I know that some people are bothered by Halloween — but that doesn’t mean they get to spoil everyone else’s fun. I also know the holiday has ancient, pre-Christian roots — but that doesn’t mean it’s a religious holiday today. One needs to look at how the culture celebrates the holiday, and in America, Halloween long ago became secular.

That’s why I think a federal court made the right call recently in a case challenging Halloween decorations at a government building in Puerto Rico. The judge rejected the claims of a Pentecostal Christian employee who argued that the decorations establish paganism. One of the decorations plaintiff Coraly Rosa-Ruiz found most offensive was a carpet that emitted a “horrific scream” whenever anyone walked on it. She demanded that the screaming rug and all other decorations be removed.