Since I grew up in a non-believing home I have always celebrated Halloween. I remember the great anticipation of the days leading up to the night of candy, costumes, and family/friend time. Never in all my 12 years of trick-or-treating did I believe that I was worshiping Satan. Nor did I ever have satanic thoughts. Nor did I ever believe I was going to become the thing of which I was dressing up to be. I turned out to be a Bible-believing Christian after years of witch costumes, pumpkin costumes, clown costumes, etc.
So why do I now question whether or not when I'm older if I'll let my children (if I ever do get married and have children) get dressed up and go trick-or-treating?
Why do I question whether or not I'll let them believe in Santa Clause?
Why am I now forced to question whether or not I'll give them money for their baby teeth and say it was the tooth fairy?
What are wrong with these traditions as long as you keep in your heart and at the fore-front of your mind the one true King, Jesus Christ?
Apparently my up-bringing and family traditions are at odds with Christian values.
So what do I do?
All I know is that tonight, I'm dressing up as a butterfly and I'm going to a "Harvest Party" and I wonder, what in the world is the difference? Dress it up however you like... Harvest Parties are Halloween in sheep's clothing. But if it makes you feel better to call it something else, then go for it.
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7 comments:
Do you get offended easily? Because belive me I am not trying to offend you! I would never do that!
I am giving my opinion. I believe that whatever you call it, it is still wrong. (keep in mind that I belive this because I was brought up this way and the Lord has also convisted me about this. I have different convictions than most people and that is okay)(so please continue to be my friend after this! If you participate in it then you are worshipping Satan and celebrating "his birthday". I don't belive it is right to let your children think that there is a real person that gives you presents, and gives you money for teeth. Please remember I am not trying to offend you! YOu do whatever you think the Lord is telling you to do. This is what he has told me. :) I am glad for it. There is a really good article about halloween I will get it for you to read.....
Hope you have fun anyways!
Stepheny
BTW, sometimes kids will ask well why can't we celebrate it. Then of course you tell them, but to get their little minds off of it.. we do a "family fun night" and we do "Pin the stem on the pumpkin, Candy Hunts and a favorite meal"
This is not at all celebrating th devil's birthday it is celebrate the fall time and pumpkins, and it is still fun and we are still pleasing Jesus!
Just a thought,
Steph
Personally, I don't think that Halloween is evil, or bad, or worshiping Satan. I think that telling my future children 'No, you can't Trick-or-Treat, that's evil.' is like telling them 'No, you can't dress up.' Because what we do on Halloween is just that -dress up. Most girls dress up as butterflies or princesses or fairies when they're little, and how could that be evil? Some costume can be Satanic, yes, but that doesn't make all of Halloween evil. To me, it's just a time to dress up, get candy (if you're younger) and have fun hanging out with friends.
I think the best summary of what I think was said by my friend. She said, 'It can be evil, but doesn't have to be.' (You can read the rest of the post at 3-girlz.blogspot.com)
You have a good point on Santa Claus though, since Christmas is supposed to be a spiritual holiday.
Please remember that these are my thoughts and opinions. I hope I didn't offend you.
I grew up in a Christian home, too, & we went trick-or-treating, usually just around the neighborhood. When my grandmother went to the nursing home, we trick-or-treated there & the people there LOVED it. It was a good way to bless them, too.
I have struggled with whether or not to celebrate Halloween also. If you get a chance, read the book 'Redeeming Halloween' by Kim Wier & Pam McCune. It's a Christian book that Focus on the Family endorses. It cleared some things up for me. Halloween actually started as 'All Saints Day' which is a day to remember those that were martyred for their faith in Jesus. It used to be sometime in May {I think...}, but was moved to Nov 1 to counter a non-Christian holiday & Oct 31 was a day of preparation it. It's a great book & has some great ideas to have a holy Halloween with kids of all ages.
It's a touchy subject among Christians, but I think that you should do whatever you feel the Lord leading you to do. Obviously, there are parts of Halloween that are more pleasing to Satan than the Lord, but I don't think that if you dress your 3-year-old up like a princess & take her trick-or-treating around the neighborhood that you're worshiping Satan. I think it's important to tell your kids how it REALLY began.
I'm all for Santa & the tooth fairy, too. I grew up believing in Santa & got quarters under my pillow. And I ALWAYS knew that Christmas was about the birth of the Savior, not about presents under the tree.
Just my 2 cents. = )
awesome post sweetums.
halloween is one of those subjects that i believe the Lord has to speak to us about individually.
i've read a lot on both the pro-halloween argument and the anti-halloween argument from a Christian standpoint. and i fully understand and get aspects of both sides. my church chooses to call it Harvest Festival. the kids are not allowed in costume but we do hand out bags of candy and we play games with them. all the candy bags had scripture on pieces of paper in them and most of the games were biblically centered. it's more of a celebration of harvest and autumn and a way to make sure our kids have a safe place to go instead of the streets.
i'm rather indifferent about halloween. it does have pagan origins (but so do Christmas trees, easter egg hunts, bunnies and baskets and all that other jazz that just about EVERY Christian does!). so i think we have to be careful about eschewing some pagan rituals but embracing others.
however, i think that it is entirely possible to chisel out the demonic aspects of halloween and make it what you want it in order to teach kids about Christ. again, let the Lord speak to you.
i personally don't celebrate halloween because i just don't care LOL. i don't feel that strongly for or against it, and if i'm that indifferent about it, then i just don't need to do it. i too grew up in a home where we trick-or-treated every year as a kid, and i had a ball. but as i've gotten older, i just don't care anymore. maybe the Lord removed the desire or maybe i'm just old :-)
i had a ball volunteering at my church's Harvest Fest though - the kids wore me out! it makes me feel better that the kids were in church having fun and not out roaming the streets where evil lurks. i worked the moon bounce for 1-4 year olds - it was awesome!! i hope you had a great time too, my darling :-)
When I was younger we celebrated Halloween, actually up until I five. When we stopped, I don't remember complaining or fussing or my little heart breaking. I suppose because (1.) I hate being scared. (2.) I dressed up all the time. (3.) Candy was not forbidden in my house and so was always considered a treat.
We stopped because my mother read the history behind Halloween and all the traditions that come along with it. Our church eventually began the whole fall festival thing. My parents were weary of it, believing that like you said, it was just another name for halloween. True enough, it was. As I have gotten older, I have had to (as with so many things) come to a decision on what I believe. I disagree with Halloween and even with fall festivals, trunk or treats, and anything else they may be called. Now I love a good hayride and pumpkins and fall leaves, and a festival does sound wonderful, but not on Halloween night, simply because someone pushes it too far claiming it unfair to skip the holiday itself.
Like you, I often wonder what I will let my children believe in. As far as I can see it, I will not introduce them to Halloween or the Easter Bunny. I see no harm in the tooth fairy because she certainly isn't real, but does not seem to interfere with the place of a Christian day of observance. She simply rewards small children with a dollar for each tooth pulled with tantrums (the only time she came at my house!).
Santa is tricky, though. Why? Because I did so enjoy him when I was young and I loved everything my parents went through to convince us. Plus, I remind myself he was real at one time and a Christian as well. The only problem with Santa is the interference he seems to cause between a child and the true meaning of Christmas, but then again, so do gifts in general. I can not specifically recall when I began to think of Christmas as I do now, no longer focusing on the mere gifts. For I always enjoyed dressing up in my good clothes and the big feasts and cartoons at Christmas. So, all I can think of is to still have Santa, but not Christmas. Perhaps a few days before, leaving time to seperate the fun Santa stuff and the true celebration of Jesus' birthday. I don't now though. Samantha, I think we are all still decidingsuch things. In the end, we will raise our children as we believe making limitations and exceptions as we see fit.
Caught a mistake in what I wrote- the tooth fairy only came when we DIDN'T throw tantrums when pulling a tooth!
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