Disclaimer: These are my own thoughts, opinions and convictions. Please know that because these convictions are very personal, I do not hold others to them. If you choose to celebrate Halloween, that is your personal right. I do not condemn you nor judge you. I, however, do not feel comfortable with the celebration of Halloween. The purpose of this blog entry is merely to explain my reasons for this.
It is that time of year when Halloween decorations are littering the stores. Bleh. Since I am not a fan of Halloween, or the combination of orange and black, this is not a season I get excited about. Don't get me wrong, I rather enjoy fall. I love pumpkin muffins, fall soups, decorating my home for fall, more temperate weather and apple cider. Halloween, however, I could do without. This morning my sweet little boy was terrified by a rather disgusting decoration on display at our local Michaels. The item was a life-sized skeleton that was made to look quite bloody and garish. Why anyone would want to have such an item in their home is beyond my comprehension. Jackson's comment was, "That thing makes God sad. I do not like that naughty thing!"
Several years ago I taught a student whose family was from Haiti. He was greatly disturbed by the American fascination with Halloween. He told me about the very dangerous side of Halloween and the various satanic rituals and rites that were part of the night. This only served to bolster my feelings about Halloween. It also made me really give serious thought regarding my own reluctance to celebrate Halloween.
Halloween centers around things that are purposely disturbing, garish and fearful. Please note that I am not speaking merely of carved pumpkins or benign costumes, I am speaking of the purposeful display of garish statues and figures whose sole purpose is to offend and disgust. The Bible tells us to dwell on whatever is pure and holy, not grotesque and offensive.
Halloween celebrates superstition, for which I have no tolerance. Superstitions undermine the sovereignty of God. I have actually known people who are willing to completely disturb their life in order to serve their superstitions. I'm not just speaking of silly traditions (for example- ball players who wear the same, unwashed, socks all season. Gross, but not necessarily a superstition.) I speak of putting faith and giving credence to superstitions that affect significant behavior.
Halloween celebrates practices that I find to be evil. In my estimation, Halloween draws much attention to things of the Zodiac (horoscopes), palm reading, tarot reading and seances. The Bible is very, very clear that we are not to dabble in such things. Because I choose to believe the Bible as true, I also choose to believe these things are of no value to a Christian.
It seems that Halloween has taken a turn from when I was a child. My mom has substantiated this observation. It is also my observation that society is becoming increasingly nebulous. In other words, I think society, in the name of tolerance, is taking a turn toward standing for nothing and accepting all manner of behaviors. We don't want to offend anyone and therefore, we accept anything whether it is good or bad. Certainly it is not my desire to offend anyone, but it is my desire to be clear in my beliefs. Because it is also my God-given duty to raise my child in the admonition of the Lord, I must live my life with clarity and authenticity. If this means that we do not celebrate a certain holiday, then that is what it means.
Love Languages: Four Ways We Should Not be Speaking
8 months ago
Very well put Lisa. It is refreshing to know that we are not the only ones who feel this way and do not let our children celebrate Halloween. It is nice that Tessa's birthday is the same day as Jackson's because we can just have a dress up party if we want to dress our girls up in cute little costumes. :)
ReplyDeleteThe other day we were in Wal-mart and my little Lydia, as we turned a corner, screamed, literally, at one of the goblin decorations. It makes me not even want to go to those stores with the girls. I am sure I told you this before, but our girls listen to and watch Steve Green's Hide Em In Your Heart DVD's. There is a song on there about a broken spirit dries up the bones, and they show a skeleton, like you would see in a hospital, so whenever Lydia sees a skeleton, like the halloween decorations, she says "Look mom, a broken spirit". How true she is and how much the world needs to realize that. Thanks again for your post. I love keeping up with my friends via their blogs.
I don't find Halloween something to be "celebrated". We didn't do Halloween when the kids were little. My kids are all now old enough to make their own decisions about whether or not they want to participate (and to what extent), but celebrate? Uh, no.
ReplyDeleteDressing up in costumes and begging for candy doesn't bother me on principle. It's fun to dress up. It's fun to have a tradition like that. When I was a kid, that was really all Halloween was to us. But like you've noted, it's become much darker since then. Our culture's fascination with the occult, the grotesque, violence, and death is more than a little disturbing to me. I don't judge others who decide to participate, but as for me and my house...
Well said Lisa! I'm guessing there are more people than you realize out there who feel the same as you do. Thanks for letting the Spirit guide your words and for blessing my day.
ReplyDelete