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A martial arts enthusiast pulls a vehicle with a rope connected to his eye sockets during a performance in Hefei, Anhui province November 30, 2009. Picture taken November 30, 2009. REUTERS/China Daily

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    Schools ban "cult of death" Halloween

    MOSCOW
    Wed Oct 31, 2007 11:49am EDT
    Russians walk past a pile of Halloween pumpkins in Red Square in Moscow October 30, 2005. Moscow schools have been ordered to ban students from celebrating Halloween despite the widespread popularity of the imported festival to Russia. REUTERS/Ivan Buslayev

    MOSCOW (Reuters) - Moscow schools have been ordered to ban students from celebrating Halloween despite the widespread popularity of the imported festival to Russia.

    Oddly Enough

    Halloween is being forced underground because it "includes religious elements, the cult of death, the mockery of death," a spokesman for the city's education department Alexander Gavrilov said Wednesday.

    "It's not an attempt to block the celebration of this holiday completely, just in schools and colleges," he added.

    Pumpkins and images of witches are widespread across Russia, with many bars organizing special fancy dress parties, despite the efforts of the Kremlin, and especially the Russian Orthodox Church, to curb enthusiasm for non-native festivities.

    "This is destructive for the minds and the spiritual and moral health of pupils," said Gavrilov.
    Oddly Enough


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