Tuesday, October 25, 2011

I'm soooo going there....

Okay so maybe the crisp fall air is making me fiesty, but I'm bringing up a lttle bit of a controversial topic today! Ready?

Let's discuss...if you are a Christian, do you celebrate Halloween in any form? Why or why not?

(And by celebrate, I simply mean participate in any form such as house decorations, church carnivals, costumes for you or your kids, candy from the stores, trick or treating, etc. - not hunching around a Ouiji board or lighting candles for a seance. ::wink:: )

Here's my stand on it. I respect those who boycott Halloween completely. That's a valid option and a valid point. I grew up in a pretty strict Baptist home, with a lot of traditional rules, but we always got to wear costumes and go trick or treating in my grandma's neighborhood and at the church carnivals. Looking back on my childhood, I never felt afraid of Halloween or intimidated. I just loved getting to wear a Minnie Mouse costume and get lots of candy. That's all it meant to me. My mom decorated our house for Fall, not for Halloween, so the connotation there was very much just "Halloween is a fun night in October that comes whenever mom starts putting out candy pumpkins and gold leaf centerpieces" ;)

I pretty much continue that tradition in my home now that I'm a mom. My daughter is three and I dress her up every year and take her to the church carnival. She's been a Tootsie Roll, an LSU cheerleader, and a pirate. This year she'll be Rapunzel from Tangled :) There's not a lot of safe places to trick or treat in my city anymore, and now most people gravitate now to the carnivals anyway because they are safe, really fun with lots of games and cheap food for dinner, and contained. And like my mom, I decorate for Autumn. I'm not into hanging ghosts or cobwebs all around. I don't LIKE to be scared and I don't like to put images in my home that give that vibe. And I won't let my daughter ever wear a costume that is hoochy, gross, or scary. To me, costumes should be fun and clean and just a means to play "dress up".

I guess the reason for me spiritually that I don't boycott Halloween is because I feel like personally, that's letting the devil win. He's got a handle on this holiday in many lives, to be sure, but I don't want to cower in my house and pretend like it's not happening and wait for it to go away. I want to get out there in my spiritual armour and witness at a church carnival that is bringing in people from the street who might not have ever set foot in a church before, and show them the love of Christ.

Not to be disrespectful or judgmental of those Christians who do believe that. It's a personal conviction and we all have to follow what God puts on OUR hearts.

What do you do / not do and why?

3 comments:

Tonya said...

Thats the same way I grew up with Halloween! Grew up strict Baptist & we celebrated more dressing up and candy. That's what I think of it too, nothing more than fun to dress up.

I've known a lot of people that have different feelings towards it and do different boycotting things.  Honestly, if I were a little kid today I think I'd feel sad if I wasn't able to dress up or have candy ya know? That's where the importance of teaching your children strong beliefs becomes important so they can see the difference

At the church I go to they actually have two activities for Halloween.
The first "neowellah" where they decorate the church's gym in a Bible story and the workers dress up as the characters and the kids go around and play game as well as learning the Bible story. 
After that they have "trunk or treat" where church members lines up in a big circle in the parking lot, open their trunks, & fill them with candy. Kids trick or treat there and its very safe. It's a lot of fun, they put fliers up all around town and stuff.

Elizabeth Byler Younts said...

We have decided to let the girls dress up but we always find a cool tie in...like Felicity is Queen Esther this yr to be Biblical and Mercy is a hand-me-down pig outfit after the Mercy Watson books...we go to the fall church event. We are, however, only carving pumpkins with a spiritual emphasis...letting a Jesus light shine thru the carving once all the junk inside has been cleaned...aka Spiritual lesson. :-) and each trick or treator will get a Halloween themed tract. It's what we feel lead to do personally. I was prepared to shun the holiday when last yr I decided to dive in deeper and learn about the holidays true roots and it is sooooo awful and still practiced today...but I read on a blog how if Jesus knew 100 unsaved children were coming to His door would he hide in the back of the house with the lights turned off...or would He evangelize them. That is what made us decide to be careful yes...but the main point for us will be praying that even just 1 tract reaches the right person. If it weren't for that conviction alone, I think I'd shut it out bc I really hate the history of Halloween and the modern celebrations too. We also won't ever let the girls dress up in anything scary, immodest or gross...yuck.

Unknown said...

We pretty much believe like you do. We keep Halloween light, fun and positive. It's all about putting on a cute costume. Our neighborhood is actually really great for Trick or Treating. It's a great opportunity for us to meet our neighbors. It's not my favorite holiday, but who doesn't love dressing their three-year-old up in an adorable monkey costume? :)