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notyet notyet is offline
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alright, so it's not timely. i took some time off from here to spend with my children. oh, and i also went on a date...

<):-D

so what did you do on halloween? anything? did you go to a party? dress up? take out the children?

why did you do what you did?

ironically, it was while listening to a mike warnke tape on halloween (yes, the disgraced evangelical faker) when stil in high school that i became convicted of "celebrating" that day. before then, i had gone to the haunted houses and parties and dressed up appropriately and joined the festivities,

after the tape, i decided it was inappropriate for a christian to glorify the demonic (ghosts, vampires, zombies, witches) and emulate it- especially in jest.

so every year, instead of letting my children dress up and yell "trick-or-treat!" at the neighbors doors, i take them out to dinner. this year we took grandpa and had dinner at Claim Jumpers. We skipped the I Declair.

i do always have candy to hand out to those who come and knock on our door. i have in years past included Chick Tracts in a goody-bag filled with candy. this year it was just candy.

what did you do? why? am i a crazy legalistic? or are your thoughts similar to mine?

i'll try to keep the next thread timely.
Last edited by notyet; November 4th, 2009 at 10:22 pm. Reason: typo
- November 2nd, 2009, 02:35 pm
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cardguy cardguy is offline
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I don't see any harm in getting the kids dressed up in costumes and going around the neighborhood asking for candy. There are plenty of ways to dress up without being grim and ghoulish.

Another common thing I see is harvest celebrations sponsored by churches....basically all the fun activities, dressing up, good food, etc without the horror elements of Halloween.

Personally this is one of those situations where I'd rather engage culture by participating in it in positive ways than shun it and try to be above the whole thing.

On the whole it strikes me as a "meat sacrificed to idols" type of situation...we know where the power lies and needn't be afraid of participating, but if we or someone around us is struggling with it, it's certainly fine to avoid it as long as we don't take on a self-righteous attitude towards Christians who do.
- November 2nd, 2009, 07:54 pm
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rix rix is offline
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I also enjoy listening to his tapes. Very entertaining! Yes, even though some quality investigative journalism had shown the foundation of his ministry to be a sham ( Selling Satan: The Evangelical Media and the Mike Warnke Scandal by Mike Hernstein and Jon Trott). His false testimony about being a "former Satanist high priest" contributed significantly to the sensationalism surrounding the subject for many years.

The investigative journalists uncovered that during the timeframe, when he was allegedly engaging in "the dark side," he was actually just your average "nerdy" church going youth. Ironically, he did not begin partying and womanizing until he became a travelling comedian/evangelist.

He actually hinted at his duplicity on one of his recordings. He was joking around about how nobody wants to hear the testimony of "someone who has been saved since childhood for thirty-five years. They want to hear the testimony of someone who killed their mother yesterday, and got saved last night." So, that's exactly what Mike Warnke did with tales of ritualistic sacrifice, drug use, and partying. However, the partying and excess began after the success of his "ministry." I'm surprised it took as long as it did, before someone started checking out the details highlighted in his book The Satan Seller.

As for Halloween, I have no problem with getting dressed up and observing the holiday festival, or any other "traditional" festivals. I know that not only Jehovah's Witnesses have a problem with the "renamed pagan festivals," but some evangelicals do as well (including Christmas). Also, there are other evangelicals who only observe the Jewish festivals outlined in the Old Testament. However, I personally have no problem with any of the festivals/holidays, and I have not given them up for Lent (pun intended).

However, I do have a problem with the glorification of death and the macabre.Therefore, I usually choose something more life affirming for a costume, like a cutthroat pirate.

Interestingly, Halloween is known as "day of the dead" in Mexico, or as ACORN calls it - "Voter Registration Day."
Last edited by rix; November 4th, 2009 at 06:37 am.
- November 4th, 2009, 04:52 am
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winn winn is offline
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I've never been comfortable with Halloween, even as a child and the day scared me. I think I have always had an open soul to being plagued by spirits of all kinds and have always been aware of the world beyond this one. When the kids were little we did do some trick or treating with them but mostly we would go to the harvest party that the church offered where they could get their fill of candy and play games and watch fireworks at the end of the evening. In the last few years I have not handed out any candies or entertained the idea of celebrating Halloween but my daughter came over and wanted to hand candies out herself since she's in farm country and gets no children at her own door. so I let her do that at my place. I have to admit there were some really adorable little children in dragon, fairy and snake costumes.
- November 4th, 2009, 06:28 pm
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meri75 meri75 is offline
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We don't have Halloween in Australia. I spent the weekend as per any other weekend, except that I managed to NOT work for the first time in eight weekends. Yes!

Nearly every year, at least one radio voice will make a comment about the trick or treating that happens. Because we don't have it, it's really difficult to understand how children don't get snatched ... it's usually referred to here as 'what must be the most dangerous night of the year'.
- November 6th, 2009, 11:59 pm
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Diann1950 Diann1950 is offline
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My Halloween was a little different than last year. Usually the grand kids come over and trick or treat from my house. I live in a small town where kids can still eat the homemade treats like popcorn balls and such, This I was tapped to lector at church. As a Catholic this is the eve of the Feast of All Saints and the next day is the Feast of All Souls so there is a significant religious aspect to my holiday. I know that one year we had a party for the kids where the requirement was for them to dress up as either saints or people who might possibly be saints. Do you have any idea how much blue marker it takes to make a sari like Mother Teressa's?
- November 7th, 2009, 06:07 am
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When_I_See_You_Smile When_I_See_You_Smile is offline
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cardguy wrote :
I don't see any harm in getting the kids dressed up in costumes and going around the neighborhood asking for candy. There are plenty of ways to dress up without being grim and ghoulish.

Another common thing I see is harvest celebrations sponsored by churches....basically all the fun activities, dressing up, good food, etc without the horror elements of Halloween.
Halloween is my least favorite holiday. As you mentioned notyet, I don't see any reason to glorify the creepy, evil stuff. I abhor horror flicks and haunted houses. There's nothing pleasant about any of that.

When I was growing up, we did dress up in costumes (nice ones, though), and go out trick-or-treating. Living on an Air Force base made it very safe, though. The entire community got involved, and it was fun. Do I dress up now, or decorate my house with Halloween decor? No.

Instead, I prefer to stick to harvest celebrations, as mentioned above. I also love to decorate my home with fall berry wreaths and beautiful pumpkins. The smells of the fall season are my favorite (pumpkin, apple spice, caramel, etc...).

As far as being a Christian goes, I just choose not to participate in things that make me uncomfortable. I'm not going to tell other people that they shouldn't go see the latest horror film, or dress up in something truly frightening. I don't think it's my place to do so.
- November 7th, 2009, 08:51 am
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valigirl valigirl is offline
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I've always loved Halloween, but then it's my birthday, which may be the most relevant reason. When I was a kid, no one preached against it that I can remember. The first message I heard against it was after I had children, and I have to tell you - I was pretty bummed about the whole thing. I go to a rather large church now, and my pastor's wife is dead-set (no pun intended) against it, so Pastor preaches against it every year. I asked him once why he would single out Halloween as a pagan holiday and never mention Christmas, since technically, it also has many of its roots in paganism, i.e., christmas trees, lights, etc. He just laughed and told me I was a rebel. I continue to give out candy and still love the day as it is, after all, a day that the Lord has made - I will rejoice and be glad in it.
- November 7th, 2009, 09:30 am
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Hisown Hisown is offline
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It is amazing that we are afraid to state our beliefs to others because we might offend them. others often don't have a problem telling us their's. There has to be some way that we feel comfortable expressing what we believe in love and not afraid to talk about what we believe. Why do we feel we have to be silenced. Is it because we have been told that we have no rights to talk and only the opposition can speak their mind? I thought we lived in the United States where we all have the right to freedom of speech. Just do it tactfully and with the motive. We don't have to preach but we can express our viewpoints and not be ashamed with how/why we believe it.
- November 7th, 2009, 12:19 pm
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