I'm curious what Christian parents and families think of the holiday of Halloween and why. There is a great article from the History Channel about the origins of the day, back to the Celtic roots. To the right of this post you will find a survey of what you do on October 31st.Here are some of my general thoughts:
- The holiday does indeed have pagan roots in which an attempt to transform the time into at least a semi-Christian base was made by the RCC.
- It is, in recent tradition, come to be known as a "dark holiday" and is highly celebrated by Wiccan and other pagan religions.
- The Bible tells us there are ALWAYS demons and angels around us, regardless if it is October 31st or Februay 14 (a Day of Love).
- While I firmly believe in protecting our children from negative and sinful influences, as a family we are still called to be light in this dark world. I think there is an opportunity to be just that on Halloween.
What are your thoughts?
I stop by your blog every once in a while and have never commented, but this is something I have considered much and thought I would let you in on my thoughts. In my opinion, there is much "excellent" to clebrate on Halloween (Philippians 4:8), so we do not even acknowledge the day, however, something "excellent" did happen on October 31, 1517, and that was the day Luther nailed the 95 theses to the church door in Wittenburg. Thus, we have chosen to celebrate the beginning of the Protestant Reformation on October 31st and have our own traditions, rather than use the worlds. There are actually quite a few churches who celebrate a "Reformation Day" rather than have anything to do with halloween. Just a thought.
ReplyDeleteI honestly had not heard about that. Interesting that Luther chose that day, assuming it was a purposeful choice (perhaps it was just when he finished writing up his theses.
ReplyDeleteThat is indeed an option. Back when my family lived in Indiana, we once had a fire, roasted some hot dogs and mellows, and invited people to warm up by the fire while giving candy to the kids. I like that idea and would do it more if I did not work at a church that has a Harvest Festival alternative.
Thanks for stopping by!
I have heard of a "Reformation Day", somewhere in passing on the web - but I never found out what that was all about.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing~
Lori