Today is the Greek holiday “Ohi” (No) Day, celebrating Greece’s defiance against the Axis powers during World War II. In that spirit, I say “NO!” to anyone raining on my Halloween parade, from my family’s church canceling its awesome haunted house tradition when I was a teenager, to the latest calls in some Christian circles for “Jesus Ween.”

As Beliefnet points out, Christians have nothing to fear — and perhaps something to gain — from Halloween. And here’s Stephen Colbert’s take on why the faith-based alternative isn’t necessary, noting that Jesus is already a spooky zombie, and pitching a “Sexy Jesus” costume to please both sides:

On the other hand, I’m strongly in favor of more women’s costumes that don’t look like something a stripper would wear; I had an impossible time finding a PG-rated butterfly get-up to go with my son’s Hungry Caterpillar! Sheesh. How about the faith-based values folks focus on that, rather than dismissing the whole day as devilish?

Speaking of religiously-approved costumes, I chuckled at Canada’s “Little Mosque on the Prairie” episode where Baber, kind of the sitcom’s Muslim Archie Bunker, decides that it’s only permissable for the kids to dress up as inaminate objects from the Quran — an olive and a fig– for “Halal-oween” trick-or-treating.

What do you think? Share your thoughts in the Comments section below.

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