Christians and Halloween
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Tim Challies has mixed feelings about Halloween--which can be read here. But I found myself saying a hearty amen to this paragraph:
I am guessing my neighbourhood is all-too-typical in that most people arrive home from work and immediately drive their cars into the garage. More often than not they do not emerge again until the next morning when they leave for work once more. It would be a terrible breach of Canadian social etiquette for me to knock on a person's door and ask them for a small gift or even just to say "hello" to them. Yet on Halloween this barriers all come down. I have the opportunity to greet every person in the neighbourhood. I have the opportunity to introduce myself to the family who moved in just down the street a few weeks ago and to greet some other people I have not seen for weeks or months. At the same time, those people's children will come knocking on my door. We have two possible responses. We can turn the lights out and sit inside, seeking to shelter ourselves from the pagan influence of the little Harry Potters, Batmans and ballerinas, or we can greet them, gush over them, and make them feel welcome. We can prove ourselves to be the family who genuinelly cares about our neighbours, or we can be the family who shows that we want to interact with them only on our terms.
posted by JT at Tuesday, October 18, 2005
12 Comments:
Oh, that's a valuable reflection. Good point, indeed.
If only Halloween was simply that here in Madison...
Good point but where do you draw the line. I have kids and would like them not to see some of the costumes that some kids where. Should a person carve pumkins?
We usually attend our church's Hallelujah Night for fun games and candy.
As a father of two boys, 4 and 7, this is something I have been thinking about this year. Challies really helped to bring more facts to light. I'm still not sure about it though.
I guess my main concern is, How can you separate Halloween from the paganism? It's just so much a part of the history and the current practice of glorifying demons, witches, vampires, and ghosts seems a little hard to overcome.
Doxo,
This might shed some illumination on your plight:
Trick or Trite?
Here is also another article I found helpful regarding Halloween and its history by James B. Jordan
Halloween: A Distinctly Christian Holiday
I planned to respond initially but decided against it. However, several of you have had questions or concerns which relate to what I intended to post.
For example:
" Good point but where do you draw the line."
"I guess my main concern is, How can you separate Halloween from the paganism?"
The problem with the article is that he uses poor reasoning. He argues that we ought not lock ourselves in our homes with the doors locked and lights out. Rather, we ought to be willing to engage with the culture, even if not on our own terms.
Initially this sounds fantastic. In fact, I must admit that the rhetorical skill of Challies far surpasses anything I could ever hope for. However, I find the reasoning unconvincing.
How far would we apply such logic? Would we take part in a drug deal and "show the love of Christ" in the process? Would we view pornagraphy with others and engage them, even though we might find it morally reprehensible?
The reason the argument is not the same as "Jesus eating with the sinner" is because engaging in the Halloween tradition is not "eating with the sinners" (or eating candy with the children), but rather sinning with the sinners (if in fact Halloween is sinfulin some respect).
My point is not to argue that Halloween is or is not sinful. Personally, on that day I would rather count my blessings that God restored the Gospel to the church on that day in 1517.
My point is to say that the article deals with the issue the wrong way. What should happen is to first decide which moral category this falls under. Is it something sinful? Is it something neutral? Is is something good? If it one of the latter options then we ought to be using this to bring glory to God as the article suggests. However, if it is infact sinful, then let us not dress up our partaking in sin as some sort of evangelistic ministry.
There is an inconsistency, but its a happy one at least. I think it would be better to argue that typical halloween activities ARE NOT SINFULL, and ARE NOT PAGANISM.
Dressing in a witch costume or a ghost constume and going "boo" is fun because its playing pretend. I have a hard time seeing how its 'glorifying evil' to be pretending (With goofy costumes) to be a silly witch or a goofy ghost. Nobody takes it seriously, and those who take it seriously (christaisn and pagans both) seem to be falling into superstition.
A carved pumpkin is a carved pumpkin. Its not a demon skull.
Can someone glorigy evil? Sure, they could murder someone and tell everyone they were cool when they did it. Putting on a ghost costume is a different thing altogether.
And if you want to see paganism, go watch a hindu chaos festival or mardis gra or something. The difference should be obvious.
I may or may not agree with your analysis. However, the way that you have argued is a necessary starting point in the entire discussion. Until one argues that participating in Halloween events is not sinful, he cannot make the argument that he has.
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It is a children's holiday - period end of story. I can't belivee that people make such a big deal over dressing up and candy.
In our society we dress and play roles all the time - either at work other social gatherings.
NO ONE is out worshipping devils, turning into witchs or converting to the darkside. They are just getting a candy...and having a wonderful wonderful time. Learning that these silly scary things arent'.
Do you know what help the small children in concentration camps survive??? Remember the old Fairy Tales they had heard that good ultimately overcomes evil.
This is play acting, fun, learning that what goes bump in the night is some silly concept. Please people GROW UP!
It is a children's holiday - period end of story. I can't belivee that people make such a big deal over dressing up and candy.
In our society we dress and play roles all the time - at work, at church and other social gatherings.
NO ONE is out worshipping devils, turning into witchs or converting to the darkside. They are just getting candy...and having a wonderful wonderful time. And maybe even learning that these silly scary things aren't real.
Do you know what help the small children in concentration camps survive??? Remembering the old Fairy Tales they had heard that good ultimately overcomes evil - even though it may take a very very long time.
This is play acting, fun, learning that what goes bump in the night is some silly wind or tree. Please people GROW UP!
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