All Saint's Day/ Halloween/ All Hallow's Eve

[SallyNow]

I'm just wondering why some fundementalist Christians are so against Halloween. It is a Catholic tradition and is celebrated by many other Christian denominations. So why it is despised/disliked/frowned upon?

Here are two very good links on the history of Halloween:

All Saint's Day (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01315a.htm)

Taking back Halloween (http://www.catholic.com/thisrock/1998/9809fea2.asp)

Reliable History of Halloween (http://www.beliefnet.com/story/47/story_4771_1.html)

I really am here to get some open and honest answers, and also reactions to the links I have provided that discuss how Halloween can be a prayerful, fun time for candy, get-togethers, and whimsical costumes.

[twistedsketch]

Halloween is first and foremost about costumes and candy, and that's why kids will always love it. We always celebrated Halloween this way, and it never became a stumbling block to us. It's the witches that do the things of real concern.

[MaidforHim]

I am against celebrating halloween because I don't believe it glorifies Christ. I don't think he would participate in it.

I'm very familiar with the importance of this holiday to wiccans, witches and other pagan religions. It is one of their holy days, there for I do not want to promote it or participate in it.

Some people are under the impression that wicca or witchcraft are faerytale religions, or religions of days gone by, but there not. They are much more common than you might think. It's a connection I don't want in my life.

I think It's a decision we all need to make for ouselves, hopefully with the guidance of the Holy Spirit. WWJD?

For me these descriptions are a little closer to what I know of halloween.

Happy Halloween? (http://www.raidersnewsnetwork.com/full.php?news=124)
On 31 October, spooky beings and superheroes, cartoon characters and rubberized celebrities will line the streets and mall hallways of America anticipating sugary rewards. Compelled by shouts of "TRICK OR TREAT," children of all ages will tote receptacles of various size and weight harboring the result of the nights hunt. It's called Halloween, and while for most it is a harmless annual activity, its roots run deep in ancient paganism.

Halloween Repackaging Old Paganism In America? (http://www.raidersnewsnetwork.com/full.php?news=189)
There are presently about 970,000 Internet sites on paganism and 50,000 on Halloween. It has been observed that the next generation of children in America will be inclined to the occult due to the current proselytizing of children into occultism through such as the Internet and the Harry Potter series on witchcraft in American schools.

[EdmundBlackadderTheThird]

Actually anyone serious about paganism doesn't "celebrate" halloween as a holy day. That's all the media. Of course "Wal-Mart witches" think it's a special day but the actual date means nothing at all. The celebration that time of the year is the first day of winter and is not the same date every year. Halloween is Catholic and therefore Christian festival which was implemented to overshadow the pagan celebrations taking place at that time of the year. There is nothing at all evil about the day.

As for what Christ would or wouldn't do all we need do is look at who he hung out with while on earth. I have a feeling he wouldn't be hanging out with most of us. He seemingly preferred whores, tax collectors, and the dregs of society. Most of us around here are way to much like the Pharisees for his tastes. It makes me sad to be honest to see my fellow fundies abhoring a day for any reason. Each day is what you make it. My kids are gonna get free candy and hand out tracts and have a lot of fun.

[arunma]

I'm just wondering why some fundementalist Christians are so against Halloween. It is a Catholic tradition and is celebrated by many other Christian denominations. So why it is despised/disliked/frowned upon?

Here are two very good links on the history of Halloween:

All Saint's Day (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01315a.htm)

Taking back Halloween (http://www.catholic.com/thisrock/1998/9809fea2.asp)

Reliable History of Halloween (http://www.beliefnet.com/story/47/story_4771_1.html)

I really am here to get some open and honest answers, and also reactions to the links I have provided that discuss how Halloween can be a prayerful, fun time for candy, get-togethers, and whimsical costumes.

Well I'm not a fundamentalist, but I happen to believe in all the same things as them (that's another story). Anyway, I have no problem with Halloween. If it bothers a Christian's conscience, then he probably shouldn't celebrate it. But it doesn't seem to me to be an intrinsically ungodly holiday. As you have said, it has distinctively Christian roots.

[SallyNow]

Thanks for your answers :wave:

I know I can not debate here, but I would like to say that I have known many wiccans. None of them "celebrated" Halloween. Why? Because they saw it as an insult, as All Hallow's Eve, and because Halloween is not a wiccan holiday at all. Sure, some did have fun scaring people on Halloween, using people's fears against them... but it had nothing to with Halloween being a wiccan holiday. It had to do with misusing people's fears, misusing the myths people have learned from movies and scary stories.

I know others have had other experiences, but this has been my experience. I hope you don't mind me sharing it. :sorry:

[arunma]

Thanks for your answers :wave:

I know I can not debate here, but I would like to say that I have known many wiccans. None of them "celebrated" Halloween. Why? Because they saw it as an insult, as All Hallow's Eve, and because Halloween is not a wiccan holiday at all. Sure, some did have fun scaring people on Halloween, using people's fears against them... but it had nothing to with Halloween being a wiccan holiday. It had to do with misusing people's fears, misusing the myths people have learned from movies and scary stories.

I know others have had other experiences, but this has been my experience. I hope you don't mind me sharing it. :sorry:

Not surprising. I consider Wicca to be more of a joke than a religion. Indeed it seems to have been invented with the explicit purpose of annoying Christians. It's logical that they would do whatever they can to "scare" Christians.

[SallyNow]

Not surprising. I consider Wicca to be more of a joke than a religion. Indeed it seems to have been invented with the explicit purpose of annoying Christians. It's logical that they would do whatever they can to "scare" Christians.

Oh my! I did not mean to say bad things about all wiccans; simply that many of the wiccans I have know have used Halloween as an excuse to do scary pranks, just as some Christian teenagers and young adults use it as an excuse to light illegal fireworks, turn over garbage cans, tiolet paper people's houses, throw pumpkins at people's houses in the middle of the night, etc.

[MaidforHim]

Wow some interesting comments. If the wiccans I knew weren't so touchy about it I'd ask them again to clarify ;) However, the witches that were good friends of a family member of mine did have certain rights on this night. That I remember from childhood.

Police officers also have some interesting stories particularly if they are form areas where there are large satanic groups. Or so I was told by one of their wives.

I think it goes back to ... we're all convicted differently. It's best to let the Holy Spirit guide the individual on whether it's right for them or not. Too me it's wrong.

[arunma]

Oh my! I did not mean to say bad things about all wiccans; simply that many of the wiccans I have know have used Halloween as an excuse to do scary pranks, just as some Christian teenagers and young adults use it as an excuse to light illegal fireworks, turn over garbage cans, tiolet paper people's houses, throw pumpkins at people's houses in the middle of the night, etc.

I understand that you didn't mean to say anything bad about Wicca. But I certainly did. I can have a basic level of respect for any religion that has some sort of a tradition, and that has a serious doctrine and theology. And this is precisely why I view Wicca as a joke rather than a religion. Someone made it up within the last one hundred years. My guess is that this person did so to give teenaged children of Christian parents another way to rebel. Their so-called rituals and rites have no basis in ancient paganism, but were invented specifically to put Christians on edge. It therefore seems to me that Wicca is better classified as a farce than a genuine religion.