This year I’m encountering a lot of Churches and Christians who are against Hallowe’en. Let me see if I understand the arguments.
Hallowe’en is a devil holiday / demonic / witch-associated celebration of evil. Because the day celebrates the dead / evil / satanic things then as Christians, they shouldn’t celebrate the day.
In addition, dressing up in costumes, especially as witches / monsters / supernatural creatures / demons / devils, is courting evil influences that will open ‘portals’ in your mind, and lead you astray from God and godly things. Even dressing as something like a police officer or fireman is participating in the day celebrating evil and will condemn you by association. In addition, it teaches children that witches / demons / etc. are okay and won’t harm them, thus exposing them to evil treachery later on.
Thou shall not suffer a witch to live – because the day is closely associated with witchcraft, there is the fear that a witch will cast a spell on you, or court you to join their coven, which would be an offense to God.
Because Christians should not associate with anything evil, then anything associated with the holiday should be shunned and avoided.
I can see how this interpretation could come about. Parents certainly want their kids to grow up without falling under the influence of bad forces. They want their kids to grow up to be good, moral, God-loving people. I want their kids to do the same.
Hallowe’en started as a Christian holiday back in the 9th century. It is the eve of All Saint’s Day, a day to honor and remember all the saints, both well-known and obscure and held on November 1. It proceeds All Soul’s Day, which is a day to remember and honor the faithful departed, held on November 2.
It got mixed up with Samhain, which is a pagan festival to mark the end of the harvest and the start of the ‘darker’ half of the year, which started on November 1. It was a time when the veil between the worlds of the living and dead were at their thinnest, allowing the dead to come back to the world of the living. In Irish and Scottish cultures, youths went from farm to farm, often wearing masks, collecting food for the Samhain feasts. They brought this tradition to America in the 1800’s when Irish and Scottish immigrants came to the new country in search of better lives.
All these things influenced each other to bring us what we now celebrate as Hallowe’en. Of course, being America, we turned it into crass commercialism, a way to make a lot of money off of a holiday by selling candy, costumes, decorations, and other stuff.
As far as the holiday influencing children goes, I don’t think that it is evil influences trying to subvert the youth. I think it is a day when kids can face the things that scare them, in a relatively controlled way. Kids have a lot of things to be afraid of. It’s a big, scary dangerous world. And they should be made aware of the dangers of the world. But dumping all the horrible things people do to each other on them at a young age is more than they can handle. Hallowe’en gives them a way to start dealing with the scary things and finding that they can deal with them.
Christian writer and apologist G. K Chesterton put it very well. “Fairy tales do not tell children the dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children the dragons can be killed.” Kids know that the world is dangerous. Trying to shield them from it by saying Hallowe’en is evil and should not be participated in is a valid right of parents. I think it does a disservice to the kids but ultimately it is up to parents to decide how they want to raise their kids.
As for the parents who object to Hallowe’en, I think it shows a weak faith in God if you think dressing up in a costume is going to allow the Devil to subvert you. If you aren’t strong enough in your faith to be able to resist, then it is probably best that you don’t celebrate the holiday.
Me, I’m just in it for the candy.
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