Oh, I really wouldn't worry too much about the nation banning Halloween. Halloween is notorious for freaking some people out, particularly the religious right...that's kind of part of its charm.
In fact, trick-or-treating in the kind and gentle, cutesy way we know of it was the direct result of extremely dangerous hooliganism up to that time. The "trick" part was taken literally. So in the 1950s, there was pretty much a campaign to have parades and get kids together in large groups and have it be right out there and visible more so than a night of danger. Halloween began to take on much more of a "cute and adorable" bent at that time.
At the turn of the 20th century (1900), actually, Halloween was only just moving from an adult holiday to a children's one. It's right around that time, or actually a couple decades before, that you being to see little kids dressed as witches on postcards. At that time, children's parties began to come into vogue, though they were often more for the wealthy than the average person. This was the American leg of Halloween, which developed independently of the English and Irish versions and was quite different--so keep that in mind.
During the First World War the holiday often got out of hand--people were repressed all over the place, conserving this, denying oneself that, and constantly afraid for loved ones away at war. Being able to commit semi-dastardly deeds was something of an outlet for that. No young child trick-or-treated after dark during that time; people closed themselves up in their homes and hoped for the best. (However, children did trick-or-treat in the pre-twilight hours.) In the 20s, when there was far less self-denial, ironically, there was probably less trouble/issue with the holiday. The 30s were the Great Depression and movies were the primary means of entertainment, when one could afford them--holidays were less celebrated during that time. This brings us to the 40s and the Second World War and the 1950s which I described above.
That's oversimplifying, but that's how I understand things, anyway. There have ALWAYS been curfews, urban legends designed to scare kids into going to nice, gentle parties rather than tramping around the neighborhood, generally unwarranted warnings of rampant Satanism from the far right and coalitions designed to reign kids (and adults) in. Today you see it in organizations holding town fairs and calling them "autumn festivals" rather than "Halloween celebrations". There's also trick-or-treat-in-town and trick-or-treat-at-the-mall. But you know what? We still love the more macabre aspects of Halloween. And we always will. Halloween fulfills some very, very basic human needs in a large portion of the population:
1. "Flirting with" death. Death talk is usually taboo. Death is somber, scary; when you hear of someone dying, even if you did not know the person, you must immediately pull yourself in, frown hard and shake your head and say you are sorry. And you are; but again, you're repressing your feelings about the subject. How do you
really feel when you hear so-and-so died? Do you feel like saying, "F*ck cancer anyway, what a horror!" rather than a somber "I'm sorry"? Do you think, "Oh man...I hated that guy. And I feel so guilty for that." What Halloween does is it allows us to look directly at death and laugh at it, scream at it, even playact that we're part of it. It demystifies death; it allows us the relief of really, seriously addressing scary subjects. We need to do that.
2. Searching our own personalities. Dressing up as someone or something else allows us to explore what life might actually be like if we were someone or something else. Or it allows us to show a side of ourselves we would normally hide from the world. The "class clown" might have a very serious side he's afraid to show; he'll jokingly dress up as Sigmund Freud, for example. Someone who wishes she could get more attention on an everyday basis might put on an outfit that will definitely get attention and is outrageous, like a pregnant nun or Marie Antoinette holding her own head. Things like that...it's very, very healthy.
3. "Getting away with" something. Trick-or-treating for children is a very safe (usually), legal way for children to forget their manners for just one day, to go from house to house, pound on doors and, in effect, demand bad-for-their-health treats. When else can kids do that? This one safe way and day of "getting away with" something may even prevent children from trying to get away with more serious things...it's an outlet.
4. Childishness. An accountant who sits behind a desk five days a week, only to go home and make sure he doesn't swear, spit, smoke or anything else in front of his children, certainly appreciates one day a year when he can cut loose and literally act like a child! Eat candy, dance at a party, dress as something fantastical.
5. The last "hurrah" before being "good". Once Halloween is over (sniffle!), for much of the country, the really cold weather sets in. We're all about to be indoors a whole lot. We're also about to enter "The Holidays" (yes...capital, T, capital H), when everyone is showing gratitude, talking about Jesus and singing about angels. It is, for the religious anyway, a very, very "on our best and most loving and generous behavior" time. Halloween just before this time allows us to release the parts of ourselves that
aren't goody-goody...it's a last shout out to "devilish" good fun.
Okay...sorry for such a long post! Anyway, no, Halloween will not be banned. I just can't see it. It serves too much of a purpose and pleases too much of the population. I actually kind of laugh when I read about people who are offended by the degree of decorating or whatever that Halloween entails. It makes me think we're doing a spanking job this year.