Posted on 10/20/2005 11:09:48 AM PDT by Millee
An Ellettsville family whose home is decorated for Halloween contacted police after someone placed on its porch a flier that suggests Halloween praises the devil.
Dalene Gully told Indianapolis television station WRTV that she took offense to the flier, which was placed outside her home by the House of Prayer Church of Bloomington.
"I started reading it, and I was very, very upset by it. I found it very accusatory and very threatening," Gully said.
The church's pastor, Larry Mitchell, said the people who left the flier would have preferred to talk with Gully, but she wasn't there.
Mitchell said the church didn't intend to upset the Gully family, but rather tell people that Halloween isn't harmless fun.
"Halloween is not fantasy," Mitchell said. "We're training up our children, and obviously this lady was trained up in this. Halloween seems like it is taking just as much prominence as Christmas."
The Gully family filed a complaint with the Ellettsville Police Department. The incident also prompted the family to install an alarm system at the home, the station reported.
"This is my home, and I like Halloween. If I want to decorate my home, I have every right to decorate my home," Gully said.
Evangelist Ray Comfort made the point that a life without God is a life of paranoia. It would seem that he was correct in this case.
Leaving threatening letters on people's private property is not cool.
If someone wants to leave a flyer, they have every right to leave a flyer.
If they could pass a law against this stuff, the Jehovah's Witnesses would be shut down. Deal with it lady.
" If I want to decorate my home, I have every right to decorate my home," Gully said"
I guess I missed the part of the article where someone violated her right to decorate her home. I see the part where she wants someone charged with a crime for exercising their right to free expression though...
If the letter were actually threatening, you can bet your dupa they'd have quoted it. So we know that it wasn't threatening--the lady reading it merely "felt threatened". There's a big difference. She's exercising property rights; the pastor is exercising free-speach rights; only an idiot (and a reporter) could get together and construe that the two were somehow mutually exclusive.
Anyone, Christian or pagan, who can confuse the great American costume party on October 31 in which children dress up in mockery of the powers of evil (and just about anything else these days) with a pagan or demonic rite is sorely deluded.
It strikes me as particularly absurd for Christians, who in Our Lord have confidence against the wiles of real demons, to start or take offense at pantomime demons.
"Leaving threatening letters on people's private property is not cool."
Threatening? How is this threatening?
I think it was poor taste and judgment, but threatening seems to be a great exxageration.
sounds like someone doesn't agree.
If you do not want to decorate, you have that right. But when you start to tell others not to, you are on a slipperly slope; this kind of action which makes people afraid of evangelical christians. And I bet this pastor would be happy to have the government pass laws to limit such rights.
I must have missed the "threatening" part of the letter too. From what I read the flier simply expressed a viewpoint of Halloween. Next time someone hands me a PETA flyer or shows up at my door asking for donations to the Sierra Club I guess I can have them arrested for "threatening" me.
Is it "cool" to believe Halloween is bad? No, not in my opinion. But last time I checked there was nothing illegal about being uncool.
Threatening? I doubt it.
I will say this — the church sounds like it's filled with busybodies.
It must have been the Baptists, no the Baathist, I always confuse the two. My bad, go on.
"It strikes me as particularly absurd for Christians, who in Our Lord have confidence against the wiles of real demons, to start or take offense at pantomime demons."
Absurd yes, illegal no.
http://www.thehop-e.com/events.cfm
Where did it say the flyer was threatening?
It sounds like over reaction on both sides.
Halloween has been effectively co-opted as have a number of pagan traditions.. from Yule logs the dates of Christian holidays... a pretty good job,actually.
It's all Harry Potter's fault! (just kidding) :)
Trained up?
Most of our churches here have 'fall festivals' or 'trunk or treat' so that kids can participate in the fun without the fear of celebrating satan.
Unfortunately, I have to take the side of the woman, even though I am an evangelical Christian that has traveled the world preaching the Gospel. I'm really sick and tired of Christians pointing out evil, instead of just simpling displaying the LIGHT. Show the love of Jesus, and see people drawn to Him. But just curse the darkness, and find fruitless, pointless, nonsense as what this pastor and church did. I wish some of these Christians would act like Jesus, instead of judging the world. Judging the world isn't our job...
The article didn't say the letter was actually threatening, just that the woman found it so. It doesn't sound like the church actually threatened to send them to hell, just made them aware of their ultimate destination. ;-)
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