Winwood appears to be an advocate for literacy, from information that I have gotten from her website. I cannot say too many bad things about a woman who wants to ensure that every child(and adult) can read. However, I do wish that one day the author's eyes and mind will be opened and she will realize that Christianity in its purest form should not be about fear or hate.

What Lurks Between These Covers?
The Marvels!:

"My daughter, Sarah, was born with six fingers on both hands and six toes on her left foot. When our children did artwork or sent homemade cards,we put a six-toed foot on the back of the cards like Hallmark puts a logo on theirs.That was the beginning of the Winwood logo."


The Horror!:
The Evil, evil Celts.


2 comments:

ErinPaperbackstash said...

I'm curious to track this book down just out of curiosity. Thanks for the great review =)

Michael Röhm said...

Actually, "Anthony LaVey" is a hoax. There is no proof whatsoever of any such individual being the son of the "Black Pope" until this fellow crawled out of the woodwork. He's no different from Mike Warnke, John Todd and other so-called "ex-Satanists;" it is all a ridiculous fraud.