Not comfortable with Halloween
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Anonymous
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Many Christians aren't comfortable with Halloween. Google Wicca and Halloween.
"The origins of Halloween are Celtic in tradition and have to do with observing the end of summer sacrifices to gods in Druidic tradition. In what is now Britain and France, it was the beginning of the Celtic year, and they believed Samhain, the lord of death, sent evil spirits abroad to attack humans, who could escape only by assuming disguises and looking like evil spirits themselves. The waning of the sun and the approach of dark winter made the evil spirits rejoice and play nasty tricks. Believe it or not, most of our Halloween practices can be traced back to these old pagan rites and superstitions. Christians attempted to co-opt the holiday by celebrating the lives of faithful Christian saints the day before Halloween. This was a conscious attempt to provide an alternative and re-focus the day away from ghouls, goblins, ghosts, witches and other “haunted” experiences. Halloween is a real, sacred day for those who follow Wicca. In fact, it is one of two high and holy days for them. The Celtic belief of spirits being released is current, along with the worship of Samhain (the lord of death) – both are promoted as something to embrace on that day. For those who follow the practices of witchcraft, Halloween represents an opportunity to embrace the devilish, dark side of the spiritual world." |
Anonymous
I'm cool with Halloween but this is a bit much (if you're serious). |
Anonymous
| People can turn anything into an issue if they want to. Next stop? Wreck Thanksgiving b/c it slams Native Americans. Do what you want, just please don't mess it up for the rest of us. TIA. |
Anonymous
| We are Christians, and we go trick or treating.. BUT, we only do positive costumes, my three year old was a little disappointed when I told her I wanted her to pick out something other than a monster as her costume, but once I showed her princesses, animals, superheros, etc.. she was excited all over again.. |
Anonymous
| Halloween is observed in this country as a secular holiday. We do not attach any religious significance to it. Kids love it. Growing up, the Halloween parties and trick-or-treating were the highlights of my childhood. There are a number of students -- conservative Christians -- who do not participate in the Halloween parties. Some even keep their kids home from school. Bible-based Christianity really doesn't make sense to me. The Bible says so many crazy, inconsistent things. And I think it's equally senseless to think God will somehow frown on your kid putting on a power rangers costume and getting some candy bars. Is God really that cruel and petty? So silly. I feel badly for the kids who must leave the room during the festivities but at the same time, I don't want to see these kooks ruining a fun time for everyone else. |
Anonymous
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This is the beauty of a country with freedom of religion. If you don't want to participate, don't.
Otherwise, don't overthink it. Like the PP said, find a cute, fun outfit to dress DC and let her eat some candy. Not much more too it. Skip the skeletons and blood. |
Anonymous
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OP, I was raised christian. To most people Halloween doesn't have any "meaning" at all. It's just about dressing up, trick-or-treating, and maybe telling a few ghost stories like folks would around a camp fire.
You can teach your child whatever YOU want about halloween. It doesn't have to be about horror or evil spirits or whatever other nonsense. In this country we also say, "God bless you" when someone sneezes. Did you know this comes from an old superstition that demons could inhabit your body at the moment of sneezing? Or that your heart would stop and you would die unless someone said it to you? It's obviously absurd. But we still say it. Many things have bizarre origins; no reason to let that spoil our modern day fun. Are you aware that some christians won't let their child celebrate their birthday? Because such a practice is regarded as "Pagan". Much Easter imagery - eggs and rabbits and what not - come from ancient pagan traditions. Will you ban Easter from your home too? Just teach your child what YOU believe. And meanwhile, I really hope you let your child participate in the fun. |
Anonymous
Really? The OP asked for thoughts....where do you crazy people come from? |
Anonymous
I'm sorry, maybe I misread, but where did the OP say she was going to wreck the holiday. Didn't she just ask what to do for herself. I can provide you a class on reading assistance if you need it. Or do you just like to flame threads.... |
Anonymous
As a practicing witch I object to this. We don't embrace anything devilish. We do take a moment out to meditate, if you will, on loved ones who have gone before us, and to think about how death is a part of life. To remember that and to value life while you have it. It is a day when many pagans believe the "veil between the worlds" is thinnest and one can commune with the dead. Whether or not such "communion" - reaching out to loved ones who have gone before - is evil is something the Church decided in an effort to demonize paganism and turn everyone away from the old ways and towards the new religion. Pagans do not see opposites the same way many christians do. Death is not the evil opposite of life. It is a natural part of life. Rituals that acknowledge that can help people make peace with the fact that all things die, including us. But life goes on. http://wicca.com/celtic/akasha/samhainlore.htm I don't pretend that there aren't some crazy people who are evil, who celebrate evil, and who may use Halloween or any other excuse to do weird things. But then so do some Christians. Inquisition, anyone? Just like most normal christians would never burn someone to death or put them on a rack, most normal witches don't even BELIEVE in the devil, never mind try to worship or commune with him. And even as a witch, I don't see any of what I wrote about wicca as having anything to do with the little kids who come to my door for peanut butter cups. Just think of it as a harvest celebration. |
Anonymous
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Another Christian who never thinks of it as a religious day, although now as an adult I know that it does have some meaning in some faiths and spiritual traditions.
Kids dress up and go trick-or-treating. People carve pumpkins. Some adults really get into it with costume parties of their own. DD is just a toddler, but we are going to take part in Halloween. Last year we carved pumpkins into smiley faces, dressed her in a cute costume and handed out candy to the neighbor kids. Her daycare had a party that included the families. I hate horror, but like the fun and fantasy aspect of it for little kids. |
Anonymous
Speaking of horror! |
Anonymous
The crazy people aren't the "don't take it so GD seriously" crowd. They are the religious fanatics who have pushed our school toward, in some cases, an outright banning of Halloween celebrations or calling it a "book" parade (dress as a book character). It's ridiculous. |
Anonymous
Only the (1) Fundies who tend to homeschool and the (2) converted, recent immigrants from a developing country aren't "comfortable" with Halloween. Your basic mainline Protestant or multi-generational Catholic is fine with Halloween. |
Anonymous
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OP here.
I'm really upset with the turn this thread has taken. Thanks to the very few posters who actually read my question and answered it. I'm protestant so praying for the souls of the deceased makes no sense in our belief. My main question was regarding the spooky aspect of Halloween. I'm not comfortable with my child celebrating or partying while body parts are spread on the lawn. We're supposed to be disgusted by body parts and not eat them as candy... Anyway, I was raised in a Catholic school and my parents always explained me the meaning of the festivities but never ever pulled me out of anything. They let me be free to decide if I wanted to be part of it but I knew exactly what I was doing. I guess this approach makes sense and maybe this is what I'll do when my children get old enough to understand and ask for it. |