Do You Celebrate Halloween?

Do you celebrate Halloween?

  • Yes

    Votes: 27 29.3%

  • No

    Votes: 65 70.7%
  • Total voters
    92
MissNatural

MissNatural

New Member
I recently heard that some Christian churches are celebrating Halloween in a "Christian" way. They host a party with "happy halloween" decorations- nothing scary... mainly pumpkins and leaves. They encourage the children to dress up like their favorite Bible character and share why they picked that person. They invite the surrounding community to the party to show there is a "holy" way of celebrating Halloween.

When I first heard this I thought it was crazy. After reading the "Do you celebrate Christmas/Easter" thread, I noticed many of you recognize that those holidays have pagan roots, however you celebrate it with a focus on Christ and not as the world celebrates it. With that said... would you consider doing the same thing with Halloween??? Why or why not???

Btw, I promise you I am really interested in everyone's beliefs and I am NOT trying to correct anyone, especially since I am still learning and deciding for myself regarding these issues.
 
It's all about the focus to me. For Christmas, it's about Jesus Christ. For Halloween, what's really the purpose? Seems like it's not really that much different from its origin. So that's why I personally don't celebrate it.
 
I must admit my reasons are totally and completely selfish ... I (and my 4-YO son) like to dress up and pretend. He has an arsenal (chest) of superhero and character costumes. I love the lord but I also love to characterized myself and get silly. This year I have a reason to leave my home dressed as Wonder Woman, actually three reasons and my son is Johnny Flame-On from Fantastic Four. My hubby is a Spartan Warrior and he too has caught the fever LOL.
 
Halloween is actually Christan (somewhat)
at least the next day..Hallows Eve?
I know many Latinos celebrate Dia de Los Muertos which is to remember your loved ones who died

my mom was never into the whole hoop law but she let me dress up to have fun at school. I don't really like the holiday but I may dress up for a party this weekend
 
I am throwing a costume party this weekend, but normally I wouldn't be doing anything for Halloween.
 
I never celebrated Halloween. My family never celebrated it and as I was a little girl going to school, there would be parties and parades the school would throw and I would always have to sit out and I never understood why. Now I have free choice to celebrate and I don't want to....... because there is no focus of God. For Christmas = The birth. For Easter = The Death and Resercetion(sp). For Halloween = ? (pretending to be someone else). I don't know. These are just my thoughts. For me, there is always a spiritual meaning behind things/people. These could be good or bad spirits. The world is filled with evil spirits working hard and I choose to not participate in Halloween.

But I do think (in the physical sense/natural mind), that they way your church is doing it is cute. :yawn:
 
cutiebe2 said:
Halloween is actually Christan (somewhat)
at least the next day..Hallows Eve?
I know many Latinos celebrate Dia de Los Muertos which is to remember your loved ones who died

my mom was never into the whole hoop law but she let me dress up to have fun at school. I don't really like the holiday but I may dress up for a party this weekend
Click to expand...


It's actually not Christian in origin at all, but became mixed with it over time. Interestingly enough, the ideas and practices haven't changed much...

Halloween's origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in).

The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom, and northern France, celebrated their new year on November 1. This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31, they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. In addition to causing trouble and damaging crops, Celts thought that the presence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Druids, or Celtic priests, to make predictions about the future. For a people entirely dependent on the volatile natural world, these prophecies were an important source of comfort and direction during the long, dark winter.

To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities.

During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other's fortunes. When the celebration was over, they re-lit their hearth fires, which they had extinguished earlier that evening, from the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter.

By A.D. 43, Romans had conquered the majority of Celtic territory. In the course of the four hundred years that they ruled the Celtic lands, two festivals of Roman origin were combined with the traditional Celtic celebration of Samhain.

The first was Feralia, a day in late October when the Romans traditionally commemorated the passing of the dead. The second was a day to honor Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. The symbol of Pomona is the apple and the incorporation of this celebration into Samhain probably explains the tradition of "bobbing" for apples that is practiced today on Halloween.

By the 800s, the influence of Christianity had spread into Celtic lands. In the seventh century, Pope Boniface IV designated November 1 All Saints' Day, a time to honor saints and martyrs. It is widely believed today that the pope was attempting to replace the Celtic festival of the dead with a related, but church-sanctioned holiday. The celebration was also called All-hallows or All-hallowmas (from Middle English Alholowmesse meaning All Saints' Day) and the night before it, the night of Samhain, began to be called All-hallows Eve and, eventually, Halloween. Even later, in A.D. 1000, the church would make November 2 All Souls' Day, a day to honor the dead. It was celebrated similarly to Samhain, with big bonfires, parades, and dressing up in costumes as saints, angels, and devils. Together, the three celebrations, the eve of All Saints', All Saints', and All Souls', were called Hallowmas.
Click to expand...

http://www.history.com/minisites/halloween/viewPage?pageId=713
 
Dia de Los Muertos is indeed a holiday that exemplifies the melding of pagan religions of Los Indios (native ancestors) and Catholicism (which contains rituals that the Bible doesn't mention).

It's more than remembering loved ones, it's rituals which include spirit contact, spirits absorbing the essence of foods placed on graves, and keeping vigils. It is celebrated the first days of November.
 
I think some people were speaking of Halloween Alternative parties. Some churches have gatherings to keep kids off the streets and away from parties which talk of the dead, spirits, and such. Sometimes kids dress as one of God's creation (animals) and hear bible stories and play games. To me, it's a way of letting the kids have fun and not be at home nagging the parents to go out into the street.

Now I know some churches, some of the less discerning churches, do celebrate Halloween. A church I worked for once had such parties where they dressed as vampires, witches, etc. and played in the graveyard outside. A shame---but I think that the church as a whole was doing a disservice more for not preaching the Word.
 
Halloween is one of those days I can take or leave. For the last 10 years or so I haven't done much with it. However, this year I'm dressing up with some of the kids in my church and we're getting ourselves some candy.

I look at it like this, if it's okay change other pagan holidays to fit our needs, whether they be spiritual or general fun (which the Bible doesn't condemn), then why not Halloween. Christmas wasn't even celebrated by the first century church. It came into existence in the 3rd century as a way to blend Christianity into the pagan Roman society. A celebration of the sun became a celebration of the Son. 2000 years later, the day is considered holy. What's the difference in taking another day that initially stood in opposition to everything God's word teaches us and changing it into a time to play dress-up and get some free candy?
 
I can agree with getting the children off of the streets and not participating in the occult activities which is what halloween consists of in all of its totality.

Use this day to minister Jesus as well as make parents fully aware of halloween and its dangers. It is a witches holiday and is celebrated as a holy day for satan. The rituals that occur are horrific and demonic. There is no comparison to Christmas and Easter... none. :nono:

This thread has more details regarding this topic:

http://www.longhaircareforum.com/showthread.php?t=101081
 
MissNatural said:
I recently heard that some Christian churches are celebrating Halloween in a "Christian" way. They host a party with "happy halloween" decorations- nothing scary... mainly pumpkins and leaves. They encourage the children to dress up like their favorite Bible character and share why they picked that person. They invite the surrounding community to the party to show there is a "holy" way of celebrating Halloween.

When I first heard this I thought it was crazy. After reading the "Do you celebrate Christmas/Easter" thread, I noticed many of you recognize that those holidays have pagan roots, however you celebrate it with a focus on Christ and not as the world celebrates it. With that said... would you consider doing the same thing with Halloween??? Why or why not???

Btw, I promise you I am really interested in everyone's beliefs and I am NOT trying to correct anyone, especially since I am still learning and deciding for myself regarding these issues.
Click to expand...

I do celebrate easter and christmas. but not like the world. on easter we do not do eggs,basket and etc. but we do have a easter service at church where the focus will be on jesus and how he rose from the dead and was the ultimate sacrafice to save us. on christmas we do not do the trees because in the bible it talks about dressing up the trees. no satan( misspelled int.) clause decorations etc. i do give gifts in moderation i would say as symbolism for how the wise men brought the baby jesus gifts so christmas is celebration of his birth. halloween has nothing to do with God and serves as no remembrance to him. we allow ourselves to be tricked with some cheap candy! our kids can have candy any day anytime, but we dress them up as little demons and witches and we wonder what's wrong with little marcus, why he got an anger problem? we allow them to be opened up to spirits. You know when you play dress up you begin to imitate who you are dressing up as. ex: cops and robbers , cowboys and indians. every year the witches are on t.v telling us what halloween is all about and the crazy things they do , but here some of us are, still taking the children trick or treating! come on , as christians we should be praying really hard on this day against the principalities of this world, but here we are caught with our guard down for a mini snicker.:grin::wallbash::perplexed
 
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Christians don't celebrate halloween due to pagan background of witches. We have "All Saints Day" on Nov. 1st for centuries and the enemy came out with Halloween the Oct. 31st a day before "All Saints Day". Instead of Halloween we celebrate Hallejuah.
 
your hair is your glory said:
I do celebrate easter and christmas. but not like the world. on easter we do not do eggs,basket and etc. but we do have a easter service at church where the focus will be on jesus and how he rose from the dead and was the ultimate sacrafice to save us. on christmas we do not do the trees because in the bible it talks about dressing up the trees. no satan( misspelled int.) clause decorations etc. i do give gifts in moderation i would say as symbolism for how the wise men brought the baby jesus gifts so christmas is celebration of his birth. halloween has nothing to do with God and serves as no remembrance to him. we allow ourselves to be tricked with some cheap candy! our kids can have candy any day anytime, but we dress them up as little demons and witches and we wonder what's wrong with little marcus, why he got an anger problem? we allow them to be opened up to spirits. You know when you play dress up you begin to imitate who you are dressing up as. ex: cops and robbers , cowboys and indians. every year the witches are on t.v telling us what halloween is all about and the crazy things they do , but here some of us are, still taking the children trick or treating! come on , as christians we should be praying really hard on this day against the principalities of this world, but here we are caught with our guard down for a mini snicker.:grin::wallbash::perplexed
Click to expand...

I agree with everything you said. Too Funny. :lachen::lachen::lachen:
 
HWAY, the biblical reference to dressing up trees has NOTHING to do with the celebration of Christmas. Christmas didn't exist when the Hebraic scriptures were written. Yes, Christmas trees are a derivative of pagan practice, but that passage in Isaiah (I believe...I might have the wrong book) is not talking about that. HTH.
 
star said:
Christians don't celebrate halloween due to pagan background of witches. We have "All Saints Day" on Nov. 1st for centuries and the enemy came out with Halloween the Oct. 31st a day before "All Saints Day". Instead of Halloween we celebrate Hallejuah.
Click to expand...

Actually it was the other day around, halloween existed first and then the church created all saints day and day of the dead to distract people. All in all halloween has some creepy history to it.
 
i stop celebrating holloween years ago, when i realize for me it represented things that was not of G*d.......... witches ghost,ect... and to keep my kids content so they wouldn't feel like they were missing out on something we watch kiddy movies, have popcorn; candy .....
 
I don't celebrate Halloween, but my church does have something for the kids to keep them off the streets and out of the grasp of dangerous crazies who may be celebrating Halloween with the intent of causing them harm. We don't condone costumes, but since it is open to the public, some people show up dressed as superheros and disney characters and such. But for the most part, it is just a fall festival type thing, food, games, prizes, CANDY and just a fun time.

What comes to mind is Gen 50:20
But as for you, ye thought evil against me; [but] God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as [it is] this day, to save much people alive.

I believe that God can make good come out of anything that the devil tries to turn bad. So what that devil tried to trick people into worshiping him on a certain day of the year. God is taking back his flock and putting them in churches on that very day so as not to allow them to be tempted to be out in the woods committing some foolish acts of sacrificial idolatry. I celebrate Christmas and Easter as well and I could care less about their pagan roots. If God can save my soul from the mess that I use to live in, then surely he can sanctify a couple of days out of the year and have his family focus on him, rather than focus on the world.
 
cheetarah1980 said:
Halloween is one of those days I can take or leave. For the last 10 years or so I haven't done much with it. However, this year I'm dressing up with some of the kids in my church and we're getting ourselves some candy.

I look at it like this, if it's okay change other pagan holidays to fit our needs, whether they be spiritual or general fun (which the Bible doesn't condemn), then why not Halloween. Christmas wasn't even celebrated by the first century church. It came into existence in the 3rd century as a way to blend Christianity into the pagan Roman society. A celebration of the sun became a celebration of the Son. 2000 years later, the day is considered holy. What's the difference in taking another day that initially stood in opposition to everything God's word teaches us and changing it into a time to play dress-up and get some free candy?
Click to expand...

Very valid points here. However, my approach - unless the Lord reveals differently - is to look at whether or not the day and ones actions in accordance is in contradiction with the Bible. To me, Halloween promotes false doctrine and also diminishes the focus on real spiritual warfare in this world. There aren't ghosts and goblins running around but the devil and his angels, demons looking to destroy life and the message of God. It's the same purpose as it was in origin.

With Christmas, I agree it does have pagan Roman origins. But whether or not it serves the same purpose today will depend on how the individual treats the holiday. Do the practices in which the individual engages contradict Biblical teaching? If the focus is on pagan creations like Santa Claus, Christmas trees and gifts, then there must be reexamination due to contradiction with the Word.

You are also correct about the pagan sun religion (Mithraism) of Rome and Christian Sunday worship, due to the attempt by pagan Rome to replace the 7th day Sabbath with their day of sun god worship. There is nothing wrong with being in church and/or worshiping on Sunday. That in itself is not in contradiction with the Word. However, the 7th day is God's Sabbath. If His Sabbath is not being kept holy, then we are in contradiction with the Bible. If Sunday used as a substitution for God's Sabbath, then we are keeping the day of pagan Rome and breaking the Sabbath.
 
Many churches and people have Harvest Parties. I don't see anything wrong with celebrating the beginning of Fall by dressing up and having candy, caramel apples and other treats.

I would not allow my daughter to dress up as or attend anything that follows the occult.
 
My church has Hallelujah Night. It's actually kinda fun. The kids dress up and there is food, candy, jump castles, music, and lots of fun. The adults on the other hand, they dress up so much so I don't even recognize Elders, Ministers, or the First Lady.

Since this is my first Halloween as a married woman, I just plan to decorate the house in a tasteful, fall manner.
 
i don't go out my way to celebrate halloween but i do pass out candy. sometimes i don't and my dh will. i'm celebrating it this year by letting my dd be a ballerina and pass out candy if we don't go to boo at the zoo. to her halloween is just a reason to dress up as a ballerina so she can "twirl"....yes, I had to ask her and that was her response...i'm not even mad at the child.
 
I celebrate it in the sense that I used to go trick or treating and now that Im 20 i take my younger cousins trick or treating. This year I believe Im actually going to dress up . I mean as long as your not doing anything satanic, or partaking in anything satanic its fine. Dressing up for fun and free candy is fine with me!
 
I never celebrated Halloween in my life and I see no reason to start now. Aside from the spiritual reasons, I don't understand the point of the holiday. I mean going door to door begging for candy never really appealed to me. I remember one Halloween, my mother decided to put signs on the door with phrases like, "Jesus is Lord" on them. :lachen: And the kids were reading the signs and responding, "Who is Jesus?" I was completely shocked. I never felt left out though. My parents taught us from a very early age that those things were of the world and that we were in the world but not of it. The whole theme of our very lives has been that we are peculiar and seperate from this world.
 
I don't and never have, celebrated halloween, thank God because I have been taught from a very young age that this holiday was a devils and demons holiday and that very idea came against everything I was brought up to believe in, that jesus Christ is Lord and the devil was His enemy and I didn't want to be caught celebrating anything satanic or demonic.
 
No I don't. It's a pagan costum which worship death and the occult. We should NOT participate in it at all. watch this from Utube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kF2c5FBDPnc
It's a video that explains the origins of Halloween and sites verses of the bible showing that we should not participate in it.
zanna
 
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