Halloween...not so bad

Halloween in history is the last day of the ancient Celtic calendar, October 31. Druids gathered to protect themselves from the souls that were passing from the bodies of animals looking for one more chance to have a human body. (Ruth Kelley, The Book of Halloween, p.10) Early Christian leaders tried to replace this pagan feast with All Saints' Day to commemorate the saints who have died. It became a Christian memorial day. But that has not caught on with too many Christians.
Is there anything wrong or unbiblical about celebrating a Christian Memorial Day to remember those "saints" from our church that have died. Their loved ones haven't forgotten them. And we as a church might do well to remember their love, their example, and the nobleness in their characters. If you read Hebrews 11 you have a fine example recounting the experience of those who have died. Maybe there is some¬thing biblical here.
There are some who feel that because a belief or practice is of unfavorable origin, it should automatically be discarded or condemned today? Although the science of astronomy developed from astrology, we don't ignore the importance and the value of astronomy. Even more to the point, some of the months of the year and days of the week are named after Roman gods, but we haven't abandoned the calendar or changed those names. And even though the practice of saying "God bless you" when some¬one sneezes comes from superstition, we still do it. But then, consistency has not been the goal in many discussions.
Is there not logic in trying to replace and change rather then just eliminate a non-Christian celebration? Since we do live in the world, (John 17:15) our society makes it very hard to just ignore these things. It makes good sense to replace a bad practice with a good one. Too often the church restricts people from certain activities, even if it is for their own good, but does not give positive answers or fill in the hole that is left. This principle to bring balance when something bad is taken from the life was taught by Jesus in Matt 12:43-45. When we eliminate practices from people’s lives we have a responsibility to replace those with something good.
No, I don’t encourage you to be a “ghoulish” person scaring people this time of year. But neither do I judge those who wish to join in harmless fun or even remember our family "saints" who have passed.