Views about Halloween... Can you be a Christian and still celebrate it?

Hypno

Hypno

Crow
DelMarMisty said:
Halloween is Pagan, and stems from Occultism. This does not honour God, so no you should not be celebrating it as a Christian.
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Christmas trees are pagan too, as are the days of our week, most of our calendar, etc.

Just use some judgment. Instead of dressing up like a devil, have your kids dress up like an astronaught, firefighter, or bumble bee. Heck 4 years ago my kid dressed like Trump.
 
ItalianStallion9

ItalianStallion9

Woodpecker
Protestant
Probably best to limit it as much as possible. In theory even some other modern holidays might have "pagan origins" but the undead/spooky concepts of Halloween seem a bit more scandalous. If your kids wanted to dress up as Pikachu and collect candy it's your call..but my mom never let me have a skull or zombie costume.
 
kinjutsu

kinjutsu

Pelican
In my point of view, Halloween is for children. Let them celebrate it but dress them up in positive role models for the day. Don't allow them to have too much candy and you should be good.

If you dont have any kids, give out candy if you like but definitely don't participate in this craziness this year. The time is better spent building yourself or building your business up.
 
M

MovingForward2050

Pelican
I've always enjoyed a good costume party, nothing out of control, and for me that is the fun of Halloween. Or seeing a scary movie at a local park with friends, projected onto the side of a building. Activities like that... A movie marathon at home can be fun, too, with loved ones... Nothing too scary, especially considering the little ones.
 
An0dyne

An0dyne

Robin
Other Christian
The name of the day is literally Christian in origin. Don't do anything satanic horned in by the pagan interlopers, of course. But, like eating meat sacrificed to idols (1 Corinthians 8), there is nothing inherently evil about dressing up or getting candy. Just don't in your freedom scandalize others.
 
DelMarMisty

DelMarMisty

Woodpecker
Woman
Orthodox
I think that most Christians tend to be pretty lax about everything, hence why Christianity is being destroyed. Christian kids, even as they get older, have no idea about significance of Easter and Christmas. They do Easter egg hunts and wait for presents under a pagan tree. Then Halloween comes, they are dressing up in witches and zombies and are already slowly being coerced into occultism and surrealism from an incredibly young age. Naturally, then, they will aim to seek out the same practices just more ‘adult’ versions once as they get older i.e. New Age. I think if people understood how cool Christianity actually is, and how deep and profound the teachings are, there would be no place for Halloween. It would seem stupid, which it is.
 
M

Muscovite

Robin
Protestant
bucky

bucky

Hummingbird
Other Christian
My devout Catholic Central American wife has never been big on Halloween and she was saying that this year the Church sent out a message asking Catholics across the world to pray (rezar) against its being celebrated. Said it had something to do occult practices that support abortion, although I might be garbling that part. Any other Catholics here hear about this?
 
MajorStyles

MajorStyles

Pelican
Catholic
I am choosing to not celebrate that with my children. Generally speaking, it allows dark thoughts to enter the child's mind. Just look at some of the macabre decorations that people put on their lawns and houses: i.e. bloody hands, cementary plots, etc.

And while one cannot ignore it entirely in the United States, that does not mean you have to indulge in it. There are thousands of Walmart stores, but that does not obligate you to shop there.
 
M

Maecenas

 
Banned
MajorStyles said:
I am choosing to not celebrate that with my children. Generally speaking, it allows dark thoughts to enter the child's mind. Just look at some of the macabre decorations that people put on their lawns and houses: i.e. bloody hands, cementary plots, etc.
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Is the thought/worry that Halloween allows dark thoughts to enter the child’s mind itself darker than the actual ones you’re trying to avoid?
 
MajorStyles

MajorStyles

Pelican
Catholic
Maecenas said:
Is the thought/worry that Halloween allows dark thoughts to enter the child’s mind itself darker than the actual ones you’re trying to avoid?
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I'm not sure what you mean. From my personal experience, as an adolescent, I used to watch a lot of horror movies during Halloween time: i.e. marathons on television. This allowed a lot of macabre thoughts to enter my mind, such as the Friday the 13th series. These things exist true, but there is no need to indulge in them.

Your mind is no different than your body to a certant extent: i.e. garbage in, garbage out.
 
M

Maecenas

 
Banned
MajorStyles said:
I'm not sure what you mean. From my personal experience, as an adolescent, I used to watch a lot of horror movies during Halloween time: i.e. marathons on television. This allowed a lot of macabre thoughts to enter my mind, such as the Friday the 13th series. These things exist true, but there is no need to indulge in them.

Your mind is no different than your body to a certant extent: i.e. garbage in, garbage out.
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What’s a better measure of health? Being healthy cause you only eat healthy food all the time? Or being healthy despite eating all sorts of food all the time? Is a person really stronger and more dynamic when they’re putting themselves on an artificial diet? Maybe instead of focusing so much on what “garbage” we put in, it would be more powerful to focus on how to take a ton of garbage in and still not even feel like garbage.
 
MajorStyles

MajorStyles

Pelican
Catholic
Maecenas said:
What’s a better measure of health? Being healthy cause you only eat healthy food all the time? Or being healthy despite eating all sorts of food all the time? Is a person really stronger and more dynamic when they’re putting themselves on an artificial diet? Maybe instead of focusing so much on what “garbage” we put in, it would be more powerful to focus on how to take a ton of garbage in and still not even feel like garbage.
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My head just exploded.
 
bucky

bucky

Hummingbird
Other Christian
My two cents is that Halloween is fine for kids if it just involves putting on a cute costume and some candy. I'd even be OK with cute versions of "scary" staples like witches, mummies, vampires, and skeletons, but if you're not, have your kid be a dinosaur or a princess or something. I also have a soft spot for Halloween because I see it as a great American tradition and think Americans need to uphold what traditions we have left.

On the other hand, most celebrations of Halloween for adults are really just an excuse to get drunk and attempt to get laid, so as Christians we'd probably be better off avoiding them.

Then again, I'm the guy who thinks yoga is OK because it feels OK and doesn't seem to prevent me from feeling the Holy Spirit when I read the Bible, and I can't even decide which church, if any, to join, so you might want to take my advice with a grain of salt.
 
Hermetic Seal

Hermetic Seal

Pelican
Orthodox
Gold Member
Just my two cents:

When I was a kid, we always went trick-or-treating but didn't really do anything else, aside from some light decorations. Our costumes were always non-"spiritual" things - I went as a scientist, race car driver, and The Riddler from Batman Forever (heh), but neither myself or my brothers ever dressed as, or did anything tangential, toward anything with any type of Satanic or occult connotations, like witches, demons, ghosts, etc. I think it is good to stay away from that, but trick-or-treating seems pretty harmless for the most part, and a good way to see your neighbors and others in the area with whom you might rarely interact.

None of us ever got interested in Satanism or new age mumbo jumbo, so it seems like it's worked out okay. I think some good parental guidance and discernment is probably what makes all the difference here. Those who are very reactionary and anti-Halloween seem more likely to create a backlash in their kids who feel like they're missing out and develop resentment.

I am interested in listening to Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick's podcast when I get a chance, to see what the differences are in the Orthodox view of contemporary Halloween celebration, since I'm pretty clueless on their views toward this subject.

halloween.jpg
 
The Resilient

The Resilient

Ostrich
Orthodox
kinjutsu said:
In my point of view, Halloween is for children. Let them celebrate it but dress them up in positive role models for the day. Don't allow them to have too much candy and you should be good.

If you dont have any kids, give out candy if you like but definitely don't participate in this craziness this year. The time is better spent building yourself or building your business up.
Click to expand...


I was thinking , since sugar is so bad, what kinda treats can we buy for kids ? I don't want to further obesity.
Got any ideas of natural things that kids will actually eat...?
 
MRAll134

MRAll134

Pelican
MovingForward2050 said:
I've always enjoyed a good costume party, nothing out of control, and for me that is the fun of Halloween. Or seeing a scary movie at a local park with friends, projected onto the side of a building. Activities like that... A movie marathon at home can be fun, too, with loved ones... Nothing too scary, especially considering the little ones.
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I like this response - sounds wholesome. I believe Halloween is one of the Top 3 Satanic holidays of the year, so it would be good to keep it low key. I am going to dodge the festivities and head into work, which will surely be total chaos. :)

I was thinking , since sugar is so bad, what kinda treats can we buy for kids ? I don't want to further obesity.
Got any ideas of natural things that kids will actually eat...?
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I have been putting some of those Sesame squares (used to be called Sesame Snaps when I was a kid) out for people who want something healthier. Some protein in those.
 
bucky

bucky

Hummingbird
Other Christian
pitbullowner said:
I was thinking , since sugar is so bad, what kinda treats can we buy for kids ? I don't want to further obesity.
Got any ideas of natural things that kids will actually eat...?
Click to expand...

I'd say just declare the whole thing a cheat day, as far as nutrition goes. Cheat holiday, if you will.
 
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