Hallowed or Harmful? - A Christian perspective on Halloween

Christian Broadcasting Network ^

[GeronL]

For those who do not participate in Halloween they should check their local churches. many of them have alternative activities set for hallowen night.

[nhoward14]

I know many Baptist churches around town are having "Fall Festivals".

[joyce11111]

I have never liked Halloween....NEVER...can't stand the goulishness (is that a word?) of it.

I say YUCK to Halloween.

[jocon307]

Yonif, what a great post! I'm amazed by this article, great find!

I am never into that scary stuff of Halloween, and, despite my fallen away Catholicism have generally gone to Mass on All Saints Day, for all my dear,departed, Catholic forebears.

And I'm very happy (again!) of my nice fall leaf "stickies" that I've decorated my windows with. Ok, I got some jack o'lanterns too, but they are jolly, not scary.

Yonif, you have just reminded me (like I needed reminding - didn't!) why I love FR so much. I feel like you posted this just for me. And I know you didn't, but, cosmically, you did. And you "knew" it when you did.

Happy Harvest-time all.

What else can I say? It's a very important time of year, even nowadays.

[WackyKat]

This article is quite factual in its history of Halloween and in its conclusion that the holiday is a pagan religious festival.
Of course, by the same logic, both Easter and Christmas should be deleted from the Christian calendar since those are also based on pagan religious festivals.

[GeronL]

They're still Halloween alternatives.

Liberalism is a Quagmire

[Princeliberty]

This is reformation day. The Churches should celebrate
reformation day.

[bcoffey]

"Of course, by the same logic, both Easter and Christmas should be deleted from the Christian calendar since those are also based on pagan religious festivals."

Not to mention St. Valentine's Day.. or even Sunday.

[foolscap]

Several ancient authors commented on the gory religious rites of the Druids

Since the Druids left no written records of their own and all comments concerning them where written by their enemies I take these reports with a large grain of salt.

[ladyinred]

Excellent articles Geron. You have the so called anti war crowd down.

[happydogdesign]

" And with the growth of witchcraft in the Middle Ages, additional symbols became associated with Halloween – black cats, witches, bats, and skulls."

Odd- during the Middle Ages, it was people calling themselves Christians who tortured, murdered, and stole from countless innocent victims whom they accused of witchcraft. These "Godly" folk were the most sadistic perverts, butchers, and fiends that ever plagued mankind, yet today, the superstitious fret about kids playing make believe and getting candy.
Disgraceful!

Documents of the Witch Craze.

The Salem Witch Trials

Secrets of the Dead: the Witches Curse

Myths, Monsters, and Devils

[GeronL]

Thanks. I'm just getting restarted to where I used to be.

[ladyinred]

Well you sure impressed me with your writings. I agree with you totally. Best of luck and let us all know when you write new ones.

[ChocChipCookie]

I HATE Halloween. I hate the darkness of it, and its' celebration of everything evil. My kids dress up in costumes and dress-up clothes year-round, and don't even get me started on the candy... We will never "celebrate" this day.

[Held_to_Ransom]

Not to mention St. Valentine's Day.. or even Sunday.

Well, if you're going for purism, you need to get rid of 'God' too by the same rationale. Don't forget Mother's day. It's just a commercial excuse to sell cards that most often takes the place of the day in the Church calender to celebrate motherhood.

By the way, once you take away the Christmas tree and the Easter egg, there still remain the days of the year on which Christ was born and died.

[GeekDejure]

What else can I say?

Hmmmm... howzabout "Gee, only 5 1/2 months till Rape Day" !!! (April 15th) ;-))

.

[WackyKat]

By the way, once you take away the Christmas tree and the Easter egg, there still remain the days of the year on which Christ was born and died.

No one is arguing against Jesus being born on one particular day and dying on another.

The question is, which days? You don't actually think Jesus was born on Dec 25 and died on the first Sunday on or after the first full moon after the Spring Equinox( a different day each year), do you?

[yevgenie]

This article is quite factual in its history of Halloween and in its conclusion that the holiday is a pagan religious festival. Of course, by the same logic, both Easter and Christmas should be deleted from the Christian calendar since those are also based on pagan religious festivals.

I agree with Christmas, but not Easter. I find it telling that my church (denomination), technically older than the Catholic church, has celebrated Easter for centuries but Christmas only in the last couple generations (after influence from the West).

[foolscap]

If Evangelical/Fundamentalist Christians chose not to observe Halloween that is their choice. They have every right to express their opinion. Alternative Harvest Festivals at their churches is a good idea but that also hearkens back to pagan beliefs. But we'll just ignore that because it's too logical and makes us uncomfortable

My objection to this mind set is that some form of Halloween has been practiced by almost every culture since the beginning of recorded time. Either the Druids sure did get around a lot or maybe there are other reasons this festival began. Halloween is no more evil than it was when I was a kid. If everyone who ever went trick or treating became a Satanist there would be no more Christian churches in existence.

I chalk this up to the unfortunate mind set of Evangelical/Fundamentalists who see Satan under every rock. It is easy to blame the devil for things instead of looking within one's self to see the evil that resides there. Frankly I feel that humans can come up with such evil all on their own that Satan must blush to see it. This is the same paranoia that says Harry Potter books are straight from the pit however it's ok for my kids to read Grimm's Fairy tales. I can't see much difference between the of two except Grimm's has been around a lot longer. Oh and what about the witch in CS Lewis's fiction. That's ok since it's a Christian allegory but frankly a witch, is a witch, is a witch. For many Christians there is a very selective view of what is and isn't Satanic which can be called nothing other than absurd.