This topic has been a huge debate in my family for years. I believe the way our society celebrates HALLOWEEN is dark and very contrary to the things we want to teach our children as Christian parents. This is a sensitive issue though as the big caveat comes (starting with the big 3 letter word), "But, Becky is a princess and lil Tommy is a fireman, they just want some candy. I say, Just look at the ghoulish decor and dark, evil decorations found at the "homes handing candy".
Do we really want our kids to be anywhere near an environment full of Witches, Skeletons, Ghosts, Goblins, Devils, Demons, Vampires, Promiscuously dressed women, Murderers, Evil Characters and Characters with blood, guts, and brains as part of their attire. Your child may dress up to be a lady bug, frog, a super hero like superman, or even someone like Moses. But look around while you're out walking the streets in the neighborhood. What about those people who don't care, or think the evil stuff is ok? Do you want your children to see that kind of stuff? It's just not right.
I am very passionate about this topic, it doesn't necessarily mean that I am right, it just means you're not going convince me otherwise. I still believe allowing children to dress up and attend a "Fall Festival is way better than "trick or treating".
I looked up some info on Halloween. What I found is below. (Remember wiki is written by people and can be opinionated, but I have found a lot of times it's very informative)
Christian attitudes towards Halloween are diverse. In the Anglican Church, some dioceses have chosen to emphasize the Christian traditions of All Saints’ Day, while some other Protestants celebrate the holiday as Reformation Day, a day to remember the Protestant Reformation. Father Gabriele Amorth, a Vatican-appointed exorcist in Rome, has said, "if English and American children like to dress up as witches and devils on one night of the year that is not a problem. If it is just a game, there is no harm in that. In more recent years, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston has organized a "Saint Fest" on the holiday. Similarly, many contemporary Protestant churches view Halloween as a fun event for children, holding events in their churches where children and their parents can dress up, play games, and get candy for free.
Many Christians ascribe no negative significance to Halloween, treating it as a purely secular holiday devoted to celebrating "imaginary spooks" and handing out candy. To these Christians, Halloween holds no threat to the spiritual lives of children: being taught about death and mortality, and the ways of the Celtic ancestors actually being a valuable life lesson and a part of many of their parishioners' heritage. In the Roman Catholic Church, Halloween is viewed as having a Christian connection, and Halloween celebrations are common in Catholic parochial schools throughout North America and in Ireland.
Some Christians feel concerned about Halloween, and reject the holiday because they feel it trivializes – or celebrates – paganism, the occult, or other practices and cultural phenomena deemed incompatible with their beliefs. A response among some fundamentalist and conservative evangelical churches in recent years has been the use of "Hell houses", themed pamphlets, or comic-style tracts such as those created by Jack T. Chick in order to make use of Halloween's popularity as an opportunity for evangelism. Some consider Halloween to be completely incompatible with the Christian faith believing it to have originated as a pagan "Festival of the Dead".
Just think, what would Jesus think if he saw you walking down the street in an evil and dark environment like I described above. Well guess what, He will see you.
No comments:
Post a Comment