I know that there are all types of Christians in the world with a wide range of beliefs. I come from a preacher’s family – Dad was assigned his first church when I was really young. I have learned a lot about how even in a tiny church people can have huge differences in beliefs and convictions about certain topics. One of the topics is Halloween. I know Christians who want absolutely nothing to do with the holiday, those who participate a little bit, and those who are big into celebrating the holiday.
Honestly, I didn’t even know what ‘evil’ things exist on Halloween that make so many Christians not want to celebrate it. So, I researched a little bit and talked to my mom.
Halloween has a background of being a night of witchcraft and occult practices. Ouija boards have been used, people were recruited into witchcraft, and who knows what else. It was simply a day of evil, of celebrating evil, dark, things and worshiping Satan.
One article I came across on christiananswers.com, said this about whether or not Christians should attend alternative harvest parties:
“It assumes our children need something to take the place of Halloween, since they won’t be participating in the secular and pagan celebrations. It suggests our kids are missing out on something. And indeed they are, if we allow them to spend Halloween in celebration.”
Some verses mentioned in this article: Deuteronomy 18:9-14 – When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD; because of these same detestable practices the LORD your God will drive out those nations before you. You must be blameless before the LORD your God. (biblegateway.com)
Okay, the paragraph about the party, I do not agree with. Saying that Christian children are missing out if they DO celebrate Halloween is not right. What’s wrong with kids dressing up and getting some candy with family or friends? Yes, I know the one writing the article has focus on the pagan roots of the holiday, but you do not have to act like a pagan to celebrate. The verse above says to not imitate detestable ways and I am happy to say that my family doesn’t.
I am a Christian and my family attends and is getting involved in our new church. I wouldn’t call myself a really strict Christian but I’m not the most laid back on my beliefs either. But, even I look at Halloween as just a fun holiday for children. For my family it’s all about dressing up the kids in their costumes (Snow White and a Cowboy this year) and taking them around the neighborhood, church events, the mall, etc. to have some fun out with the family and get some yummy candy of course. We’re not going to take the day away from our children because some people take part in ‘evil’ things. Instead, we see it as a fun family time together and we will raise our children to know the right and wrong way to celebrate Halloween time.
Christians are supposed to use each encounter and daily activity to be a missionary and share their beliefs with people in their lives – close friends, family, or people who pass by you. One way to do this on Halloween is to light the night. Many years ago, when I was still in High School I read about doing that online. My family never really got into handing out candy but one year I did it on my own. The point to lighting the night is to turn on a lot of lights (gets rid of the ‘darkness’) and place some music to catch people’s attention if the lights alone won’t. I remember I played some children’s Bible songs as loud as I could and it actually did draw people down to my house. I then handed out some candy and either a tract or something I typed up myself. There are always ways to turn ‘evil’ things or events into a way to witness to others.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with allowing our children to dress up in their cute costumes and have fun with other kids and get special treats a few days in October. This of course is just what me and my family do and believe, as I mentioned before, I know there’s a wide range in Christian beliefs in the world. So I wonder, as a Christian, do you celebrate Halloween? Do you have rules and limitations to make it right? What is Halloween like at your home? Not a Christian? You can still feel free to leave your thoughts below as long as they are polite. 🙂
Simply put, taking the kids to get candy is fine. As a preacher, of whom, you are referring to (Dad) I have heard pros and cons. I don’t like the devilish part, but strictly speaking, taking your children out on the designated night to get candy is perfectly fine.
We are a Christian family and I personally have struggled with Halloween for a while. I have read books on where Halloween began and why it is was originally celebrated and it does make me not want to take part. I’m torn though, because I don’t see any harm in my children dressing up and getting some candy. My sister does have a harvest party for the kids where they do get to dress up and our family brings them way too much candy. If Halloween was only sweet little costumes, candy and pumpkin farms it would be great, but I hate how some people decorate their homes in a scary manner, the gory costumes and horror movies. I’m thankful my kids our happy with the harvest party and really don’t want anything else to do with Halloween. We also have friends in our church who would think we are too lenient and friends that would think we are too strict, but I have a clear conscience about the way we celebrate and what we teach our children.