Posted by: stricknine | November 17, 2008
Halloween, good or bad or does it matter?!?!
Halloween good or bad or does it matter is the question that I was forced to deal with this year. First of all let me say that I do not celebrate Halloween, when I married Rhonda we made a decision that it was not a holiday that honored God and therefore and solely based on this we never allowed our children to participate in Halloween rituals, you know like trick or treating.
Now when I was little I did celebrate Halloween and for the record I went out into neighborhoods and collected tons of candy but never, not once did I worship the devil.
So back to the future, I do believe that by keeping such holidays we indoctrinate our children with a mixed message that is not in line with the word of God. Now hold on, I know someone out there is saying this guy is a crazy Bible reading freak, well that is only partly true, I do read the Bible and while I am crazy for Jesus, I am not a teetotaler.
So this all brings us to this year when one of my employees, who by the way is a Christian, is so excited about taking their little one trick or treating. I open my big mouth and say, why would you want to do that because it’s a pagan holiday. At this point several people stop and look at me like I just said television was the devil. This was very foreign to this person and they could not believe that in the 2000’s someone would think that way. I was told that I should be sorry for having that opinion and making her feel like she is doing something wrong. Well guess what, I told her I wasn’t sorry, very nicely I told her this but the bottom line is wrong is wrong.
You are either doing things that are intended to honor God or you are not, there isn’t any in between. The problem is we the dumb masses, just do whatever the world tells us is the right thing to do, even if it is against God. Even if it could negatively effect our children.
So I am attacked and thought of as a crazy evangelical, but that is what I know is right. Is it wrong to stand up for what is right, should we as Christians continue to just stand by while the world goes to Hell in a hand basket.
I would be interested in hearing others thoughts about this subject, is Halloween good or bad and does it really matter???
guess i’ll get blasted by some for this one – but i think way too much is made of the day – both in terms of the “darkness” surrounding it and the “fun” surrounding it – i too participated as a child, never offered sacrifices, worshiped satan or burnt strange incense. i have no problem with kids dressing up and going door to door for some candy – i’m not going to send them away (if i’m at home). typically, though, we’re always at the pseduo-halloween festival…the “fall” festival – keep waiting for a spring, summer and winter one! anyway, i think each day is a gift and the issue is with each day, how will we steward said day? will we serve God…or not? i believe you can serve God while going door to door mixing it up with your neighbors, having fun with the kids and getting a little head-start on the Christmas goodies (besides, the extra candy makes for good “treat box” stuff – and all the teachers said?)…
By: rick womack on November 19, 2008
at 2:34 pm
well it is a fuzzy line that we draw, I totally understand your point, my question is are you fence straddling? I am not pointing fingers or judging anyone just asking the question is this a deal breaker, is this something that as a christian we should not touch???
By: stricknine on November 20, 2008
at 12:56 am
Todd, I am with you on this issue. We are different from most people in how we think, but we believe we have to do what we think is right. We don’t watch movies with magic in them (even Disney films, we do not do Santa either. We tell our kids never tell other kids Santa isn’t real, but we believe that is lying to your kids to say Santa is real when he isn’t. We have taught our kids who Santa is based on and how wonderful he is. We don’t even mind Santa movies, because we teach the kids he is pretend. For Halloween, we have always thought that it would be wrong to honor such a pagan holiday, so we have been thankful for Church alternatives which totally de-emphasize the scary nature of the “holiday.” Think about it – what are the decorations like? Witches, ghosts, evil creatures. How does that honor God? So we dress our kids up like princesses and knights, but do all the same things the world does, thus validating this “holiday.” I really appreciate your challange to us all Todd. To be in the world but not of it can be a hard issue to settle, but we all need to seek God and do what we believe He is calling us to do. Do we think ill of other families that watch movies we choose not to? Absolutely not. Do we think we are better because we Home school? No way! We simply do what we are called to do and leave those issues between that person and God. Now try to tell me that Jesus really didn’t dies for our sins or rise again and we will have a serious discussion! Thanks for the challenge as iron sharpens iron!
By: Debbie P on November 20, 2008
at 1:54 am
So many areas of our lives we “just did” and never contemplated the example or messages they send. So many times we’ve looked back to have a non-christian friend say, “but you did this thing…” or “never said anything about…” I actually had an aquaintance question my resistence to having my children celebrate halloween when I allowed them to have a “pirate” party. (Quote: “like pillaging, murder and plundering is a better thing…”) Ouch! It truly was an innocent kid sailor party and no evil or stealing was encouraged. It was never called a “pirate party”… we were all maties and sailors. I even read a parable story at the party! However, she had a point. I told her she was in fact more right than I liked to admit. I appologized and admitted it was not the best choice… I should have called it a sailor party and been more careful with my references to nautical things.
I know the longer our family lives and learns, the more we realize there are just more meaningful, God honoring and valuable things to do with our time. They call Christians “peculiar” for a reason.
We just have to realize… God is not done with us yet… He will keep working on our behavior and choices until we reach eternity.
Such good thoughts. Keep searching for that narrow path man.
By: Teri & Dan on December 26, 2008
at 6:53 am