Tashlan

In the final book of the Narnia series, "The Last Battle," some of the enemies of Aslan try to win over his friends by saying that their god, Tash, is really the same as Aslan and begin to refer to him as Tashlan.  Of course the true friends of Aslan (and the true worshipers of Tash) are not taken in, and are even offended at this bastardization.  Good for them!

I don't know if you've heard this, but this year there is an organization called JesusWeen, which appears (from their website description) to be dedicated to encouraging Christians to targeting October 31, 2011, as the date for concerted Gospel outreach in their communities.  It's touted as "the Godly alternative to Halloween", but as I mulled it over this week I became increasingly offended by the idea, for Jesus' sake.

First of all, I am aware that some Christians are becoming more and more uncomfortable with the American celebration of Halloween, when the decorations seem to focus more and more on death and the occult.  I get this.  I think that at some level this emphasis challenges some cherished idea that America is a "Christian nation," but there's more to it than that.  Certainly over the last several decades the observable marketing of Halloween has skyrocketed, and not the cute kids' party stuff, either.  So parents and well-meaning watchers of public morality are concerned about these trends and want to do something about all this.  This year, someone has finally come up with a solution:  JesusWeen, "The Godly alternative to Halloween."

One of the problems with JesusWeen is that there are already two very good Godly (= "Christian", you understand) alternatives to Halloween available, if you don't want to go the old-fashioned door-to-door litte-kids-with-candy-buckets route. 

The first is, of course, All Saints' Day (November 1), on which Christians may and should remember that the Church of Jesus Christ is not only those alive on earth who believe in Him but those who are alive in heaven with Him forever.  Somehow in all the let's-avoid-Halloween flurry people miss sight of the opportunity to celebrate the entire company of the redeemed for whom Jesus died.  That was a big deal, and worthy of celebrtion in October as well as in December and April.

The second (for Protestants and Evangelicals, at any rate) is the celebration of the Reformation, which began when Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses about indulgences to the church door in Wittenberg on October 31, 1517.  Without going into a big history lesson here, Protestants and Evangelicals and non-denominational churches wouldn't be what or where they are today without the Reformation, so we could at least celebrate this as a birthday (oh, wait - Lutherans already do).

So Christians - if you don't want to let your kids go out mooching candy from the neighbors, and if you don't want to decorate your house with skeletons and spiders, focus on All Saints' Day or on Reformation Day.  Pretty simple, if you ask me.

That just leaves the idea of "JesusWeen."  How offensive is this to me?  Let me cout the ways (just five):

5    No matter how they explain the "Ween" on the website, "JesusWeen" is obviously a mashup of "Jesus" and "Halloween" and nobody is fooled - it's a blatant attempt to push an agenda.  (What's next - ObamaWeen?)

4     Are people who celebrate JesusWeen to be called JesusWeenies?

3     "JesusWeen" sounds like a mixed-breed term, like Tashlan, Puggle, or Schnoodle.  Since I have no idea what Tashlan, Puggles, or Schnoodles really are, I don't know what the fuss is all about.

2     Assume we'll see "JesusWeen Gear" soon - T-shirts, hats, Bible covers, and more.  Will tables be located in the Temple courtyard?

1     I can't really believe that the Jesus I know - the Jesus of love and compassion and gentleness, the Jesus who welcomes children and broken ones and sick and untouchable ones into His embracing arms - would allow His Name to be so commercialized.  I'm as offended by this as I am by TV commercials about Presidents' Day sales that have bad actors in bad costumes doing bad imitations of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln dancing around and trying to sell cheap furniture.

In the end, I will have Halloween candy to give to little ghosts and goblins who may come to my door.  At church we will have a Reformation Party on October 30.  On November 1 I will remember the saints who have gone before us into heaven by the grace of God.  I will try to remember every day that I live in the love of Jesus, and that He does not need to be combined with anything else.

There's no room for Tashlan around here.