To Halloween or Not to Halloween? That is the Question.
09 Oct 2009 15 Comments
in Uncategorized Tags: candy, celebrate, celebration, Christian, dress up, evil, false gods, halloween, Jesus, pagan, pumpkin, ritual, tradition, trick or treat, witche
I posted a very unofficial poll yesterday on Twitter and Facebook to get people’s opinions or whether or not they celebrate Halloween. Answers stretched from one end of the spectrum to the other: several people think it’s harmless fun, while others find it to be a celebration of all things evil and refuse to acknowledge it. What do you think? I would love to hear everyone’s opinion on why your family does or does not celebrate/participate in all things Halloween.
Here’s what my answer was (though I could probably write another ten paragraphs, I will spare you):
“this was originally a night to merge the worlds of the living of the dead, where people sacrificed animals and crops to false gods. they wore animal heads and told fortunes… last time i checked, that’s not something i can teach my children is ok to celebrate. and by participating (dressing up, trick-or-treating, carving pumpkins), we would be saying the activity is ok- to our family it’s not ok. though some “Christian” influence came in later on, that doesnt make it acceptable as followers of Jesus. that’s just how we feel, but we respect other parent’s decisions of course 
just like vaccinations and everything else, i just tell people to really do their research and not just do it b/c everyone else does. we aren’t here to judge what God convicts us of but not others. but we are convicted by it, therefore we dont do it.”
And P.S… Candy is available all year round, so I can’t really buy that reason
I’d love your thoughts on Halloween- so feel free to leave comments!
Oct 09, 2009 @ 09:31:13
We celebrated Halloween until I was 5. That’s when my parents realized what we were actually doing.. Partaking in an activity that celebrated a dark and evil coming of season.. From that day on we found alternatives to Trick or Treating.. We would do anything and everything to get out of the house during that time.. We’d go camping or bowling.. just about anything to not be around it.. I remember the first year we didn’t go out, I was really confused.. I didn’t uderstand.. but my parents made it fun for us.. so it was easy after that first year..
For me, the greatest thing I can do today is to not even acknowledge the fact it is there.. Make it just like any other night.. I don’t agree with churches even having “fall festivals” on that night.. I know they want to give the kids an alternative to trick or treating but to me it is still showing celebration to the holiday.. Personally I’d much rather be in church that night worshiping the ONE.. than showing any acknowledgment of false Gods and idolatry..
Oct 09, 2009 @ 09:47:24
I was raised in a fundamentalist family and let me tell you to this day it upsets me that I wasn’t allowed to celebrate Halloween.
Regardless of the roots, Halloween in America today is about kids dressing up in costumes, having a few good shivers at semi-scary movies, and getting free candy. Kids love dressing up, candy, and ghost stories. By not letting your kids participate in a harmless holiday you’re separating them out from the rest of the kids in their community and the community forever. When they grow up and people reminisce about their Halloween costumes, all your kid will be able to say is “I wasn’t allowed to celebrate Halloween.”
Worrying about the origins of a holiday is being paranoid. By this logic you shouldn’t celebrate Thanksgiving either because it’s just a celebration of colonialism and the beginning of years of genocide against Native Americans. I’m pretty sure Christians are supposed to be loving and non-violent yet I’ve never heard a qualm against Thanksgiving.
Just let your kids get dressed up and get some candy for heaven’s sake.
Oct 09, 2009 @ 09:47:59
We used to dress up and trick or treat as well. Until I got saved, and then started to question whether or not we should celebrate. I believe if I am even in question at all about doing it, I should NOT. So the kids ask questions around this time of year as always and I ask, “Does it look like halloween lifts up and praises Jesus, or does it look like it stands for evil things?” I feel the question puts it into perspective for us and the kids.
Oct 09, 2009 @ 10:48:38
Like it says in the Bible we are to not be of this world. Halloween is a pagan/worldly holiday. When I was little I used to trick-a-treat but a couple of years ago my parents realized that we shouldn’t do that kind of thing anymore. The last couple of years we have gone out to eat or just done our normal routine around the house. I never want to open up the door for evil. It was started has an evil day and many people around the world still view it as that. I think this is a great day for Christians to stand out against this world.
Oct 09, 2009 @ 16:42:37
I think it depends on why your doing it. Non Christians go to church, that doesnt make them Christian, Non Christians get presents on Christmas day. I can say honestly that I love halloween. It is never a time that I even once think of the devil, but i think carving pumpkins, dressing kids up in fun costumes and decorating the house with pumpkins and such is fun, its a tradition and I guess I am one who thinks its harmless. We were NEVER raised to believe it was an evil holiday. I was raised in a very Christian home and my parents always said “its the motive behind your actions that make it what it is. ” If your doing it in fun and making it not scary then whats the harm. If your heart or motive is to uplift the devil then it is a holiday about that. As I said, Non Christians who attend church on Easter and Christmas are not uplifting Jesus anymore than innocent children trick or treating are uplifting the devil. Not only do they not think like that, but the “devil” part of it is by no means an influence in any of the activities we partake in for halloween. How is it different to go to a church “celebration” with kids dressing up and trick or treating around the church than it is to do the same thing on the same day in your neighborhood? I guess I don’t get it. I think alot of things that were done for “traditional purposes” have long lost their origional purpose.
Oct 11, 2009 @ 22:37:56
Growing up, we never celebrated Halloween. Our church always had a fall festival thing every year…we had games, candy, etc. Dressing up wasn’t encouraged, but if a kid showed up in a costume it was ok – our church used it as an outreach tool. I’ve never dressed up for Halloween and it really isn’t that big of a deal to me. I don’t feel like the “odd man out” because I can’t share with all my friends what costume I didn’t dress up for at Halloween. I guess when I have kids this will be something I will have to contemplate, but I can say that when I was a kid, my parents didn’t make a big deal out of it – we just went to church, played games & got candy. So, I guess what I’m trying to say is: if you don’t celebrate it with your kids, they will turn out normal and won’t hate you for not dressing them up as Hannah Montana for Halloween. Ok?
Oct 12, 2009 @ 14:20:27
I realize that most people think that the origins/history of this day don’t really matter for us today.
With that aside, my thoughts are that as the parents of sweet, young, innocent children, we are there to protect them from evil and fear. I could never promote something that puts fear in my kids. They run to us to make them feel safe when they are scared, and we make it all better.
So I never wanted to do anything that would bring about fear.
The things that Halloween represents are all scary: witches, goblins, monsters, coffins, skeletons, spiders, chainsaws, blood, gore……….
not your everyday innocent play for kids. My kids didn’t watch TV shows that would contain that sort of stuff. It would make no sense for our family to do that ‘one day/night a year’, if we avoided that all of the other days of the year.
I am amazed at the families that go ‘all out’ on decorating their homes and yards for this day, with the spookiest stuff! More than for any other holiday! To each his own, though.
I explained the origins to each of my children when they were old enough to understand it, and it was never a problem. They didn’t want to do it.
There really ARE a lot of horrible things that DO take place on this day, but you never hear about those. Most are ‘under-ground’.
Were there times when my kids wanted to participate as they got older? Sure. But it wasn’t anything we couldn’t/didn’t easily work through.
Fall Festivals at church were an option, and we never felt these were celebrating Halloween. Most weren’t dress-up events. Some were, and they were asked to be Bible characters at a few. I was always thankful that churches gave us such options.
It definitely sparks a lot of debate, and most amoung Christian families!
As for the candy, my kids certainly aren’t ‘missing out’ by not getting candy that day!!!
Oct 12, 2009 @ 14:40:48
Wow…I have to fall in agreement with Meghan on this one. I don’t like the spookiness and bloodiness of the holiday. Who would? But who says you have to dress up all ugly? Gymnasts, football players, cowboys and princesses are what my kids have always loved dressing up as. Wait…princesses. Disney. Bibbidy-bobbidy-boo. Mirror mirror on the wall. Genie in a bottle. Magic all around those mouse ears. So…your nonbelieving, probably hurting through life neighbors are OPENING their door to you and your kiddos, giving a sweet treat, exchanging some kind words…and this is a bad thing? Not to mention YOU opening your door to them. Wow. In the world but not of the world.
Oct 12, 2009 @ 16:25:12
We trick or treat, just like we put up a pagan Christmas tree. It’s all pagan. Selling our souls to the mall and trying to one up families members with more expensive gifts is way more pagan then a kid dressed as a Pirate asking for candy. We do have guidelines, no scary costumes, and we talk about Halloween, what it means to some people like Wicans and Satanist. But that is not what it means to us..like the Christmas tree, it’s a fun family time to laugh, look silly, eat candy and have fun.
Oct 13, 2009 @ 22:04:42
I was raised in a Christian home and we celebrated Halloween every year by Trick or Treating. It was a fun time to dress in a costume and go door to door in our neighborhood to get candy, pretend to be something we weren’t, it was fun. It NEVER occurred to me as a child that there was anything demonic and wrong with this practice, and it still really doesn’t, thought it seem to be a more debated issue among us Christians. I THINK this has more to do with the “Why” than the “What”. If you are doing this for the purposes of edifying Satan and Anti-God sentiments, then in my belief it is wrong. If you are simply doing it because it is a tradition, one time a year you can eat lots of candy and dress up as someone you are not, I don’t see the problem. I don’t feel this is a demonic ritual that brings someone to the unknown, dark, dead, evil, or whatever side that I have heard some things can.
That’s just my opinion, because there was a place to give one. I have no judgement for ANYONE that believe differently. There are WAY too many things out there that we as Christian’s tend to draw lines on, and I don’t feel this should be one of them, whether you agree with me or not. More and more as my life goes on I realize that the center of our belief is to love God, and to others. Happy Fall, Fall Fest, Halloween, or just October 31st to all, this is a time to celebrate life, Christ, and His blessings. If you get to dress up and get free candy, praise God for it. If you go to a Fall Fest at a Church, praise God for it. If you do nothing out of the ordinary on 10/31, PRAISE GOD FOR IT!
I have not read any of the other responses, so I may be on the same page, or on another, but in either case I pray God’s blessing on us all. / Clay
Oct 13, 2009 @ 22:20:37
By the way, I wasn’t able to spell / grammar check this before I sent it, sorry, I found some problems later, but I think the jest of it came through
Oct 14, 2009 @ 16:10:16
I put everything and everyone else aside and asked God what He wanted “Kristin” to do and I feel like He said not to participate. So, I choose not to because He’s all that matters not anyone else. When I get to Heaven I don’t want Him to say, “I asked You not to, but you did anyway.” EISH!!! Not worth it at all, but respect others who do. Great topic Meg!
Oct 16, 2009 @ 09:40:28
Meghan,
We feel exactly the way you do. And we also try to have a dress up party for someones birthday during the year……..I agree, it’s fun to dress up. And we have no shortage of candy. Actually my kids have the most fun at our 4th of July parade where they get their bulk of candy for the year.
Another thing that fits into our family is that my birthday in Nov. 1st, so we usually just celebrate Mom’s birthday that evening!
Chris in WA state
Oct 18, 2009 @ 13:09:36
Great question!
We do not celebrate Halloween. I can’t stand all the decorations of evil stuff everywhere–devils, witches, skeletons, ghosts, zombies, graveyards, etc.
We have taken the kids to church hosted fall festivals before, but the last couple of years we have gone to a family friendly movie and out to eat.
Halloween can’t pass quick enough…