we should celebrate whatever we want. i celebrate halloween and christmas. the cool thing about being an atheist is there’s no sky daddy telling me what i can and can’t do.

Christianity stole all of its holidays from the pagans. There is nothing holy about any of these holidays. Most are just fertility ceremonies. You think Easter has any thing to do with Christ? Hell no. Those bunnies symbolize fertility and getting it on.

Of course.

It's the one day a year when it's okay to take candy from strangers.

There is no "should." As atheists and agnostics we get to celebrate anything we want to! So create that fun, clever costume that will scare and offend your religious friends, spoil the neighborhood kids with candy and eat all the leftovers!!!

Halloween doesn't even remotely resemble the original traditions and rites that started it. Many Christians find it Satanic and themselves don't celebrate. Halloween is all about partying till you lose your candy corn and dressing as slutty nurses and doctors and cops and cats. There's nothing there that promotes beliefs in spirits... unless you're talking about the alcohol spirits.

Atheism is not a belief system with orthodoxies, blasphemies and taboos, so no need to turn it into one.

Why would you not?

why not its time to dress up as something you are not. Have fun!

Why not? We can dress up in costumes and eat candy without attaching any religious or supernatural beliefs to the holiday.

Halloween originated with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, when people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off ghosts.
In the eighth century, Pope Gregory III adopted / adapted the festival as a time to honor all saints; soon, All Saints Day incorporated some of the traditions of Samhain. The evening before was known as All Hallows Eve, and later Halloween.

Here in England we have the bonfires on November 5th to commemorate the ritual burning of Guido Fawkes ... more next week on his demise

I celebrate Halloween, put up decorations, hand out candy. I celebrate Christmas/New Years, buy presents, get together with family. Does not mean I need to believe in any "higher power" to do those things, tradition.

Agnostics and atheists can celebrate or enjoy anything they wish. If they think Halloween is fun, there is no reason why they shouldn’t join in, we all know it’s all just hokum don’t we?

Same for Christmas, just have fun, having fun with something doesn't imply a basic belief,, just enjoy life and don't get caught up in belief systems

Halloween is fun! It also marks the harvest. For me it harkens the beginning of year’s end. Here in Mexico, we celebrate Dia de los Muertos. Day of the Dead. Dry traditional, a lot more fun and the ofrendas or altars are creative and emotional.
Your use of the word should is puzzling.

Who or what is going to stop us??

A fundamentalist nutcase I’d worked with described his family hiding in a room furthest from their front door … with a single light on - reading bible passages ‘until it was over.’ ..don’t know how I kept a straight face hearing that…

I’ve always felt drawn to it because the religious appeared upset by it.. Little to do with it anymore, I’ll smile at how elaborate some get decorating and celebrating whatever it’s become

Celebrate what ever you want. Live your best life! Have fun. Be happy now!!

It depends on how seriously you take things. If you like to have fun, then celebrate. If you like to find problems with holidays, then don't. Those are my thoughts.

I am atheist. Halloween is just party time with costumes, candies, happy kids so I'm all for it. I don't know of anyone who celebrates it as a religious holiday, or pays respect to spirits, demons etc...

Halloween is a day to dress up and have fun. No one actually takes it seriously. I didn't even know what it was intended to "celebrate" until I was am adult in college. Being atheist doesn't mean you can't have fun, but the opposite! We actually get to enjoy life much more, because we don't waste or limited time on Earth on religious BS but do what we enjoy instead!

We are not a religion. How on Earth is it even a question to ask whether to have harmless fun?

Like most, if not all, Christian celebrations were stolen from ancient pagan rituals. The pagan rituals corresponded with the times of the lunar cycle and seasons of the year. Christmas was and is a ancient pagan ritual celebrating the season of year and the lunar cycle. Christ was not born in December, no one would have had the population traveling during the dead of winter.

If it is fun for them... why not?

Should atheist buy and/or read books on Greek mythology?

It depends on what you mean by "celebrate." I personally do not believe that on this one night all the souls or demons come out and I do not leave them food to pacify them with in hopes they will leave me alone. As the only one in my household today I do not pass out candy to children who come to my door. It was fun when I was young but today I am an "A-Halloweenist." Those with families and children are free to think differently. I do not want to get together a guidebook on what atheists should or should not do. Once you do that you will end up with rules and having meetings and "we believe" lists hanging on walls somewhere.