Remembering Halloween
October 27th, 2008
Remember Halloween? Remember when we were kids playing dress up, having Halloween parties at school, going trick-or-treating and getting lots and lots of candy? Remember how much fun that was? Boy, I sure do. But that was the good ol’ days. Those were the days before we learned that Halloween is really a satanic holiday closely connected with worshiping the devil and that children shouldn’t have anything to do with a celebration that glorifies Satan. And here we just thought it was about the candy. Man, am I sure glad we got that whole thing straightened out, aren’t you?
Michael Spencer laments over how the “great, fun, harmless, safe, nostalgic, exciting, slightly scary and completely un-demonic Halloweens of the past” are gone in the church culture of today. In an annual Halloween rant he recalls what Halloween celebrations were like as kids in the 60’s and 70’s when it was nothing more than “simple, old-fashioned, fun” and “innocent play in the name of an American custom.”
But that was before charlatan, Mike Warnke, and the evangelical media and the occult ministries began convincing people that celebrating Halloween was tantamount to Satanism. Sending little crumb crunchers out to go door-to-door begging for Hershey bars was scoring points for the other side. “A general fear of the occult, manifesting itself in Satanic ritual abuse mythology, crept into evangelicalism and took a deep hold on many churches,” says Spencer.
We’ve all heard the stories about Halloween originating in an ancient Celtic festival celebrated at the end of the harvest. It was believed that on October 31st the boundaries between the living and the dead were lifted so that the spirits of the dead would come back to life and walk among the living. Ooooooooo! Bonfires, jack-o-lanterns, costumes and masks all became part of a custom meant to ward off haunting spirits. Today the celebration lives on as a part of American culture, but let’s be honest here, folks. The pagan superstitions originally associated with the Celtic celebration have largely been forgotten. Other than a handful of occultists, NOBODY in America celebrates these pagan rituals and nobody EVER has. So please, can we stop with the rhetoric already?
Spencer offers these concerns:
It bothers me that we fall for such lame, ridiculous manipulators as the crowd that made all of those Halloweens past into satanic events.
It bothers me that any lie, exaggeration or fiction will find thousands of eager believers to pass it along.
It bothers me that the Biblical message about Satan would be co-opted by the fear-mongering and manipulation of the hucksters. (Read The Screwtape Letters for some real Satanism.)
It bothers me that such a wonderful part of my childhood and of American life has been turned into an example of evangelical paranoia and gullibility. We ruined something good, and everyone knows it but us.
I know all about the sophisticated responses thoughtful Christians have about Reformation day and All Saints Day. That’s fine, but it’s not the same. I just want my grandkids to be able to dress up in cute outfits and trick or treat without the local church designating them for exorcism.
Shame on those of us–evangelicals–who allowed Halloween to be taken away from families and many communities, all because we prefer to believe that life is a Frank Paretti novel.
Look, I’m not trying to be difficult. As I’ve said before, I don’t really have a dog in this race. My kids are teenagers and I live in somewhat of a rural neighborhood that doesn’t get many trick-or-treaters. Ultimately it’s never really been a hill for me to die on one way or the other. Still I have always tried to respect the convictions of others on this issue even though I don’t necessarily agree.
On the other hand I am convicted about the pious nose-in-the-air attitude that is often perceived of Christians by the nonbelieving community when it comes to cultural issues such as this. It just seems to me that there ought to be some area of middle ground here in which believers can engage the culture without compromising their convictions. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. It’s one thing to curse the darkness. It’s quite another to turn on the Light.
October 28th, 2008 at 12:06 pm
Every year in the lead up to Halloween both children and their parents become excited when anticipating the harmless fun and harum-scarum to be had at this ancient Pagan festival. It is clear that most supermarkets and local shops cater widely for Halloween revellers and it has become almost as big a commercial hit as Christmas itself. This website is dedicated to provide information and facilities to thoroughly enjoy the festival of Halloween and show you how you can safely look forward to it every year without having to run the gauntlet of the lies and sectarian propaganda put out by the Church of England in its attempts to devalue the religious beliefs of pagans worldwide.
http://halloweenchoiceorg.bravehost.com/
October 28th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
Pete,
Thanks for stopping by. You do understand that my remarks were in no way meant to esteem pagan religious beliefs? I have no tolerance nor respect for religious false teaching or pagan idolatry of any kind. The point I’m making is that in America almost no one associates Halloween with whatever ancient festival it may have originated from. I only meant to recall the fun of a good old fashioned American pastime and to lament on how it has been ruined by some in the evangelical community.
October 29th, 2008 at 5:34 pm
“It just seems to me that there ought to be some area of middle ground here in which believers can engage the culture without compromising their convictions. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. It’s one thing to curse the darkness. It’s quite another to turn on the Light.”
Couldn’t agree with you more Don….. Whether we like it or not, as Christians in America, we are a part of this American culture. There are many things that have found their way onto our shores from Europe and they don’t carry the same meanings or purpose that they did in the “old country”. Halloween, taken as a day for children to dress up and collect candy is really innocuous when it comes down to it. Just like to me it is a non-issue if parents want to have Santa Claus visiting their house on Christmas eve — even though portions of Santa’s roots are from Christianizing the worship of Odin with Saint Nicholas.
The question with these cultural traditions is not necessarily where their roots are from, but rather what we as families and a culture actually do with them. On halloween are the kiddos celebrating and worshiping sam hain or other demons??? VERY doubtful, their focus is on a good ole sugar rush…. In the same way with Santa it adds a different twist, a different excitement, and mystery of sorts to the tradition of giving gifts to one another in that holiday season — there’s no problem with it as long as we don’t lose focus on He who has given us the ability to have these different traditions and still have the freedom and ability to worship Him.
Unfortunately we as Christians tend to get much to uptight over the little things making ourselves look like legalistic fools.
I guess I may have opened a pandora’s box here, but hey — life would be really boring if we didn’t have at least a little excitement
blessings….
theFuzzy
October 30th, 2008 at 9:03 am
Although I don’t comment much, I do have a few thoughts on the subject Halloween.
I lived thirteen years of my adult life in Japan where they have their own “festival of the dead” every August. It isn’t anything like the “Halloween” we know, but is actually a span of several days when they believe the spirits of ancestors return the homes of their families. There are many ceremonial traditions that take place during this time, including preparing food for the spirits, cleaning the graves, lighting lanterns to guide the spirits, etc. Although it is considered “cultural” and “traditional,” it is very real to the Japanese people. I can honestly say that as a Christian, I have experienced a dark, spiritual oppression during those times. Maybe it was because of these experiences that I was surprised when I returned to America in the early 1990’s to find how popular it had become to decorate for Halloween with such dark and scary themes. As a child, I had wonderful memories of going door-to-door to get candy and have everyone admire my costume. It made me sad to return and find so much darkness. It reminded me some of the darkness in Japan.
After having a child, I had to decide what to do about the whole Halloween issue. My husband and I decided to treat it the same as we do for Santa - we didn’t really mention it either way. We didn’t promote it or condemn it. We don’t make a special trip to go down the Halloween decorations isle at the stores, but if we happen to end up there, we don’t make a big deal out of it. I do try to follow up with casual talks about God’s Word, promises of His presence so that we don’t have to be afraid, and that for a Christian, death is not a dark thing. Also, we want to be a living testimony in our neighborhhood. All of the younger kids in our neighborhood tend to congregate at our home on a daily basis. Although it can be tiring, we are thankful for the opportunity we have to be a positive influence on these kid’s lives. We knew that if we were to shut off the lights at Halloween, we could forget about that influence for many of them. We decided to be a bright light on a night that can be very dark. We turn lots of lights on, greet the children with excitement and try to give out candy that kids actually like! We know that they may remember our kindness when they are older.
All of that said, I still can’t say that I am completely comfortable with the empahsis that our culture puts on Halloween. I think as Christians we need to do what we can to influence our culture and it’s traditions. By God’s grace we will try to do just that.
Bet you never expected to see such a long comment from me! Don’t worry - it won’t happen very often.
MB