Finally, a blog entry that's not a sermon (at least not yet, and probably not this year).
Kathy & I were amazed when we moved to New England at the Halloween-mania. Although Halloween was certainly celebrated in the other states we had lived in, nowhere else was it celebrated by as many well meaning evangelical Christians. In California, Kathy & I were friends with psychologist James Friesen who specialized in treating multiple personality disorder cases (actually, now I see where it's been renamed dissociative identity disorder). In his treatment of these patients, virtually all of the patients were victims of child abuse and most were victims or satanic ritual abuse (aka SRA). Kathy had the opportunity to hear the story of one of the survivors of SRA, and her message was, "You really don't get the extent to which Satan worship and human sacrifice is real, but once you get it, you'll never want to celebrate Halloween again."
Now, I know that many will argue that costumes and trick-or-treat have as much to do with Satan worship as Easter eggs and marshmallow chicks have to do with the resurrection and evergreen trees, stockings, and Santa Claus have to do with the birth of the Savior. I get that. (Personally, I think that when society co-opts a religious observance--e.g. worshipping Santa instead of the Christ-child--it's time for the religious community to move on. Don't forsake Christmas, but dispense with the secular trappings in a radical way and allow God to make something new, some new form of devotion and worship, in place of the old. PS - Did you know that Puritans didn't celebrate Christmas outwardly much at all? They figured the best celebration was how they lived their lives ...)
Getting back to Halloween celebrations, I think it's a lot like Romans 14. The question there is, "Is it OK to eat meat that has been slaughtered and sacrificed to idols?" Paul's answer was: if you think it's sin, then it's sin; if you think it's not sin, then it's not sin; however, if your actions cause someone else to stumble (e.g. peer pressure, causing the one who thinks that it's sin to do it anyway) then you have sinned as well. You might be clear in your own mind that Halloween is no big deal, but does your participation in Halloween cause someone else to glorify something that shouldn't be glorified? Then when I was googling this topic for the blog, I came across this article which makes the same point (albeit better).
The question for me is two-fold, "What do I lose by not celebrating Halloween if it's really just a secular holiday?" The answer: a little fun and a lot of candy. However, part two is, "What do I lose by celebrating Halloween if it really is as bad as all that?" The answer: a lot, and worst of all is I will have failed my kids. When I looked at it that way, it was pretty easy to put Halloween aside. Kathy & I were pretty direct with the kids: "How much candy will it take to buy you off?" We ended up buying them each a pound or so of candy, staying home, and doing something as a family.
Comments? Reactions?
6 comments:
I am of the opinion that the church can offer an alternative that is fun, family friendly and another way for our church family to spend time together.
Those of us with young children who want to trick or treat are in a very tough position. We need to pick our battles and try to let our kids have fun but not be drawn into things that could lead into trouble.
We could provide a movie night or some other activity that includes food & fun.
Kids love to dress up so we could encourage them to dress up as a favorite Bible character, food or super heroe.
Our children look to the church and their families for role modeling of how to live their lives while they are living in the world. To ignore the fun and draw of candy, dressing up and fun could lead our kids away from us and not toward the church as we all work so hard to do.
I need to provide a safe fun alternative for Holly and a few friends. I would like the first option to be with our church family.
I am willing to work hard to do whatever is needed. I know other parents have expressed willingness to help too.
Yes we need to look at why we do things and the deeper meaning of secular holidays but when all is said and done I feel that the church can help with this and not ignore or hide from it. As parents we have so many battles to fight against the evil in this world it seems to me this battle can be avoided by the help of the church.
I am looking forward to other reponses in the blog, by email heathermbrown@yahoo.com or by phone 647-5439.
God bless & peace, Heather
Thanks for the post. While this has been an area of controversy at the church in the past, it helps to understand where your convictions are coming from. I am sure for both you and Kathy that hearing first hand what Satanic Ritual Abuse can do to a person is horrifying, and perhaps if I had been in your shoes I may stand here today with the very same convictions.
I guess I weigh in somewhere in the middle of this issue. I have celebrated halloween for as long as I can remember and have even dressed up at work on a number of occasions. I am a big kid at heart, and welcome the opportunity to be "goofy" even as an adult. Likewise, my kids have been trick or treating (until one of them got too old and the other is almost there!), usually only to close friends and a few relatives. For us it has never really been about the candy. We only go to 5-6 houses and usually within a week I am throwing it out. We find it fun to come up with different and funny halloween costumes in an effort to make people laugh. So I guess when you reference Romans 14, the answer for me is "no" I do not think that my kids going trick or treating causes someone else to glorify something that shouldn't be glorified.
Certainly I think there is potential to go down a much darker road in an effort to celebrate Halloween, but I would hope as Christian parents, we would make choices that would nip anything of the sort very early on.
Like I have said before, because this is an area of such strong conviction for you, I think it is up to you and the Board as far as if and what we do at the church on Halloween. If the church wants to have a Halloween/Harvest/ event, I have no problem with that, but I don't think it is fair to say that it is the responsibility of the church to find an alternative. I think that is up to each individual parent and family, to do as God leads them.
I very much liked the article that you referenced, and I think it makes an excellent point. We have our beliefs, we have our convictions and we have out preferences. Ultimately, I hope this blog helps us all to understand each other a little better and accept each other, despite our varying convictions and preferences!
As a child of the 50's, Halloween brings back many special memories for me. It's hard each year not to want to remember and celebrate such a good time, actually one of my favorite times of year! Having said that, I know Halloween is not what is was then. There does seem to be a much darker side now. I guess I fall about the same place on Santa and the Easter Bunny. I choose to ignore those icons during those seasons and try to bring in a spiritual side and focus.
I think the hardest part for me is my loss of a time of innocense that can't be passed on to the children in my life. But I keep reminding myself, that it's my loss that I'm having a hard time with, because they never had those same circumstances that I had. I tend to suspect that kids are going to take their cue from the adults in their lives as to whether they are missing something or not.
We are called to be different in this world and maybe it starts with changing our focus on worldly holidays.
In the end though, it is between each person and God. We are given freedom. But, then the question becomes whether or not it might cause some other Christian to stumble in their walk. Take
I Corinthians Chapter 8 and insert any activity.
Also, back in the early church, most people were coming from pagan backgrounds and didn't want to give up their holidays/superstitions ....so they put "religious" names on them. In the end they kept their pagan holidays but appeared spiritual to the outside world. Hmmmm...sound fimiliar?
Because the Halloween question obviously brings up so many emotional responses, I think it's important that our Pastor(whether it's Chip or someone else) brings to light different ways to look at things we might not have ever thought of before. What we do with that information then becomes our responsibility.
Because people are all over the place on this issue, I think it would be ackward for the church to host a party and not appear to be taking one side or the other and I hate the thought that their are sides! But even within our own families, do we see everything the same way? No, but the love and acceptance is still there!
Just some thoughts to consider!
Just one further thought! I don't know the answer to what should be done, my previous thoughts are just some of the things that I mull over, but I don't intend for them to be statements of you must or must not do.
I like the blog, but would much rather be able to talk face to face about different issues. I don't think we allow ourselves the freedom to brainstorm out in the open and then when someone starts to "just wonder" about something it could possibly sound hurtful, because we aren't in the habit of openly expressing our thoughts and questions. That is one thing the younger generation is learning - how to give ideas - no matter how different - discuss them - and then walk away with positive food for thought and not crushed feelings. That was the spirit I previously expressed myself in. Apologizes if I was coming across in an accusational way - I was just expressing questions I struggle with!
How interesting, I post sermons week after week, and I get the most comments about Halloween. I don't quite know what to make of that!
A few random thoughts in response:
1. Is it more important for the church to offer an alternative, or to help parents and families discuss alternatives and do what works best for them? The George Barna book Revolutionary Parenting would say that this is an example of where children learn best by discussing faith issues (and anything that changes your behavior can be a faith issue) with family.
2. If the church offered an alternative party, would people treat it as an alternative, or simply another place to go for more of the same? In the past, my experience is that church alternatives are more like the latter. People go treat-or-treating, go to other places, and then go to the "alternative" party. (It's not much of an alternative then; it's just more.)
3. Whatever we do, I'm not judging anybody! Pam talked about brainstorming, and I'm all for it. (Certainly, it's one of the reasons I started the blog. Also, as I say in my profile, I'm of the opinion that we, together, are capable of reaching a better understanding of the heart of the matter than any of us individually ... assiming that we're willing to listen to each other and look at this from each other's point of view. In Colossians 2:16-19, Paul says:
Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize. Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions. He has lost connection with the Head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.
I think Paul would say that breaking unity over something like Halloween would be "false humility" and "idle notions". I think if we learn, through simple things like Halloween, to desire unity above idle notions, then we, as a church, have learned a valuable lesson for other, bigger problems at church, in our families, etc.
I haven't received any requests yet for anything regarding Halloween, but I will say that if something is proposed, that I'll be asking the board to look through some of the scriptures we've mentioned here in the process of reaching a decision. I'll be OK with whatever they decide.
We have all our ideas and I will be submitting an evemt form fopr Tuesday's meeting. I too will be ok whatever the board decides. It has been an interesting discussion and I for one am glad we are expressing our opinions. Thanks everyone God bless, Heather
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