Halloween

Status
Not open for further replies.
What, you know it is that type of season. You have halloween, thanksgiving, christmas...
 
Ah holidays I love, the best time of year beside my anniversary and birthday.

The one resource I know is wikipedia that might help a bit
 
I don't "celebrate" halloween either. My kids dress up in cute little costumes a visit the neighbors in a friendly folk celebration of kindness to children.

I don't know any pagans, and I am unsure of their practices. Since European folk religions died out centuries ago all we have left of them are the names of days of the week & a few folkways that are loosely based on the former practice. All "paganism" that we know today is no older then the 19th century & is no more accurate the JK Rowlings made up "witchcraft".
 
since i'm not pagan, i feel free to celebrate christmas.....you get more for less work than you do halloweening.
 
I don't think any of our holidays have any real meaning anymore. It's just an occasion to get off work or whatever and spend some time with family or friends.
 
When I have kids, we're not going to let them do Halloween..........but not because it's supposedly "pagan"........... it's because we don't want our kids to have candy or view it as a special treat........because we want them to be super healthy.

I'm not being facetious. I know, we're weird :p

That said, we'll probably let them dress up and carve pumpkins anyway.
 
since i'm not pagan, i feel free to celebrate christmas.....you get more for less work than you do halloweening.

Well, I technically celebrate Christmas, too, because my husband loves it and sees nothing wrong with it and I was made for him. But in my head I call it festivus and focus on snow, trees, baked goods, and presents and leave Jesus' birth out of it, though I obviously count God's grace and blessings on that day as any other. I'm kind of backwards...I know. It's like the Fourth of July or Halloween to me.
 
since i'm not pagan, i feel free to celebrate christmas.....you get more for less work than you do halloweening.

Well, I technically celebrate Christmas, too, because my husband loves it and sees nothing wrong with it and I was made for him. But in my head I call it festivus and focus on snow, trees, baked goods, and presents and leave Jesus' birth out of it, though I obviously count God's grace and blessings on that day as any other. I'm kind of backwards...I know. It's like the Fourth of July or Halloween to me.

Hey! Are we twins? :lol:

-----Added 10/9/2009 at 01:52:55 EST-----

When I have kids, we're not going to let them do Halloween..........but not because it's supposedly "pagan"........... it's because we don't want our kids to have candy or view it as a special treat........because we want them to be super healthy.

I'm not being facetious. I know, we're weird :p

That said, we'll probably let them dress up and carve pumpkins anyway.

Glad I wasn't your kid.....meany! :p
 
When I have kids, we're not going to let them do Halloween..........but not because it's supposedly "pagan"........... it's because we don't want our kids to have candy or view it as a special treat........because we want them to be super healthy.

I'm not being facetious. I know, we're weird :p

That said, we'll probably let them dress up and carve pumpkins anyway.

Ours are still young, but what we do is trick-or-treat and collect candy. They can have a couple pieces, and then my husband takes the rest to school to use as treats for his students and/or to eat as his stress levels determine : )
We don't keep much in the house at all. I think we'll always do it that way.
 
When I have kids, we're not going to let them do Halloween..........but not because it's supposedly "pagan"........... it's because we don't want our kids to have candy or view it as a special treat........because we want them to be super healthy.

I'm not being facetious. I know, we're weird :p

That said, we'll probably let them dress up and carve pumpkins anyway.

Ours are still young, but what we do is trick-or-treat and collect candy. They can have a couple pieces, and then my husband takes the rest to school to use as treats for his students and/or to eat as his stress levels determine : )
We don't keep much in the house at all. I think we'll always do it that way.

NOT YOU TOO!!! What is this world coming to?
 
When I have kids, we're not going to let them do Halloween..........but not because it's supposedly "pagan"........... it's because we don't want our kids to have candy or view it as a special treat........because we want them to be super healthy.

I'm not being facetious. I know, we're weird :p

That said, we'll probably let them dress up and carve pumpkins anyway.

Ours are still young, but what we do is trick-or-treat and collect candy. They can have a couple pieces, and then my husband takes the rest to school to use as treats for his students and/or to eat as his stress levels determine : )
We don't keep much in the house at all. I think we'll always do it that way.

NOT YOU TOO!!! What is this world coming to?

Who really needs a pillowcase full of candy?
 
When I have kids, we're not going to let them do Halloween..........but not because it's supposedly "pagan"........... it's because we don't want our kids to have candy or view it as a special treat........because we want them to be super healthy.

I'm not being facetious. I know, we're weird :p

That said, we'll probably let them dress up and carve pumpkins anyway.

Ours are still young, but what we do is trick-or-treat and collect candy. They can have a couple pieces, and then my husband takes the rest to school to use as treats for his students and/or to eat as his stress levels determine : )
We don't keep much in the house at all. I think we'll always do it that way.

Ahh, well... maybe I'll run this by my husband, that's kinda good idea.

Lol anything that I say like this should be taken with a grain of salt because I don't have any kids yet and all my preconceptions of parenting are going to be rocked once I start.
 
The candy part of it grosses me out, so by no means will my children be eating loads of candy around Halloween. But I intend to enjoy many of the festivities with our kids, like carving pumpkins and dressing up. I view it as the rare time in our day when neighbors actually get out in the neighborhood and meet one another. I'm all for that.

We haven't celebrated any Halloweens yet with our kids. Our oldest child is about to turn 3, so it just hit me that we're approaching the age where she would really enjoy it. Maybe this year, but if not, the next.
 
Ours are still young, but what we do is trick-or-treat and collect candy. They can have a couple pieces, and then my husband takes the rest to school to use as treats for his students and/or to eat as his stress levels determine : )
We don't keep much in the house at all. I think we'll always do it that way.

NOT YOU TOO!!! What is this world coming to?

Who really needs a pillowcase full of candy?

ME!!!!!
 
The original observance of Halloween was indeed wicked. What we generally have in America and in my home is not that same observance though. We aren't trying to appease the spirits or protect our people from sickness or damaged crops. It's just a time to enjoy one another with traditions of eating certain kinds of foods, getting candy from neighbors, and dressing up the house in certain colors. That's hardly evil.

On the other hand, in trying to be charitable to both sides, there certainly are those who might have a wrong view of what my family means by Halloween. Consider Yoga and Hindus. To most people Yoga is just a certain type of exercise. People like it for what it is on a basic, physical level. However, to certain Hindus in particular it is a deeply spiritual practice. Thus, Yoga is completely different in its intentions and practice depending on the individual. So when I say we celebrate Halloween, there is the danger of someone thinking I observe it in an unlawful way and it may cause them to stumble because we mean different things by "Halloween." For this reason I would rather say that I celebrate Reformation Day and enjoy various traditions for the fall, which just so happen to include several lawful practices that people might understandably connect to Halloween, such as carving pumpkins.
When in conversation someone brings up the similarities, I make it very clear that we do not celebrate death or condone trying to cause ourselves or others fear by haunted houses or "scary" movies, and we don't put up skeletons, spider webs, or other silly things like them. We recognize that if we celebrated Halloween as some do, we would be sinning. Fortunately, we don't.
 
NOT YOU TOO!!! What is this world coming to?

:lol:

My husband is really into the whole not-eating-processed foods thing and he converted me, for starters. Also I was raised to think that food=love and it was something talked about and loved and praised way too much. I guess I am reacting strongly to that and trying to stop it once and for all in the next generation! We'll see how it goes...
 
The candy part of it grosses me out, so by no means will my children be eating loads of candy around Halloween. But I intend to enjoy many of the festivities with our kids, like carving pumpkins and dressing up. I view it as the rare time in our day when neighbors actually get out in the neighborhood and meet one another. I'm all for that.

We haven't celebrated any Halloweens yet with our kids. Our oldest child is about to turn 3, so it just hit me that we're approaching the age where she would really enjoy it. Maybe this year, but if not, the next.

We take our kids to the mall to trick-or-treat there. That way if they need the stroller there are no stairs, plus you can *sort of* assume that the candy is safer since stores are giving it away and traceable. When they are older we will do the neighborhood thing, but for now it is just long enough/safe enough for our family.

-----Added 10/9/2009 at 02:09:25 EST-----

NOT YOU TOO!!! What is this world coming to?

Who really needs a pillowcase full of candy?

ME!!!!!

You need to borrow some toddlers on Oct. 31, then!
 
NOT YOU TOO!!! What is this world coming to?

:lol:

My husband is really into the whole not-eating-processed foods thing and he converted me, for starters. Also I was raised to think that food=love and it was something talked about and loved and praised way too much. I guess I am reacting strongly to that and trying to stop it once and for all in the next generation! We'll see how it goes...

I'm all about helping a sista out! Send all your chocolate my way....
 
The responses on this thread really surprise me. All the elements of Halloween celebrations represent Satanic beliefs. I don't see any way to perpetuate these practices with a sincere rationalization that doing so brings glory to God (in my opinion, the Roman Catholics have failed at this).

I believe it's a very poor Christian witness to celebrate sinful Halloween traditions.
 
The responses on this thread really surprise me. All the elements of Halloween celebrations represent Satanic beliefs. I don't see any way to perpetuate these practices with a sincere rationalization that doing so brings glory to God (in my opinion, the Roman Catholics have failed at this).

I believe it's a very poor Christian witness to celebrate sinful Halloween traditions.

That's what they said about eating meat that had been sacrificed to Zeus(or whoever it was). Read Romans 14.

An association with something evil is not sufficient to render something universally evil; only, as Paul says, "to him [who makes the association] it is unclean."

Now, we -do- need to be considerate about our brothers & sisters and not try to encourage them to go against their conscience in this area.

On another note, the days immediately following Halloween and Christmas(and Easter) are the times of year I stock up all my secret nooks and crannies with candy for the rest of the year. I ran out halfway through summer last time; I'll have to get more. :)
 
Halloween derives from druidic samhain observances that involved human sacrifice to appease gods at the change of the seasons. Over time, the holiday morphed into an annual date on which pagans believed spirits of the dead walked the earth. Gourds were carved grotesquely to resemble skulls and illuminated from within to ward off these spirits. Disguises/costumes were worn either to hide from these spirits or to impersonate pagan dieties. Trick-or-treating derives from appeasement offerings to demons and their representative druid priests.
 
Halloween derives from druidic samhain observances that involved human sacrifice to appease gods at the change of the seasons. Over time, the holiday morphed into an annual date on which pagans believed spirits of the dead walked the earth. Gourds were carved grotesquely to resemble skulls and illuminated from within to ward off these spirits. Disguises/costumes were worn either to hide from these spirits or to impersonate pagan dieties. Trick-or-treating derives from appeasement offerings to demons and their representative druid priests.

I don't think you're dealing with others' counters to what you are saying. What do you say in response to their observations?
 
I wonder how many little kids consider the appeasement offerings to demons when they go to their neighbor's house for a couple of Snickers bars.


You are right about the origins of Halloween. It is not the same now however. How many people think of pagan gods when they say Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or Sunday? Other than a few folks, the association with past names is so stretched to be virtually nonexistent. The same can be said about Halloween.
 
I agree it is a matter of conscience. I also understand most holiday traditions, including yule logs, christmas trees, etc. derive from pagan celebrations. People can argue it's hypocritical of me to celebrate Christmas, but shun Halloween.

Personally, I see Christmas as glorifing Christ and a witnessing oppurtunity to share the gospel. Halloween is obviously also a Christian witnessing opportunity, but I think joining in the traditions which are not tied to anything Godly gives an appearance of legitimacy to and a tacit approval of paganism. Halloween provides more of a witnessing opportunity for Satanists to generate interest in the occult.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top