Comments on: To Halloween or Not to Halloween? That is the Question.

By: How Do You Explain Santa Claus? « the matts:

How Do You Explain Santa Claus? « the matts: — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 18:24:10 +0000

[...] idea of St. Nick has Christian origins, unlike many other Christmas traditions. This isn’t a Halloween-type thing where I feel like I am celebrating something pagan and evil by participating. This is a just a moral, prayerfully considered thing that we have decided is best [...]

By: Jenn

Jenn — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 19:09:36 +0000

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…

By: Chris

Chris — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 15:40:28 +0000

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

By: Kristin Brinson

Kristin Brinson — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 22:10:16 +0000

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!

By: Clay

Clay — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 04:20:37 +0000

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

By: Clay

Clay — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 04:04:42 +0000

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

By: Carole Turner

Carole Turner — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 22:25:12 +0000

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.

By: Kim

Kim — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 20:40:48 +0000

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.

By: Lori

Lori — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 20:20:27 +0000

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!!!

By: Lindsay Rome

Lindsay Rome — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 04:37:56 +0000

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?