Boo!
by Tom Neven on 10/31/2009 at 7:43 AM
So it’s Halloween again. I haven’t thought much about the day since my kids outgrew it about 10 years ago. Still, I wonder if it’s me or if the holiday has changed.
When I was a kid, the entire neighborhood swarmed with kids in costumes, going from door to door with plastic pumpkins to hold their treats. Don’t go to that house. She’s giving out RAISINS! We used to really go all out on our costumes, too. One year my brother was The Mummy and wrapped himself from head to toe in strips from a cotton sheet. (This mummy was a slight shade of pink, since that’s the only old sheet my mom would let him use.) He started to unravel midway through the night and went home early because he’d become so frustrated. I was a mad scientist that year, complete with rubber bald wig, lab coat, and two beakers of water and dry ice to simulate a frothing mad-scientists experiment.
Even though there are a fair number of kids in my neighborhood, few go door to door anymore. I think it’s a combination of paranoid parents and the fact that shopping malls now offer indoor trick-or-treating. It might also be because a lot of people just turn out all the lights and don’t answer the door. The one constant, though, is the late-night ring of the doorbell, just as you’re getting ready for bed. At the door is a group of sullen teenagers who don’t even bother with a costume and just stand there with a pillowcase, expecting freebies.
My dad didn’t carve mere jack-o-lanterns with triangular eyes and a crude mouth with square teeth. He used a razor to shave layers from the thick pumpkin skin, forming a complex three-dimensional face, kind of like this, except he’d use paint and dye to bring out the details. No one puts out jack-o-lanterns anymore since so many wind up being vandalized. But they do something quite unknown when I was young: decorating their entire front yard in a Halloween theme, each trying to out-Griswold the other with fake tombstones, ghosts, and assorted monsters.
The other thing different is schools now have Halloween parties, although I wonder how long that will continue. When I was a kid we didn't have Halloween parties; we had Christmas parties. Go figure.
Even adult Halloween parties seem to be a thing of the past. I did attend one when I worked in Washington, DC. A colleague, a sci-fi buff, came in a Star Trek uniform. It was a red shirt, and he’d burned a perfectly circular hole through the uniform’s midsection. “It’s a phaser blast,” he explained. “I’m the expendable crew member!”
Up to this point I’ve deliberately avoided the entire subject of whether Christians should even participate in Halloween. Focus on the Family takes no position on the topic, since some constituents see no harm in their kids playing dress-up and having fun so long as nothing occult or Satanic is involved. Others think that we should stay as far away as possible from anything that smacks of Satanism or witchcraft. Yet others see the opportunity to drop a few evangelistic tracts or copies of Clubhouse into the bucket along with the candy. (And don’t even think about not including candy if you choose to do this.) Still others use the occasion to have a Harvest Festival at their church. That’s what my church did some years. It’s good fun, good food, with a generous dose of square-dancing thrown in.
So what about you? Any good or bad Halloween memories? Do you celebrate it at all? Why or why not?
1. Joanna said the following at 7:54 AM on Oct 31:
Back in my home country (Australia) it isn't celebrated much. Here in Singapore it is celebrated a little more. People dress up and have parties but there isn't really trick or treating.
Best halloween memory would have to be yesterday. A group of costumed people (pirates, jedi's, the grim reaper ect) burst into my sociology lecture and proceeded to have a light saber fight. It was great.
2. Jonathan said the following at 8:46 AM on Oct 31:
Halloween seems to be an excuse for people (young adults especially) to act crazy and wild (I work overnights at a convenience store), and while yes, a lot of these people might engage in immoral/unwise behavior anyways, Halloween is a time to flaunt that behavior to the rest of the world - to show it off. To me this is the more troubling aspect of Halloween than any occultic connection. Should we be acknowledging through recognition a holiday that rarely brings out good in people?
3. Maggie said the following at 8:53 AM on Oct 31:
I'm kind of torn about Halloween, although I don't have kids yet, so I have some time to think. This year is the first time I'll be able to hand out candy on my own (my old apartment building would not let kids go door-to-door), and I'm taking the opportunity to do the candy + tracts thing. To me, it doesn't make sense not to take the opportunity to interact with my new neighbourhood and share God's love.
That said, there are definitely some very dark elements to Halloween. A few of the girls at the youth group were sharing this week about how they can't stand it because so many of their classmates are getting very revealing costumes and it's basically an excuse to party hard. Thankfully, our church has a big concert tonight, so that gives a good alternative to teens who don't want to take part in the party scene.
4. Maggie said the following at 8:55 AM on Oct 31:
PS What's with all the store-bought costumes?? We were like you Tom: We had clever home-made costumes. In my most memorable year, two friends and I were Gomez, Morticia, and Wednesday Addams from the Addams family. Wednesday carried around a Cabbage Patch doll whose head had fallen off. Oh, good memories!
5. Amy said the following at 9:10 AM on Oct 31:
We've always done Halloween. The reasons my mom gives, when asked, is that the kids have fun and the trick-or-treating is a chance to connect with our community; sometimes this is the only time of year we interact with some of these people. Also, we were never allowed (well, my siblings still aren't) to dress up as witches or ghosts or scary things. This Halloween I believe my nine-year-old sister is going as an angel.
Our house practically vibrates with excitement on days like today. I'll probably let my kids do Halloween.
6. Sara said the following at 9:53 AM on Oct 31:
I haven't celebrated anything Halloween related since I was a teenager because of a personal conviction. However, my husband loves Halloween (mostly the creating an awesome costume part)so in our house, both "beliefs" are pretty much allowed.
I think we both have great memories of Halloween as a kid. I always laugh about how I was never, ever a princess... one of the costumes of choice for young girls today. He was always some superhero (might explain why he is so honorable today!).
This isn't the reason I don't celebrate Halloween, but does anyone else noticed how sexualized Halloween is getting? My husband and I have both noticed it has gone from more of a childrens holiday to something more for adults. I was wondering if anyone else has seen this trend, maybe even in the Christian community?
7. Cara said the following at 10:33 AM on Oct 31:
I grew up as a PK, and we didn't celebrate. My parents pulled my sisters and I out of school on Halloween party day and we did something fun like the zoo or a museum. Now that I'm grown and married I'm not sure what to do when we have kids. I'm really not a fan of the holiday, but I remember feeling like we were being punished, at times, for not celebrating. Anybody else in this boat?
8. Alexis said the following at 10:37 AM on Oct 31:
I will be joining the rest of my in-laws Church congregation tonight for a Fall Festival, something half way between trick or treating and just a plain old dress up party for kids. We will have stations set up for kids to play fun games that sometimes get them a little dirty and at each station they get a bit of candy, they are welcome to go around as many times as they want. We have a station set up to carve pumpkins and at this station they get to learn a little bit about Jesus and what He has done for us. At the end of the night we have a Pinata and all the kids get to take a whack at it. It is open not just to the kids from the Church but their friends and the whole neighbourhood--so it ends up being an outreach too! It is safe because all the candy is donated by Church members and checked over before being handed out. It is in-doors so for parents who are worried about the elements, the kids are dry and warm. It is free from gruesome decorations, demonic connotations although we don't ask people to leave if their kids show up dressed as the Devil, it is an outreach after all! I think it is a good opportunity to reach out into the community and show that hospitality that is talked about so often in the Bible. As a kid, we didn't celebrate, no trick or treat for us kids. My parents wanted nothing to do with it, especially since some of my school friends were dressing up as dead hookers and other such atrocities! So, if you decided to do it, or not, or do something like we are doing I think the main thing is to do ALL things for the Glory of God and if it doesn't honour Him, we should probably stay away from it. If you are in the Windsor area we will be at Ambassador Community Church 3033 Rivard Avenue from 6:30pm to 9:00pm all are welcome!
9. Larissa said the following at 11:33 AM on Oct 31:
Growing up me and my siblings never went trick or treating, and didn't even dress up for school parties. In the evening my parents would turn off all the lights in the front of the house, and then we would spend a couple hours watching rented movies (like Ernest and Benji!) and eat our own candy.
I never felt like I was missing out on anything. Plus, my brothers would tell me that people would go around and tie firecrackers to pets tails, so I never had a fondness for that day. My cats still are forced to stay inside on October 31. :)
And in my grown up years, my attitude is still the same. It's just a day that you can choose to go out, which is fun, you can choose to stay in, which is warmer, or you can opt to work the evening shift to let others enjoy the night, and buy yourself your own candy - the kind YOU like!
10. kb said the following at 12:39 PM on Oct 31:
May I just say that the expendable crew member makes my day?
Amazing.
11. Emily said the following at 12:41 PM on Oct 31:
I have always celebrated halloween. As long as you keep it away from the Satanic elements, I see nothing really wrong with it.
At least in college, it's actually great opportunity for evangelism. I live in a college town where the population literally *doubles* for the annual halloween party. Our campus ministry takes advantage of this by dressing up, going out, and making friends and striking up conversations to try and share the gospel.
Jesus went into the darkest places to grab people by the hands and pull them into the light - if we shut off our lights and refuse to answer the door, who knows what opportunities to share the love of Christ we might miss?
12. Samaria said the following at 1:13 PM on Oct 31:
My mother is of the set of folks who believe people should not celebrate Halloween, because "people and particularly believers are especially vulnerable to the Satanic influences on that night" or something of that nature. Also, she's paranoid and doesn't want me or my sister to die via cyanide. The latter I can understand; the former is wack. I, for one, don't care, and am now quite resentful that my first real Halloween will be reserved for 2011, when I'm a freshman at college and out of my mom's crazily conservative clutches. I feel like I missed out on an important part of a proper American childhood by never dressing up, trick-or-treating, or getting thoroughly scared for the fun of it.
Chances are, I'll go all out on Halloween for my kids when I have them.
That said, Halloween is harmless. Yes, there are the freaks to watch out for - the gangs, especially, in my area - but all in all, it's nothing to make a big religious fuss about. For those who celebrate Samhain, good for them. For those who don't, mind your business.
I wonder if my church is holding a harvest fest tonight...
13. Elizabeth H. (Russia) said the following at 1:46 PM on Oct 31:
Now that I live in Russia, it's practically a non-issue. Don't miss Halloween at all. And if I had kids I probably wouldn't let them participate. It holds no meaning for me.
Okay, it was fun to dress up when I was a kid and get candy. I'm sure I would have been upset if my parents hadn't let me go trick-or-treating. But I received no lesson from it, whatsoever.
14. BDB said the following at 1:51 PM on Oct 31:
On my street, none of us who are Christians have any decorations up. This contrasts sharply with Christmas, which we decorate to the hilt.
There tend to be few trick-or-treaters anymore.
My church has a Trunk-or-Treat event that about 12,000 people come to. I'm going to staff that tonight. Lots of kids come in costume, volunteers who choose to dress up are asked not to do anything satanic.
What I remember from Halloween in Washington is that it was either a) really, really cold or b) raining. This made costume selection challenging, because you didn't know if you needed one that would fit on over a heavy coat, or one that was rain-resistant. (Makeup runs in the rain, for example.)
15. Brian Krieger said the following at 2:37 PM on Oct 31:
We always had a "halloween carnival" at our church (our church actually used the name Halloween). It was great. One memory that really stands out is when we decided to go to the rectory to trick or treat. The Vietnamese priest we had at the time didn't fully understand halloween, but he knew that he was supposed to give sweets. He said he didn't have candy, but had cake. So we sat there in the church rectory eating chocolate cake. Kind of atypical of a teenager halloween.
Stand to Reason had an interesting note about halloween.
http://str.typepad.com/weblog/2009/10/halloween-worries.html
16. S said the following at 4:26 PM on Oct 31:
Handing out candy to the neighborhood kids as I type. Best costume so far has been Dorothy (from the Wizard of Oz) carrying her (real) dog Toto.
17. farmer Tom said the following at 4:33 PM on Oct 31:
It's Halloween. Do you even care?
NO.
18. Jessica said the following at 5:05 PM on Oct 31:
Happy Reformation Day.
19. John said the following at 6:19 PM on Oct 31:
Why doesn't FOF have an official position?
20. Leigh said the following at 6:37 PM on Oct 31:
I celebrate it. Halloween like any other holiday is what you make it.
My brothers and I went as the 3 blind mice one year. our grandmother made the costumes. We had glasses canes and everything.. we even won a costume contest. Another favorite is when my mom took one of those pumpkin trashbag things you rake up leafs in and put in the yard... and cut holes for legs and arms. Then she stuffed me full of news papers..slowly over the night I started to become a skinny pumpkin. we looked on the other side of the street and about every 4 ft there was a news paper. We spent more time picking up news papers than we did trick or treating. And always always always after trick or treating we would go to my grandparents house (who lived in town) and would have hot chocolate and fruit to counteract all the candy.
Also.. My grandfather at 93 years old use to sit out on the porch.. the kids would come up to "trick or treat" and he would put one piece of candy in and take 2 out! ha!
great memories...and nothing "evil" in any of that...if you dont count my 93 year old grandfather taking candy from kids..lol
Im sure nobody ever went to hell for trick or treating, or hunting easter eggs..lol
21. Chris said the following at 7:42 PM on Oct 31:
I did almost all these things. I went to a party, made jack-o-lanterns, helped my kid with his school Halloween parade/party, and went out trick-or-treating in the dark. The only reason we didn't get many kids is that not many kids of the appropriate age live on our block. I do believe that I did see almost every kid out there at some point.
As for the part about parties at schools, it's getting ridiculous. They're so sensitive that they want to sanitize just about everything. I can understand that a 1st grader doesn't need to be a Jason or Freddy....that's inappropriate. But a viking with a plastic axe? What's wrong with that?
BTW, if you want to circumvent these rules, make a costume that 99% of teachers and administrators won't get. It's what I did, and I managed to sneak in a very powerful death ray gun:
http://stuffedcabbageinc.com/tinker/?p=88
22. Sara said the following at 9:10 PM on Oct 31:
#21-Chris: That is beyond awesome!!!! You totally brought out my geek side.
On a related note... someone once asked me how I felt about how "sad" my children would feel about never having the opportunity for dressing up since I don't celebrate Halloween. Well barring the fact that I spent around five years of my childhood dressed up as Laura Ingalls Wilder for no reason, my husband and I love comic conventions. So being a geek always provides opportunities for dressing up!
23. Chris said the following at 9:34 PM on Oct 31:
kb writes (#10):
May I just say that the expendable crew member makes my day?
Amazing.
Agreed. That's a great idea.
A kid at my son's school went to the parade as Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top. He had the shades, a leather jacket, a beard, and even a fuzzy cardboard guitar. One of the best costumes I've ever seen.....and it was so simple.
24. elisabeth said the following at 9:52 PM on Oct 31:
I'm typing this still in costume that I wore to work today. I've always loved playing "dress up" ever since I was a little kid (I'm 22 now), so I always enjoy the chance to run around in a costume! My siblings and I did trick or treating when we were little, and my parents would also take us to our church Halloween parties. As a little kid it was simply a night to make a fun costume, get free candy and have fun with my family and friends. Holidays are what you make them.
I think it's funny that certain people make such a big deal about the "satanic and pagan foundation" of Halloween, yet fail to realize that Christmas and Easter both fall on what used to be paganistic holidays. Christmas happens around the winter solstice which was a very important time to pagans, and Easter happens around the spring equinox which had fertility rites and festivities related to that day. You don't hear anyone complain about exchanging chocolate Easter bunnies which were (and are) a very implicit metaphor for fertility. That's what people originally celebrated on these days...but just because that's what used to be celebrated on a particular day doesn't mean we have to be bound to those traditions and meanings forever. That's how I look at Halloween as well: it once was viewed as a day for the devil but now it's celebrated today for free candy and costumes. (and free burritos at Chipotle if you dress up in tinfoil)
25. Larissa said the following at 10:31 PM on Oct 31:
Oh, I remembered something else!
A couple years ago I spend Halloween with my friend and her family. Every year they set up a white sheet in their front window and project "Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" on it backwards from inside so people can watch from outside. Speakers are set up in the windows that open.
I thought that was the neatest idea ever!
26. BDB said the following at 11:22 PM on Oct 31:
Chris (#21) - Outstanding!
Had a great time volunteering at my church tonight - better than I could have hoped! No trick-or-treaters at home it looks like. That's why I only buy candy I like!
27. BDB said the following at 11:25 PM on Oct 31:
And, in response to a few comments here, yes, this morning when I went into the grocery store I noticed the 20-something employees had dressed up in costume today...and I found myself pondering some of the postings on modesty...
28. Texas Craig said the following at 11:44 PM on Oct 31:
I am torn on Halloween. On the one hand, I celebrated it as a kid and always enjoyed it. Moreover, my kids enjoy it a lot, and my wife generally has no problem with it.
On the other hand, since I became a Christian as an adult, I have always been a little unsettled at the idea behind it. More recently, I have become more and more bothered by it, as I see our culture make it exceedingly dark and grotesque, and frequently sexual. To some degree, this makes me wonder whether my unsettledness about it is justified in that there is something spiritually dark underlying it. Still not sure about that, but I definitely do not like the darker, more grotesque and more sexualized direction it has been going.
29. Hayley said the following at 12:37 AM on Nov 1:
"...so long as nothing occult or Satanic is involved..."
Tom, are you serious?
I live in Melbourne, Australia and find myself increasingly frustrated that this American tradition is creeping into our culture. I know that many others feel the same way.
Could you explain to me, please, how you justify Halloween as being separated from the occult etc. Because from what I can see, for people who claim to be followers of Christ, this is a massive sell-out!
30. Tara (not the other Tara) said the following at 6:16 AM on Nov 1:
Christmas and Easter don't hold any pagan significance today but you are SERIOUSLY kidding yourself when you say that Halloween no longer holds those ties. Tress, wreaths and cute little bunnies are harmless entities in themselves. But when are ghosts fun? When are devils honouring to God? Even just in drawing and costume form? If there wasn't such a focus on the macabre and things related to the occult--even just in show/form--then maybe I could buy the "it's just candy and costumes" justification.
I have zero problems with giving out candy to the neighbourhood. I think little kids in costumes are adorable but if we're supposed to avoid witches and the like the rest of the year why is it suddenly OK for this one day of the year?
I absolutely hate Halloween and choose to have nothing to do with it and I honestly think Christians are unwise to participate in it. I don't think it makes you evil...I just seriously think it's unwise. What are you associating with?
And what I don't get is I get the most flack for not celebrating Halloween from other Christians. Even if they don't agree, you'd think they would at least get why a fellow Christian would be uncomfortable with it. I don't flaunt my anti-Halloween sentiments...I only give my reasons/views in as a diplomatic way as possible when asked (once again, I don't see you as evil for participating).
31. Esther said the following at 6:26 AM on Nov 1:
I didn't have any plans for Halloween, but happened to stop by the home of some friends to drop off something I'd borrowed, and they invited me to stay for supper. So we had a great meal, interrupted occasionally by trick-or-treaters, good conversation, and then watched a movie, so it turned out to be a really nice evening.
When I was little, my mom swung between allowing us to go trick or treating, and avoiding it entirely. I liked doing it, not because of the candy, but more because I LOVED coming up with creative costumes. The actual trick or treating was fun, but usually cold and exhausting, because I lived in a small town, with lots of hills and houses spread out pretty widely, so you had to do a lot of walking to get much candy.
32. Trisha said the following at 9:30 AM on Nov 1:
Holiday is suppose to mean Holy Day and there is nothing Holy about celebrating a day like Halloween because of it's orgins. The true orgins of Easter and Christmas are Christian....we offen refer to Easter as Resurrection Day and Christmas means Christ mass. I don't have my own place....I still live in my parents house in my late 30s....so for now I just had out candy and tracts/Christian pumpkin stickers & magnets at the door. When I get my own place I plan on having a fall festival for the neighbor kids (I don't have any kids) and their parents allowing only positive costumes like Biblical charaters, princesses, princes, positive disney charaters no Freddie Krugers or Darth Vaders.
33. Kellie said the following at 9:39 AM on Nov 1:
We got probably aorund 85-90 trick-or-treaters last night (I bought a bag of 95 pieces of candy...so minus a few candies that my husband and I ate). We sat out on the porch, I dressed my toddler in her costume and let her run up and down the sidewalk. We met some people new to the neigborhood, talked with some we knew already. The night before we went to our church's harvest festival.
I don't really think of it as celebrating halloween, but participating in it.
34. k. said the following at 11:07 AM on Nov 1:
I celebrated it as a kid, and plan to continue that tradition with my kids. I think it makes sense for Focus not to take a position.
35. Aeryn said the following at 11:19 AM on Nov 1:
Samaria,
I grew up with a mother who sounds much like yours. My first Halloween as an adult was 1998. For eleven years in a row, I've started decorating on Labor Day and gone all-out. I've more than made up for the lack of Halloween fun as a kid. My best ever costume was black jeans, a black t-shirt with the words "anti-social" on it in iron-on letters....and butterfly wings. :) I have found that really enjoying the Halloween season is helpful the rest of the year. When faced with a frightening situation (checking out an unexplained noise in the middle of the night, walking alone outside to take out the garbage, etc.), mentally treating it like a Halloween event (haunted house, haunted corn maze, etc.) makes it less scary.
Besides that, it's just fun. I grew up watching all the other kids have fun and either sitting inside the house with the lights off, watching them through the front window, or else going to church dressed like a Bible character to play games and get candy and hear the adults talk about how all the "secular" kids who were, you know, dressed like non-Bible characters, playing games, and getting candy were "bad" or "headed for trouble" or "unknowingly worshipping the Devil."
You will really love it when you get Halloween back. It's a fun holiday.
36. Vanessa said the following at 12:41 PM on Nov 1:
My brother and I went trick or treating all the time when we were kids. When I was a teen, I became aware of several practicing covens of witches in the nearby county when a friend of mine got invited to a "Halloween" party that was occultic. Around that time, goat sacrifices started popping up...churches were vandalized...and every year for several years, at least one pastor went to work at the church only to find graffiti, animal blood, and cut off goats' feet and heads on church property.
Halloween? NO THANK YOU!!!
37. P&P said the following at 4:20 PM on Nov 1:
I love this holiday. One year I went as the Pink Panther, which my mother sewed using pink flannel. That costume (pink shirt and pants) became my favorite pajamas that winter.
I think it's a crying shame that parents are so paranoid that the Bataan Marches for candy are a thing of the past. When you think about it, it's good military training - we would discuss the routes, evaluate the loot and gather intel from kids working the opposite direction ("don't go to the Kirby's house - just candy corn.").
I also think silly string or shaving cream makes an outstanding trick.
As an adult, I think it's even more fun. I was a drama club nerd in HS and it's the only time of the year I can truly put on an act. I've been a very merry widow, a goth teen (angst! pain! The Smiths complete boxed set!) and most recently a repressed early 60's housewife a la Mad Men.
I think I'll be Marie Antoinette next year. Cake, anyone?
38. DannieA said the following at 6:28 PM on Nov 1:
It's Nov. 1 so I'm back from spending the weekend at my folks house...I like to spend Halloween with my folks.
Do I participate in Halloween....yes I LOVE handing out candy, and I dress up for work, and I dress up my dog. Yes she wore her Snow White costume...and helped my dad, mom, and I hand out candy. Yes I still carve a pumpkin.
Do I celebrate Halloween???? well no...I don't go to parties, I don't decorate...(I decorate the inside of my house..but it's more fall not halloween oriented, so the decorations go until Thanksgiving)
We have some trick-or-treaters....basically the neighbors that are in the neighborhood of my parents sit outside the garage and we all wave to each other and give out candy til we run out.
Now this neighborhood is very into holidays in general so we have 3 houses that really go all out and we basically hear screams of teenagers and children as "jason from friday the 13th" or "the texas chainsaw massacre" frightens them...(walking around the neighborhood with the folks, I got a bloody leg thrown at me...yeah not my cup of tea),
then again...this is the same neighborhood that is bright and shiny for Christmas, and patriotic for 4th of July....
Those kinds of halloween displays I could do without though. We don't have that many trick-or-treaters because the city I live in(BDB, you should know MoVal) EVERY church was announcing a "trunk-or-treat", "Safe Place", or "Fall Festival", and many families choose that instead. Many houses are dark and don't hand out candy as well.
So yeah I believe there's been a shift through the years.
39. Ryan said the following at 7:45 PM on Nov 1:
When I was younger (highschool and before), Halloween consisted of attending my church's fall festivals. Now that I am in college, Halloween has gone sour because of the intense and crazy partying that goes on. In college, it's another night to get smashed to a theme.
I happen to have two housemates who party and so falling asleep this Halloween would have been trouble had I not return to my parent's place for the night.
40. jen said the following at 8:27 PM on Nov 1:
wow, your description of a trick-or-treat-less, pumpkin-less, no parties for adults colorado makes me want to cross the state off of my list of potential future places to settle! both my hometown in the midwest and my current town in new england have tons of trick or treaters, multiple glowing jack-o-lanterns on every front porch and as for parties...i went to two of them this past weekend...both all-adults, both clean fun and both with a fabulous assortment of spectacular costumes...(i went as daphne from scooby doo).
41. Leigh said the following at 8:29 PM on Nov 1:
Tonight at church
(while our church celebrates "hallelujah night" and our pastor will be the FIRST to tell you that nobody goes to hell because they trick or treated)
Our pastor just talked a little bit about where halloween comes from...he went into the druids and what the witches broom symbolized..the "bon" fire..was really a bone fire..I will spare you the details of how they bones got there. things they believed about "satans sister..and cats" it kind of creeps me out now knowing that sort of stuff. I still dont think that kids getting candy on halloween dressed as batman is evil. But I can see better now where people are coming from. And I think the stores should be made to stop making all the gore and blood stuff.
42. Catherine said the following at 10:07 PM on Nov 1:
Back in the day in a tiny town in eastern Oregon one could enter a person's house to get the candy. Gasp! There was one elderly widow who had freshly baked cupcakes and cups of Apple Cider waiting in her living room for the "tricker treater" to behold. It was a refreshing break from the exhausting work of going door to door. The only worry we had was that we were losing precious minutes of candy harvesting.
43. A. Smith said the following at 12:21 AM on Nov 2:
We spent Halloween on a plane to Seattle :].
It was somewhat ironic to see the only people dressed up on the plane were two girls dressed as a devil and a black cat, and they were SO RUDE and held up the line getting on to and off of the plane. Devilish indeed ;]
Then today we got a few bags of candy at 50% off. Whoo hoo!
44. Katie said the following at 8:29 AM on Nov 2:
I have never dressed up for halloween. I have never been trick or treating. My life has never been scarred. I don't feel deprived.
Now that there are several older kids, we've talked about it and decided not to support anything halloween, even the church stuff. It just seems stupid to celebrate (or participate, what's the difference?) in a holiday that is so blatantly Satanic. You're fooling yourself if you think it's "innocent".
As far as dressing up, why can't you dress up other times?
We always dress up for the Jewish holiday Purim, and give cookies to friends that day. Just as fun, and it's not connected to an occult holiday!
45. Loris said the following at 8:37 AM on Nov 2:
Bravo, P&P! I love it when people take care with their costumes. Will you sew or buy Marie Antoinette?
I was disappointed we had no kids this year, our first Halloween in our new house. I bought mini Kit Kats, mint Three Musketeers, and Brachs Milkmaid Caramels. 7:30 came and went, and no little kids, so I went to a Halloween party my friends were hosting. I dressed like an Undead Rogue for those who play WoW, and for those who don't, imagine a Renaissance zombie assassin. Rich red tunic, purple and black eyeshadow used as face powder, and a whole lotta knives.
Wishing I hadn't gone now. My friends say they're Christians, but neither has been to church since they moved out of their respective parents' houses. Most of their friends are non-Christians. The guests showed up 3/4 drunk (drove to get there!!!!) and proceeded go to the rest of the way. A relative of the host had invited himself and his teenage children even though the invitation was clear that there would be alcohol and proceeded to "chaperone" them, meaning he sat in the corner and complained loudly that he didn't understand the movies we were watching: Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. Who in their right mind invites his young teens to a 21 and up party? As soon as his back was turned, his 14 year old daughter, who has sexual issues, was in the corner making out with another girl.
I didn't see the bad behavior because I stayed in the living room watching Simon Pegg and zombie movies. I'm glad I didn't know until Mr. Loris told me on the way home. As I was leaving, the hostess came up to me and clung to me and thanked me for not being drunk. She said she'd learned her lesson and would be much more careful about the guest list and alcohol intake for the next party.
This is my first bad experience with Halloween. I didn't celebrate it as a child because we were in a foreign country and my school had "Story Book Parade." As a teen, I worked my church's lame fall festivals. I went trick-or-treating the first time as a freshman in college and had a ball. Older and wiser, I guess. I probably won't attend next year's Halloween party at my friends' house, now that I know how their friends will behave. For me, the holiday is merely an excuse to dress up without looking like a lunatic, watch zombie movies, and overdo the sweets. I did that, but I can do those things from the comfort of my home next year.
46. elena said the following at 12:26 PM on Nov 2:
I never trick-or-treated as a kid, but I can't remember feeling left out, either. Mom bought candy for us, anyway :) We handed out tracks and candy to neighborhood kids, and I always enjoyed seeing their costumes. This year I participated in our church's Spark in the Dark program--an outreach for neighborhood kids which included food, games, and a drama presentation with each act held in a different room of the church. It's nothing high tech., but the kids did seem to enjoy it.
Because the holiday really does have a dark side, demonstrating God's love during it--through mingling with neighbors, church outreaches, or close family time--is a great way to rejoice in the surpassing power of His light.
47. Zusanne said the following at 2:33 PM on Nov 2:
I grew up trick-or-treating--and never thought too much about it except it was an evening with my dad (my mom stayed home and passed out the candy stapled to tracts--because you can't NOT give out candy if you're giving tracts) and it was an opportunity to get free candy (except the house on our block that gave out popcorn balls, gross!); my parents never made a huge deal either way. Just nice, happy family memories.
My brother's church does a "trunk or treat" event every year--people park their cars and open up the trunks--which are decorated--and then the kids go around and collect the candy from the trunks.
I happened to mention this to a friend the other day, and she was horrified! She told me to talk to my brother--what would I say? Free candy, safe environment, and, when the kids are older, an opportunity to share how we as Christians do things differently from the way others do them.
48. Tamara (from Canada) said the following at 3:14 PM on Nov 2:
I think I maybe went trick-or-treating two or three times as a kid, and never felt like I was missing out on anything. My parents always bought candy for us so we didn't miss out on that part of it . . . and of course, then it was all candy we liked. There were a couple of other families in our neighbourhood that didn't trick-or-treat either so we would spend the evening with them playing games, watching movies, and just having fun. To be honest, I like the years we did that way better than the years I went trick-or-treating.
And now, my friends and I don't really do anything either. We all live in apartment buildings, so no trick-or-treaters. Most years are much like this year was . . . we get together for a games night and food, and just have fun together. Since it's a night that most of us have free because of not choosing other things we usually have a good group of people turn out, and we just treat it like any other games or movie night we have at other times of the year.
I have serious questions/reservations about participation on Halloween activities personally. But I don't judge others based on their choices. Whatever people choose to do is their choice. And, as Christians, our job is not to judge others actions, but to make sure that our actions are right and to deal with participation in Halloween activities with God to come to our own choices.
49. Larissa said the following at 11:10 PM on Nov 2:
I live in Australia, and like Hayley (#29) said, it's really frustrating how this American practice is creeping into Australian life.
Many of my friends went to Halloween parties, and a friend even had trick-or-treaters.
I've never understood, even when I was a child, how Christians could be involved in something that is obviously dark and satanic. Christ is the LIGHT of the world, not the darkness. So I would never dress up and go trick-or-treating, but if a kid came to my door, I would give him/her candy and a gospel tract or something Christian. BUT only if I lived in American. If they come to my door, and I'm still living in Australia, they get nothing! It's not our tradition, and I don't like it anyway.
50. IvetteAlegria said the following at 3:20 PM on Nov 3:
As my fb status update read:
"Halloween: Evidence that adultessence is thriving in America."
So yeah, I care. So much so, I even blogged about here: ivettealegria.wordpress.com