PrintOctober 29, 2010
Jesus Costumes for Halloween?
Since when is Jesus Christ scary? Or funny?
Well, the good folks at "Spirit" think so. Spirit is one of the big national distributors of Halloween costumes and paraphernalia. Perhaps you've visited one of Spirit's superstores recently. Pre-Halloween, Spirit Superstores pop up like mushrooms, taking temporary space in large, vacant retail outlets.
Spirit offers Jesus costumes to the adult trade. Some versions of the Jesus costume come with a crown of thorns. Every version of the Jesus costume has been sold out online. Perhaps you can scrounge one at your nearest Spirit Superstore.
But whether or not you're a Christian - whether or not you accept Christ's divinity - what would motivate you to so disrespect and demean the Prince of Peace? What possibly is amusing about masquerading as Jesus and swilling beer at a Halloween party or going door-to-door as Jesus with your kids as they rake in the candy?
Why would Jesus Christ, who was brutally beaten, scourged, and nailed to a cross to die an excruciatingly painful death be made into a Halloween costume for revelers' amusement?
This is Halloween, you say? Let's not be so straight-laced, so prudish. Okay. So, if Jesus is fair game, why not Mohammed? Oops. No Mohammed costumes are to be found in Spirit's copious costume catalogue. Mohammed costumes might cause problems for Spirit, since extreme Muslims tend not to take desecrating Mohammed lightly. Extreme Muslims tend to violence to express their displeasure.
How about a Sharon Tate costume, then, post Miss Tate's murder at the hands of Charlie Manson's acolytes? Wouldn't a Tate costume be rip-roaringly hilarious? Or maybe a JFK costume, complete with a mask absent a portion of the martyred President's head. Or a Daniel Pearl costume? Fun, fun, fun! After all, it's just Halloween.
All right, Spirit isn't selling Jesus costumes post His crucifixion. But why not? Halloween is supposed to be ghoulishly delightful. In a popular culture with so few bounds on propriety, why any bounds on the ghoulishly amusing? When so-called artists can immerse a crucifix in urine and call it art, why get so lathered up about a Jesus costume?
For 2.1 billion Christians worldwide the imitation of Christ has nothing to do with masquerading as Him and getting sloppy drunk at parties. Christians know why Christ lived and how and why He died. Jesus Christ's time in the world was momentously revelatory and His death was existence-shatteringly transcendent.
Spirit is a big player in the big business of Halloween. The National Retail Federation estimates that this year's Halloween sales will hit $5.8 billion. That's a lot of bucks going into the pockets of enterprising ghosts and goblins.
There's nothing wrong with honest businessmen making an honest buck in the Halloween trade. Halloween is, indeed, fun for kids and adults alike. But for Spirit, Jesus Christ should be off-limits and the Jesus costumes out of its catalogue.
