Halloween Poll: Do You Celebrate Halloween?
Wednesday October 10, 2007
Christian perspectives on the observance of Halloween are strongly divided. Some believers feel complete freedom to observe the holiday, others boycott or ignore it, a number celebrate it through more positive and imaginative observances or Christian alternatives to Halloween, and still others choose to take advantage of Halloween's evangelistic opportunities.
Take this poll and let us know how you think Christians should approach Halloween.
Read:
Comments
I was appalled at how many christians think Halloween is harmless. Partly because they don’t think scaring children is a bad thing, but then neither did I as a non-believer, so more so because they are not sensitive enough to the Holy Spirit to feel His grieving when we entertain evil even in so subtle a form. I am grieved at how we are desensitizing our children to the things that are an abomination to our Holy God. May He reveal His truth.
We are a family who allows our children to participate in Halloween. I don’t agree with the ugly, nasty, scary things that come out of it, but I don’t think that allowing my children to dress up and trick-or-treat is any less Christian than decorating a Christmas tree or hunting for Easter eggs. Christmas and Easter both come from ancient pagan holidays, Yule and Ostara, respectively.
Our household also participates in observing the Jewish holidays, which are technically the only holidays found in the bible and created by God.
It’s amazing to me how offended people can become at the mention of Christmas and Easter being essentially pagan. I’m not criticizing these two holidays at all, because we participate in them ourselves and utilize them to teach our Children about God.
I just find it interesting that there are so many Christians who refuse to have anything to do with Halloween, and yet treat Christmas and Easter with such reverence and awe. They all have the same roots.
Jan & Kathy -
I do hear a common thread in both of your posts - a deep concern for your children. This article “Christian Alternatives to Halloween” offers several ideas and options for families with children to be involved in a Christian approach to Halloween.
What is wrong with cute little kids wearing cute costumes and sharing candy? Yes, scariness and death is part of the theme — shouldn’t that make us aware that we need a faith that can provide meaning and hope?
I live in a large apartment building and the kids in their costumes are so cute. I can’t resist. I buy safe snacks or hand out nickels.
I have only one point to make: ALL the spirits in we dirt&water(which received the breath of life)have in us at least one of the Original Spirits who decided some evil would spice-up the “Holy Spirit Zone”and were kicked-out to earth; also we human beings gave up dominion over the earth to the devil. The contineous impressions in our minds from Holy Spirit, we traded for contineous impressions in our minds from the devil. But some spirits realize they made a mistake&want to use we humans as medium to demonstrate they now seek only experience of good. But we humans must kick-out the spirit(s)from our minds who enjoy evil(by prayer by one in Association with Holy Spirit)&seek to gain spirit which seeks to experience only good, also to gain Association with Holy Spirit.that we may enter&live through “millennium Period”; then transfigure into “Holy Spirit Zone”. The Devil&demons are real; not something to fun with. We who have experienced Sorcery, witchcraft, etc can attest to the fact that there are people with bad spirits who contact other evil spirits to do evil. “WE” have done a poor job relating the truth&how to work to restore select spirits back home”Holy Spirit Zone”. Now your comments. Marion Wayne Horne
Until such time as the Holy Spirit and various demons show up at my place for a chat, I am not prepared to take the word of either ancient writers with a political agenda in a world they had no understanding of; and certainly not on the instructions of some of the most unpleasant people I’ve ever known of.
Yeah I’ve been really praying about what to do this Halloween as a Christian. I’ve never celebrated it before. Previously I would have avoided it by making sure I was busy that night so couldnt go to any halloween parties. But running and hiding is no freedom. Naturally I’m very legalistic, won’t watch questionable films, read harry potter, listen to any music with worldly lyrics etc. But I’ve been challenged this year to make up my own mind what i think about it.
So with the question in mind, I’ve been reading I Cor. and a few things have struck me. Firstly the part where Paul is talking about food sacrificed to idols, and how we shouldnt have any problem eating it, as long as its sold in the market place (and not at their actual sacrificial feast)(10:25). And that we are free to recline and eat at a table in an idols temple, provided it doesnt offend a weak brother(8:10). I still havnt completely made up my mind. But these 2 things seem to point towards a believers freedom, that we are free to celebrate halloween because for us it is harmless fun, despite it being actually quite evil for some people (like witches). Like the Corinthians were free to be eating in the idols temple, or eating the food which had been sacrificed to idols, because it did not mean anything for them, they knew that ‘the earth was the Lord’s and everything in it’. I’ve been thinking that I want to get a more robust consciense and be able to reach out to people by inviting them over to for a halloween party on that night.
But having said all this, I’m still worried I might be doing the wrong thing. And I wouldn’t know how to respond if everyone turned up wearing witches costumes or devil outfits. (Pumpkins I can handle!). So…more prayer and reading…and I’ll hopefully make up my mind soon. Maybe we just have to take a step of faith to get out of these legalistic mindsets that make us so out of touch with unbelievers. I don’t know…
Lucy -
Perhaps a study in Romans 14 will help also.
You wrote, “Maybe we just have to take a step of faith to get out of these legalistic mindsets that make us so out of touch with unbelievers.” And Romans 14 ends with these words, “…and everything that does not come from faith is sin.” So faith in Christ is the key to our freedom from legalism. I think you hit the nail on the head!
giving candy to the children that show up at our door in the inner city helps them realize that sometimes the world is not a violent difficult place and that there are strangers willing to welcome them, to gift them and not harm them…get over your self-centered suburban christiancorrect mindsets…and start seeing this for what it is….an opportunity to rebuild community spirit….
there’s a lot of little angels, kings and queens that come to our door…
This is for comment 1. & comment 10. I am a christian also and I do see a big differnce in christmas and easter vs. Halloween. Christmas & Easter are both holidays that bring about good cheer and wonderfully happy things. Halloween is a holiday about greed (teaching your children to go out and get more & more candy), Evil that we as christians are to have no part of (Ephesians 5:7-12 and Deut.18:10-12)and is not safe anymore. Yes, I did go trick or treating as a child because I did not have parents that knew any better. I would say that there is something wrong with a holiday where we have to tell our children not to eat any of their candy until we swing by the hospital and have them X-ray it first. Which is a big practice here where I live. Not to mention that we have more and more cases where these “nice strangers” are out there shooting heroin & other drugs into candy with needles, so it is impossible to tell until it’s too late. I would much rather let my child dress up in cute but not scary or evil costume and let them go to a fall festival at a local church . They have alot more fun and they are safe. If you would like to speak with me further on this topic I would love to. Email me at tkwhite404@yahoo.com and we can talk about why God has said this is wrong. I am not a holier than now Christian. I am a sinner just like everyone else in this world BUT I have been saved by Gods GRACE. That is a choice I made and A choice all of us can make. If you want email me and I will try to get back to you soon. If I get a out right nasty email I will delete it and not read it.
There is a common misconception when it comes to examining 1 Corinthians. Chapter 8 talks about not attending idol feasts based on the argument that it doesn’t edify your weak brother. Paul starts with this qualification to address the Corinthian problem with boasting. Typical Pauline style is to make sure to address the deeper heart issues behind the behaviour. Chapter 8 in no way allows for attendence with feats in the pagan temples. This is made especially clear in chapter 10 where Paul points out this fellowship with other gods is actually involvement in demonic activity. Paul’s point is clear, one cannot be unified with Christ in his death and ressurection and be participants with demons as well. These two are mutually exclusive.
Paul switches issues in the middle of chapter 10 to talk about eating meat sold in the marketplace that had formerly been sacrificed in pagan temples. This issue is not an absolute rule, not at all like eating meat in the pagan temples themselves. (This usually was also associated with sexual immorality mentioned in chapter 5, both male and female prostitues were involved with pagan worship). Eating meat sold in the marketplace was completely fine and should be done without question as long as you are not offending any pagan’s concience who draws attention to the fact that this meat was previously sacrificed in a pagan temple.
Alright… thats a summary of 1 Cor 8-10, discuding chapter 9 (which talks about Paul’s apostolic authority). So what are the implications (if any) on Halloween. It is clear that Halloween has pagan roots. The real question that I think most people dance around is a very simple one: is participating in Halloween a form of idolatry because one is allowing fellowship with demons? In my opinion there is not a simple yes or no answer. Can Halloween be a participation with demons? Absolutely. By dressing your kids up as witches and demons does that not seem to communicate that these things are good and not evil? Is there a way to participate in Halloween and not be participating with evil spirits? If I walk my daughter around in a princess costume and have her ask for candy is that considered evil because its on a specific day? Even if there is heightened spiritual activity on that day does that mean as Christians we should stay in our homes? These are the important questions that need to be asked. For those that feel that participating in Halloween is ok, be sure to inform your children about the reality of spiritual things. Teach them that demons are evil, and should not be impersonated as a “just for fun” thing. Going along with this, and I will end here, is another question. Is allowing my daughter to dress up as something not evil and go to doors where evil is celebrated ok? If we truly teach our children that these things are wrong, then should we even approach the doors plastered with wicca symbols? The light and dark spiritual realms are real. Decide for yourself, but be careful.
#12 Good comments. Though the Bible may not mention Halloween, it has a lot to say about about the aspects of Halloween. Witches are an abomination to God. Withcraft is REAL and always evil. So therefore, any caricature of witches, whether in decoration or costume cannot be pleasing to God. The Bible also has a lot to say about paganism. More than any other holiday–HALLOWEEN RETAINS MANY PRACTICES OF ITS PAGAN ROOTS. Easter and Christmas are CHRISTIAN Holidays. The 12/25 date of Christmas was admittedly placed near a pagan holiday to combat it, but its theme has nothing to do with paganism. Admittedly, some Christmas practices (trees) have pagan roots. But we worship the Creator, not the tree that he created as did some Germans at one time. And the date for Easter and the vast majority of its celebrations have nothing to do with paganism (with the excetion of egg hunting). Easter is the fullfillment of the Jewish Passover!! Don’t see how anyone can equate the two.
At my house, we choose to attend a church Halloween alternative with carefully selected costumes. Although dressing in costumes and trick-or-treating ARE directly related to pagan customs. they aren’t practiced that way today. IMO, we aren’t participating in a pagan festival just by doing those activities, so there is liberalism for the Christian to decide. But costumes of witches, or any of the occult mentioned in Deuteronomy is WRONG!!!! So is intentinally scaring kids with non-occult but “violent” costumes. Christians need to stand up and be vocal about the fact that God calls them an abomination. Never participate or laugh when a child is mimicing a witch! And the main problem here is the stumbling block caused to others–because enough Christians AREN”T vocal about what God clearly says is wrong, and perhaps not always liberal enough with what is a matter of opinion, the world thinks American christian wink and approve of ALL Halloween practices. Read an article today by an Australian Christian who is appalled that Halloween practices are spreading to his country.
We are Christians, light of the world. We have an example to set.
Halloween us harmless fun, you go around with your family or friends haveing a good time trick or treating. It doesnt matter that you are scaring little kids, are you hurting them? NO. The children chose to come out
When I was a child, we used to have Halloween parties at our church so we wouldn’t have to go trick or treating. At that time in the 80s here in Memphis, people were dropping really bad things in the kids candy bags. Now I’m an adult and the Assistant Youth Director of my church I have some better ideas about what our kids can do. This is my 6th year and I’m trying something different. First we changed the name from Halloween to Hallelujah Celebration. The only spirit we entertain is the Holy Spirit. There are no spooky faced pumpkins (they all have plesant smiles), happy ghosts (think Casper), no graveyards or spiders, etc. This year, the teens are going to spend part of our celebration time at the corn maze. We are having a Hallelujah All-Start Celebration. I even have a red carpet. Each person who enters will receive a nametag with a Biblical character on it. And sometime during the evening, if that name is called they will have to give a few details about that character. We will also have swag bags. We usually just give out candy bags, but this year we’re doing it a little differently. At my church we know there is evil. Our church is in the inner city- we’re surrounded by it. But we know how to celebrate God and we have fun doing it.
Erica -
This sounds like a great community church, and a terrific alternative to Halloween for the church families!
Yes, I celebrate Halloween because there is nothing evil in it, never was until people started to make it up. The true origin of Halloween is simply about the second harvest and the approaching dark days of winter. It is a time nearly equidistant between the Autumnal Equinox and the Winter Solstice. Yes, the ancient Celts believed that the doorway between the living and the dead was opened, but they welcomed and celebrated the spirits of those departed loved ones. Bonfires helped to light the spirits’ ways. The wearing of grotesque masks is a way to ward off any evil spirits. It is also a way to laugh at death and despel fear, especially in a society so dependent on agriculture and husbandry. (We could all use some psychological easing of fear). Today, many of those meanings are lost, but Halloween remains as a day of simple fun, particularly for the young and young-at-heart. Even those who practice other religions do not do evil things on Halloween–unless they are not true to their religion, in which case they are not worthy to be considered in this evaluation of what Halloween really means. I am weary of all the misinformation that gets spread around about it all. I do not care what other things the ancient Celts did that would be disgusting to us nowadays. The fact is that, originally and at its root, Halloween has nothing to do with evil, unless you want to make it so. What is evil has been erroneously added to it by those who don’t understand and don’t know the REAL story. And that’s been relatively recently. It makes me angry, when all it is is a celebration of the changing seasons and honoring departed loved ones.
My family does celebrate Halloween, we participate in wearing non demonic costumes (most of which are just very silly and funny), and we take our children trick or treating. I think if we keep Halloween a modern day pumpkin carving, costume wearing, candy eating tradition, whats the harm? We absolutely do not celebrate anything about Halloween, that has to do with oija boards, or psychics, or demons. People out there practice this stuff on a daily basis, why should we be so afraid of it on this particular night? I am not whatsoever afraid of these things on any night because I know I have on God’s armor, that can only be penetrated if I allow it to be. I am not afraid of the things of the devil. He cannot touch me. God has his claim on my life and I know that my faith is stronger than any of that garbage some people practice out there.Why are some Christians so afraid of this tradition? Because they did those things long long long long ago on all Hallows Eve? Or, is it because people actually show their true colors on Halloween night? Your friendly neighbor from down the street may actually be a wiccan. Whatever your reason is for not participating in Halloween, just remember that no matter if your child dresses up as Superman or a spider or even a ghost, do not be afraid that they will be trapped by satan, because if you are saved, and your children are saved by the blood of JESUS CHRIST, your light will shine even on the very blackest of nights. If God has His hand on your heart, you are the only one who can change that. God will not leave you for carving pumpkins or trick or treating. Why can’t we take Halloween for ourselves? Let it be a fun “tradition” for our families to participate in rather than a holiday filled with evil and witchcraft. There is not alot we can do to keep people from celebrating Halloween in an awful way other than prayer and getting ourselves out there for our Christian light to shine. Like I said, people practice these evil things on a daily basis. Do not let them or the devil keep you locked in your house with your front porch light out on this particular night. If you do not agree with me and still choose to exclude yourselves from alot of the fun that Halloween has to offer, I’m sorry, but please let your faith be stronger than your fears of what this night used to mean and think of the fun it could be for you and your family. God bless all of you.
I am a young christian, 16, and I have fond memories of participating in Halloween. I never viewed it as a satanic holiday nor as a threat to my faith. As I child all I knew was this was the day that all the neighborhood children accompanied by a group of trusted adults went door-to-door and recieved candy. Personally I feel as if the relationship amongst the neighbors is as tightly knit as the one I felt as a child, Halloween is a fun activity/
AS A CHRISTIAN I FEEL THAT HOW HALLOWEEN MAY HAVE STARTED OUT AT WHAT IT HAS BECOME TODAY ARE WORLDS APART. AS SITUATIONS CHANGE WE MUST COME UP WITH NEW WAYS TO REACH THE LOSS WITHOUT LOSING OUR PRINCIPALS. HALLOWEEN HAS BECOME PERVERTED AND OVERTAKEN BY THE EVILS OF THIS WORLD. IN THAT LIGHT CHRISTIANS MUST RETHINK HOW TO APPROACH THIS TIME OF SEASON. USING IT AS AN AWESOME OPPORTUNITY FOR WITNESSING AND OUTREACH BOTH FOR CHILDREN AND ADULTS. INSTEAD OF HAVING THE NOW POPULAR HALLELUJAH NIGHT ON HALLOWEEN IN PLACE OF TRICK OR TREAT NIGHT AS IF OUR CHILDREN ARE MISSING OUT ON THE TRICK OR TREAT SCENE. THE CHURCH OR INDIVIDUAL FAMILIES SHOULD SCHEDULE A NIGHT A WEEK OR SO BEFORE HALLOWEEN TO EDUCATE OUR CHILDREN ON WHY WE DON’T CELEBRATE. NOT ONLY TO BE PREPARED FOR THE REPEATATIVE WHY DON’T YOU CELEBRATE HALLOWEEN QUESTION, BUT ALSO SO WHEN THE COMMUNITY DOES COME KNOCKING AT YOUR DOOR THAT NIGHT IT CAN BE AN OPPORTUNITY FOR OUTREACH. THANK YOU FOR READING MY THOUGHTS.