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Why Our Family Doesn’t Do Halloween
Charting Course ^ | 10/18/2014 | Steve Berman

Posted on 10/29/2014 6:06:11 PM PDT by lifeofgrace

ban-halloween

Every year, my family and I face the same dilemma.  The last time either of us participated in Halloween has to be at least 10 years ago.  We have made a decision to abstain from Halloween celebrations, including all the TV specials, candy, and trick-or-treat associated with it.  I’m not against dressing up in costumes, or candy, or fun.  I and my wife simply oppose the values that go along with Halloween—the celebration of darkness, horror, fear, and mayhem.

I wrote a rather long piece about Halloween and why we believe what we believe, and posted it on my blog in three parts (it’s almost 4,000 words)…scroll to the bottom of this post for the inks.  I got quite a bit of feedback on the blog and on social media, most of it negative.  Here’s the general theme of the comments:  Halloween is fun, therefore my being against Halloween is being against fun. The conclusion: if I am against Halloween fun, then I must be against all kinds of fun and therefore no fun to be around.

That’s a leap across a logical crevice too wide for me to safely arrive at the conclusion.

To be clear: Halloween is fun. In my posts, I never said it wasn't. So is gambling, sex with strangers, getting drunk (not necessarily being drunk), telling filthy jokes, swearing every other word, and lighting bags of dog poop on your worst enemy's doorstep then ringing the doorbell.

There are all kinds of fun, and each kind of fun has consequences. Fun has a price. Halloween celebrates darkness, death, fear, and mayhem. Those things might be fun to some, and in our culture which has been so inoculated to these values they seem harmless.

Every 'R' rated movie features all the kinds of fun I listed above, and though we might find them abhorrent when we put ourselves in the picture, we accept them perfectly well when others are doing it on the big screen. Our kids grow up baptized in this stuff, so Halloween seems like quaint good old fashioned fun in comparison.

If you separate yourself from the 'R' (and even 'PG13') rated culture, it takes a while for the garbage to wash off, and even longer for the smell to go away. But once there, you see how far we've slipped into the mound of filth every day.

Halloween is fun, alright, but if you take a step back and look at what values we're teaching our kids, you'll see how ruinous our path is. The only option is to turn around. I love fun. I love good clean fun. The beach, the sun, picnics in the mountains, going to the mall, even going to movies. But most movies are too debased for me to sit through. You might say that's because I'm a fun-hating prude, but I say it's because I've had a chance to wash the stink off me for a while, and if you don't realize it, you may be so surrounded by that stench that you can't even smell it anymore.

Halloween ruins children. It's not the only thing that ruins children, and in fact it's pretty minor compared with the tidal wave of filth in which most of us wallow. Sometimes it's more effective to look at the quaint little bad habits than the life-controlling ones, because it's easier to break those little bad habits, and so it is with Halloween.

Many churches replace the Halloween celebration with their own “trunk or treat” or “harvest festival”.  As an evangelistic tool, it’s great to reach people for Christ in any way possible, including through popular culture.  I am on the fence (but leaning against) the church taking a non-Christian celebration that stands in opposition to Biblical values and replacing it with a look-alike (candy, dressing up, bats and pumpkins) but also introducing the Gospel.  Many times it pulls the faithful into the world more than it draws the unchurched to Christ.

For those who simply can’t step away from Halloween, I respect your opinion, and hope you can respect mine.  Here’s the links to the original series.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3


TOPICS: Religion; Society
KEYWORDS: halloween; testy
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To: elcid1970; PROCON
"...A harvest festival celebrates reaping crops as the fruits of one’s labor. It is connected to the reality of life as a cycle of birth, death, & renewal. Nothing morbid about that..."

How hypocritical of you to say that! Wheat and corn, standing tall in the warm sun, their green and amber stalks waving gently to and fro in the light breeze, and...hark! There is the discordant sound of evil human machinery, smoking and clanking, causing innocent birds and insects to flee in terror in every direction.

As the sound gets louder, the shadow of this "reaping" machine overshadows the innocent plants like a cold hand of death, which for these harmless, innocent living things, it is.

Then, in a swift motion, their existence is painfully blotted out by having their tops and bottoms severed, or having their their nurturing roots, their very hearts, ripped brutally from their womb of the ground.

Only a heartless human-centric, selfish person would think that a harvest festival is harmless.

Upon re-reading my post, it really doesn't sound much different than the Halloween is evil crowd.

101 posted on 10/30/2014 3:27:51 AM PDT by rlmorel (The Media's Principles: Conflict must exist. Doesn't exist? Create it. Exists? Exacerbate it.)
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To: Huskrrrr; lifeofgrace
"...Halloween is fun, alright, but if you take a step back and look at what values we're teaching our kids, you'll see how ruinous our path is..."

The very person who wrote this is probably falling all over themselves to put up rainbow flags outside their "church" to be "inclusive".

102 posted on 10/30/2014 3:31:58 AM PDT by rlmorel (The Media's Principles: Conflict must exist. Doesn't exist? Create it. Exists? Exacerbate it.)
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To: rlmorel
The very person who wrote this is probably falling all over themselves to put up rainbow flags outside their "church" to be "inclusive".

Nonsense.
103 posted on 10/30/2014 4:02:25 AM PDT by lifeofgrace (Follow me on Twitter @lifeofgrace224)
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To: lifeofgrace

We celebrate it as Reformation Day. Just to make sure that no one comes asking for candy, we turn off the front porch light.


104 posted on 10/30/2014 4:03:22 AM PDT by TheRobb7 ("Patriots don't negotiate the terms of our enslavement"--JimRob)
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To: july4thfreedomfoundation

Yep, same story here, except that we turned the money in at church instead.


105 posted on 10/30/2014 4:06:02 AM PDT by Hoodat (Article 4, Section 4)
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To: goodwithagun

That’s sounds great. Happy Halloween to your crumb crunchers!


106 posted on 10/30/2014 4:56:45 AM PDT by miss marmelstein (Richard III: Loyalty Binds Me)
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To: july4thfreedomfoundation

This was endemic in NY - those little UN boxes. My mother refused to give pennies for it when the kids came around. But they could have a chocolate treat.


107 posted on 10/30/2014 5:02:10 AM PDT by miss marmelstein (Richard III: Loyalty Binds Me)
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To: oprahstheantichrist
I thought more would get it too. There are only two forces in the world and if it's not from God...................

His website is down.

108 posted on 10/30/2014 5:24:58 AM PDT by DJ MacWoW (The Fed Gov is not one ring to rule them all)
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To: lifeofgrace
For all the trolls..

You calling us trolls, Steve?

109 posted on 10/30/2014 6:48:59 AM PDT by humblegunner (Why hello, Captain Trips.)
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To: humblegunner
You calling us trolls, Steve?

You calling me one of them versus one of us? There are trolls all over.
110 posted on 10/30/2014 8:10:58 AM PDT by lifeofgrace (Follow me on Twitter @lifeofgrace224)
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To: freedomfiter2

all I ask is some logical consistency


111 posted on 10/30/2014 8:13:22 AM PDT by Nifster
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To: napscoordinator
You are not supposed to expect anything when giving away things.

I guess after several dozen groups of kids coming to my door for free stuff, a simple thank you from just one of them is too much to expect.

112 posted on 10/30/2014 8:23:20 AM PDT by rllngrk33 (Things will continue getting worse until at least January 2017.)
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To: Nifster

Same here.


113 posted on 10/30/2014 10:17:58 AM PDT by freedomfiter2 (Brutal acts of commission and yawning acts of omission both strengthen the hand of the devil.)
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To: lifeofgrace

Uh huh.


114 posted on 10/30/2014 10:44:37 AM PDT by rlmorel (The Media's Principles: Conflict must exist. Doesn't exist? Create it. Exists? Exacerbate it.)
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To: lifeofgrace

Just do what we did ...

Dont’t take the kids with you to the store in October. There are too many nightmarish decorations.

Have a hay ride or bonfire for the kids and their friends.

Tell the kids it used to be a little fun thing when you were little but immature grown ups screwed it up.

Finally, buy Halloween candy, turn off the porch lights and eat the candy yourselves.

Problem solved ;-)


115 posted on 10/30/2014 11:46:03 AM PDT by Cloverfarm
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To: DJ MacWoW

Thanks! I know it is not the best holiday. I am going to mass on Saturday and Sunday this weekend since the first is on Saturday. Have a good one. I guess I am still upset over the Columbus Day negativity. lol. I suppose I should buckle up for Christmas as the negativity should start anytime now.


116 posted on 10/30/2014 6:57:25 PM PDT by napscoordinator (I guarantee every FRiend Misses the lost opportunity of a President Santorum!)
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To: napscoordinator

Obama has tried very hard to make Christmas secular. Yeah. We should buckle up.


117 posted on 10/30/2014 7:00:32 PM PDT by DJ MacWoW (The Fed Gov is not one ring to rule them all)
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To: Cloverfarm
Just do what we did ...

Basically, we do.
118 posted on 10/31/2014 5:13:13 AM PDT by lifeofgrace (Follow me on Twitter @lifeofgrace224)
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To: lifeofgrace

Saying, “Trick or Treat” is a phrase of threat.


119 posted on 11/01/2014 8:07:40 AM PDT by Does so (SCOTUS Newbies Imperil USA...)
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