Halloween
Today is Halloween and to be honest, it’s my favorite time of year. There’s always a horror movie at the theater, local drama troupes stage productions of “Dracula” or “Frankenstein”, all the TV networks are breaking out the classics (and not so classic), there’s a dozen haunted houses to choose from and, of course, ya gotta have candy ready for trick or treaters.
C’mon. I know some of you wish you were still a kid just so you could dress up.
Yet, it’s also the time of year I get slammed the most by other Christians.
“Halloween is All Hallows Eve”
“It’s a Pagan holiday”
And so on.
You know what?
I agree.
So I won’t use this space to try to justify my celebration (even if that only amounts to watching a movie on TV), nor will I use it to judge those who overindulge in celebration.
However, I do want to ask a couple questions of those who disapprove of celebrating Halloween.
Why is the celebration of our Savior’s death and resurrection called Easter?
Why do we celebrate our Savior’s birth in December when most theologians agree that Jesus was probably born in September or October?
Are there any Christmas or Easter traditions that Christians have that are not of Christian origin?
By the way, don’t comment unless you include answers to at least one of those questions. They’re pretty easy to find.
Thanks for posting this – I think it’s important to discuss shared ground between faiths, and lines of belief.
Ill give people a starter for ten: Easter is from the Saxon EOSTRE, the name of the great mother goddess of those times, mentioned by The Venerable Bede in the 7th Century CE. The timing of Easter is still ruled by the moon, and therefore changes every year.
Death and resurrection being major themes both in Jesus’s Story and that of other mystery religions – and pagan worship! – it must have seemed an appropriate time to celebrate his death and resurrection. It may have made Christianity more accessible to local populations by providing a similarity with extant pagan worship.
Like you I love Samhain (Hallowe’en). For me it is a chance to quietly remember the dead that I loved and who have gone ahead, and to plan to make myself better and brighter in the year to come. It is also the time I plan my garden for the coming year.
Commercialism of this and any other festival in the calendar presents more of an evil and a threat to our youth than dressing up as a witch and having a family party, I believe!
Blessings,
The Green Witch
Thanks for your input.
Some people are more than willing to point out Halloween’s connection to non-Christian religions simply because there is no relationship to Christianity (other than All Saints’ Day, which most Western Christians don’t celebrate). I’m willing to accept the beliefs of someone who doesn’t celebrate Halloween because of personal conviction if they also reject non-Christian parts of Christmas and Easter, but few are willing to make that sacrifice.
I believe Christ called His followers to be missional, which is why Christmas and Easter have some pagan elements. This is why I’m okay with churches that have “Halloween alternatives”, especially in today’s culture. You never know what some idiots will try (think tampering with candy). But what exactly is the problem with visiting a haunted house or watching horror movies? I have one friend who’s house at Christmastime resembles The Griswold’s house in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (stringing lights, albeit with candles, was a Roman tradition that was celebrated during their Solar festivals which predated Christ’s birth and fell on December 25), yet he forbids the students in his youth group from visiting the local haunted house/attraction.
Seems to me that his students could go to the attraction while wearing shirts that advertise their youth group.
No problem at all – the reaction to Hallowe’en is interesting to me for two reasons, one of which you’ve touched upon; it’s hard to see what other festival traditions are ‘pagan’ in origin (Christmas trees, anyone?) and therefore if they’re going to ban one, they should for consistency’s sake ban them all. The other is a purely child-psychology thing – ban a child from doing something and they’re going to want to do it, simple as that. Dress up Hallowe’en as a big woooooh! scary-fest and the child’ll go for it like ants to sugar.
I celebrate the family togetherness and assistance to others of Christmas – and do my ritual observance at Yule. Same elements, different chap under the hat.
Blessings, TGW