Posted on 10/29/2014 6:06:11 PM PDT by lifeofgrace
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.
Just go to Cracker Barrel, they got em’ all!
“After giving out candy for most of the evening, I realized that NOT ONE of the kids, or the parents with them, said thank you.”
Nailed it! Money quote! We have a winner!
THAT’S why Halloween mostly sucks. Cosby was right!
bump
It took you a (now) four-part series to say that you aren’t going to celebrate Halloween?
Also, I notice that while you posted parts 1-3 on FR, you now link to them on your own blog. Way to blog-pimp!
Go you!
Anyway, back to Halloween... can’t you just, you know, quietly and courageously lead by example?
Does it really need to be a four-part screed about how you really just want to be respected for your choices and left alone to do as you please?
You have clearly put more thought and action into Halloween than most people who celebrate it do.
I wen ahead and read to the end of The Book. Christ triumphs over Death and Evil eternally. Those who believe in Him don't need to worry. Evil can't take you unless you allow it.
Here IS the links? "is"?? OMG...THAT right there is darkness and mayhem or whatever....geez.
:)
It is a contraction of the phrase ‘All Hallows Eve” the night before all hallows day IE All Saints Day. It is a celebration in the Church of all the faithful departed, particularly those who where martyred for the faith.
It is thought to be a co-opting of the Celtic Samhain, but other scholars claim that Halloween sprung up on its’ own.
Christmas was once the celebration of Saturnalia. It was a very big Roman holiday. The agricultural deity Saturn was honored. The holiday was celebrated with a sacrifice at the Temple of Saturn, in the Roman Forum, and a public banquet, followed by private gift-giving, continual partying, and a carnival atmosphere. It was one of the few Empire Wide celebrations.
Regardless. It is fun. It should be celebrated for the fun of it. Life is too short to be a stick in the mud.
Lighten up, Francis.
There’s more to All Hallows Eve than that. Treats were left on doorsteps to keep ghouls and goblins sated. That where “trick or treat” comes from. Covens have celebrated it for a very long time. As I said, they do not celebrate Christ’s birth or death.
Lighten up, Francis.
Bingo. Dismayed that it took 41 posts.
I really do have a problem with the gore, but there are way too many farming generations I think, to not see the end of the growing season and the resting of the earth as a good reason for a party, complete with bonfires, ghost stories, cocoa, etc...
I debated about posting the truth as few want to hear it.
I do have a couple of skeletons. I should register them to vote.
Someone could incorporate voting booths in their display, automatically opening the curtain when someone walks toward the porch to trick or treat. They see skeletons and dead people casting ballots.
lol
What are you talking about???? We have MLK day.
This holiday is a denial of the Resurrection and the Gospel. How Christians can excuse participating in it is a mystery to me.
This guy was a witch for twenty-five years. Says, "Don't even put a pumpkin on your porch." (His website gets hacked a lot, but comes back in a few hours).
His book is riveting, btw.
Think up a creative costume, walk the neighborhood, get candy. Rather like a masked ball for kiddies. I’m Catholic, really Catholic, but this a nice cultural happening that brings the fall alive.
IMHO a satanic cult and a wiccan coven are two very different things.
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