This blog is no longer being updated. Please join me over on Missional Journeyman. -- Adam Gonnerman

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

What's So Bad About Halloween?


For years I've had one dream costume in mind, one character I'd love to portray on Halloween: The Great Pumpkin (I wrote about this last year too). Unless I'm mistaken, the idea for this Halloween costume came to me while I was in Brazil. There, Halloween is still a foreign holiday celebrated only at parties and with no tradition of Trick-or-Treating. Almost always it is associated with images of death, gloom and the occult. It wasn't easy to explain to people there that in the United States an adult or child can dress up as a princess, a robot, a ballet dancer or some other innocuous character without anyone thinking it odd or inappropriate. For many it's a time of fantasy, not necessarily darkness.

When I was growing up my elementary school had an annual Halloween party. Local ladies were brought in to judge the costumes in the afternoon, so we had a fun half-day of school. My mother always complained that the judges - ladies who were children during the Great Depression - always chose the kids dressed as hobos, despite whatever elaborate homemade outfit some other parent had made for their kids. I think she was right. Anyway, the two years I most remember were when I went as a spaceman, and then as a wizard. My oldest brother had a certain genius for making excellent costumes from ordinary items. For example, the spaceman outfit came with a ray-gun made from a mop handle and a red metal clamp. All my classmates thought it was the best part of my outfit.

Sure, this is the season when Wiccans celebrate Samhain (other neo-pagan groups have other festivals either earlier or later in this season). It doesn't bother me that Satanic groups (described by most neo-pagans as a subset or branch of Christianity rather than true paganism) may be meeting in cemeteries or elsewhere for Black Masses, so long as no crimes are being committed. I'm not phased if a Wiccan at home or with her/his coven practices special ceremonies on or around Halloween. None of that has anything to do with what I see in this holiday, or what I teach my family or promote in my church. Above all, I do not believe the true and living God is threatened by any of these practices.

When I dressed up as a child for Halloween, I was captivated by the fantasy, and as I have written recently, the fantasy for me served to provide a glimpse of the divine behind creation. Though I respect parents who decide not to allow their children to participate in Halloween activities due to issues of conscience, that's not a decision I feel comfortable making for my children. I would hate to deprive them of something of the mystery and "magic" of childhood, something that could well provide a step into trusting the Creator. For the same reason I am saddened by "Autumn Festivals" or "Harvest Festivals" put on by churches wherein children are discouraged from wearing costumes, or else are told to dress as biblical characters (how can you tell the prophet Isaiah from Paul the apostle?). Zombies and occult figures may reasonably be prohibited from such church festivities, but why not allow a fairy princess, robot or even the Great Pumpkin?

Linus sat in that pumpkin patch, year after year, going without candy and fun in the hope of meeting his private mythical hero. It seems to me that perhaps Linus had a better grasp of things than most of us. He denied the seen in favor of the unseen. By faith, however misplaced, he sought someone just behind the scenes, perhaps even the One who made the Reality behind the fantasy.

What's so bad about Halloween? Not much, when I really think about it.

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Read All The October Synchrobloggers!

The Christians and the Pagans Meet for Samhain at Phil Wyman's Square No More


Our Own Private Zombie: Death and the Spirit of Fear by Lainie Petersen

Julie Clawson at One HandClapping

John Morehead at JohnMorehead's Musings

Vampire Protection by Sonja Andrews

What's So Bad About Halloween? at Igneous Quill

H-A-double-L-O-double-U-double-E-N Erin Word

Halloween....why all the madness? by Reba Baskett

Steve Hayes at Notes from the Underground

KW Leslie at The Evening ofKent

Hallmark Halloween by John Smulo

Mike Bursell at Mike's Musings

Sam Norton at Elizaphanian

Removing Christendom from Halloween at On Earth as in Heaven

Vampires or Leeches: A conversation about making the Day of the Dead meaningful by David Fisher

Encountering hallow-tide creatively by Sally Coleman

Kay at Chaotic Spirit

Apples and Razorblades at Johnny Beloved

Steve Hayes at Notes from the Underground

Fall Festivals and Scary Masks at The Assembling of the Church

Why Christians don't like Zombies at Hollow Again

Peering through the negatives of mission Paul Walker

Sea Raven at GaiaRising

Halloween: My experiences by Tim Victor's Musings

Making Space for Halloween by Nic Paton
Posted by Adam Gonnerman at 10/23/2007 10:45:00 PM
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22 comments:

  1. Above all, I do not believe the true and living God is threatened by any of these practices.

    Personally, I'm grateful to hear you say this. So often, I Christians seem to think God is threatened by such practices. The level of fear an alarm has always left me scratching my head.

    I enjoyed your entire post, but that one sentence really touched me.
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  2. I, myself, have gone back and forth on this issue. When I first became a Christian I was told by a Christian leader that Halloween was "bad", so we deprived our children for a few years of the simple joy of trick or treating or participating in a party somewhere.

    Later, when I was a little more mature in my faith, I did what I should have done in the first place - my own research into the matter.

    I know you probably know this, but I discovered, to my suprise, that Halloween, as we celebrate it today with food and costumes actually has CHRISTIAN origins. The early church, as they have done with other "holy" days, such as Christmas, chose Novemeber first as "All hallowed Day" or "All Saints day" - a celebration that was intended to lure pagans away from their own celebrations that day (exactly what, I don't recall).

    The day before came to be known as "All hallows eve" and thus "hallows eve" and slang-ified into "Halloween". The wearing of costumes and sharing food was claimed to keep the "bad spirits" away so that "All Saints day" would be a fully holy day.

    At least that's what's I've pieced together from many conflicting accounts.

    Anyway, today I tell my kids "go for it!" Now, trick or treating can be a dangerous thing in neighborhoods where you don't know people really well, so we opt for church and Boys and Girls club and Library events. As far as costumes, Harry Potter is really popular at our house right now...

    Though the Great Pumpkin would be AWESOME. Anna's got this big baby bump right now, maybe we should just paint it orange.....
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  3. just a note about zombies though: they shouldn't be connected with the occult since they are turned by a disease not magic. just read about it in The Zombie Survival Guide. thought you should know. seriously though great post. thanks.
    -dan
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  4. "I would hate to deprive them of something of the mystery and "magic" of childhood"

    I wholeheartedly agree... nothing will end up alienating a child from G-d like the combination of fear and lack of imagination.
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  5. Dan,

    Regarding the origin of zombies, their origins have most recently been attributed to an infection (as in Resident Evil and implied, at least, in the remake of Dawn of the Dead). There ARE references historically to zombies being created by "voodoo" or magic. Also, in fantasy literature they are almost always created by wizardry of some dark variety.

    I've posted before on zombies. Search for "Head Full of Zombies" on my blog and you'll see. It's a pretty brief post. I may elaborate in the future.
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  6. Allen,

    Thanks for posting. I really never was too impressed by the "cleaned up" party Sunrise in Farmington put on, though the kids seemed to have fun anyway. I took my kids trick-or-treating before we went to the church.

    Some people in the church apparently didn't care much for a celebration coinciding with Halloween. I respect that, but disagree. Also, my position on this and a number of issues has changed a lot in the past couple of years.

    Gees I'm glad I'm not on a church's full-time payroll anymore!
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  7. Jarred,

    For me the key is that the God in whom I trust is not an idol. He doesn't need me to keep Him from tottering or defend Him from attack. I need Him, not vice versa.
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  8. Nic,

    Thanks for posting. In an additional note, my wife and I don't insist that Santa is "real." My kids are told to wait for Santa, and often in the same breath are told that I am Santa. They don't seem to be missing anything. The mystery and joy can be had without any lies.
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  9. i hate to drag this zombie thing out but i must. it is true that zombies historically were thought to have been made by magic and it has not been exposed until recently that it is entirely biological, but we are not here to compare stories. we are here to discuss truth. of course in older things and folklore they were caused by magic because noone understood what caused the change. that was before modern scientific discoveries. people used to blame thunder on zues and waves on poseidon. before they knew. now we know about thunder, waves, and zombies.

    ***i sincerely hope none of this is taken at all seriously
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  10. Dan,

    Not taken seriously at all...though you had me a bit concerned there for a moment....
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  11. Interesting post- I too agree that these practices do not threaten God in any way- how could they, too often we allow fear to cast out perfect love :-)
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  12. You'll be interested to know that Sunrise no longer does the Halloween thing. We convinced the leadership that it was a pointless excercise especially when it got to the point where he had to ask people from other churches to run it because our people didn't want to do it (and the only kids in our church were mine.) So to keep it going we not only brought in people from other churches to run it, but kids from other churches to participate in it. The live nativity has become the same way, but that's a "sacred cow" that we can't get sacrificed.

    But since we just moved, and haven't gotten to know our neighbors, we're opting for either the library or maybe doing our own thing at home. The way things are going we might be spending the night at the hospital!
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  13. Sally,

    Of course I don't endorse any neo-pagan or other practices, but at the same time feel no threat to myself as God Himself is not threatened. If He were a tottering idol I might need to reach out a hand to stabilize Him. Since He's not....

    Allen,

    Regarding Sunrise, most of this discussion could probably be moved to e-mail, as it isn't of general interest to other readers (though of course I'm interested). The Fall Harvest party was easier to axe because there were a few members who weren't thrilled about it. I don't rejoice in what is happening to Sunrise, although it was easily predicted and on many parts well-deserved. I wished over a year ago that it would just disband and sell the property to another congregation, letting everyone get on with their lives.
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  14. My apologies to the other comment readers for the tangent I straggled off onto. I have a tendency to shoot my mouth off.

    My point was that as a Christian I used to think Halloween was "evil", but then I wised up. I have no problem with trick-or-treating or so-called "secular" parties. Though this year, since we don't know our new neighbors yet, we will be opting for community celebrations or even something at home.

    Also, some make an issue out of costume choices. Personally, I don't care if the kids choose to be make-believe witches or characters from Harry Potter or skeletons or anything (for my older kids it does need to cover the right amount of skin!) It's all just good fun and the bible does say...

    Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (James 4:7b)

    What better way to resist than to ignore the "dark side" that he's tried to put into this fun day and just go have fun?
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  15. Great post. What makes it even better is the respect you show for people who are convicted otherwise, because that is how we should live. One may eat; the other may not, but it shouldn't be a point of judgment or division between the two.
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  16. That's awesome.
    I love the Great Pumpkin.
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  17. We don't celebrate Halloween
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  18. A christian who has been set free indeed should not join in wordly or pagan celebrations. You should really do a thorough search on this evil holiday that has been disguised as fun using kids as the centerpiece of it's current existance. Christians who participate in this are making excuses to maintain somewhat wordly. It has nothing to do with God being threatened but with being living testimonies as to the freedom we have gained in Christ. Let's stop giving the devil greater footholds than what he already has. We wonder why unbelievers don't want anything to do with God, but one reason is because they don't see an example in Christians. Don't ruin someone else's opportunity to be blessed.
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  19. anonymous,

    Thank you for having the courage to speak up, questioning my faith and that of others who participate in holidays of which you disapprove.

    By the way, is "anonymous" your first or last name?
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  20. Yes, and thanks for not citing any resources for us to do the "thorough search" you called us to (which I did, as mentioned in the second post in this thread).

    So, Merry Christmas (or, since that has pagan origins as well, should I not say that?)
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  21. my question would be which of you have seen a satanist celebrate christmas or easter? they dont because they are more devoted than some christians. you are in the world not of it and you should be set apart from it especially on a day where animals and even people are sacrificed. To say that whatever other people are doing that day doesnt matter is a serious matter of ethics. could you see Jesus at a halloween party, I do not think so and he is IN us if we are christians. But to each his own we all including myself will answer for our actions. Blessings
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  22. Jesse,

    Thank you for commenting on such an old post. I'm glad it still gets some attention.

    To begin, Halloween isn't a satanic holiday. It's the day before All Souls and All Saints, both Christian holy days. Thus "All Hallows Eve."

    Christmas and Easter both have very strong pagan roots. I'm surprised you didn't note that.

    And yes, depending on the nature of the party, I can see Jesus at a Halloween festival.

    Thanks again for visiting.
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