We don’t celebrate Halloween around our house. My children have never gone trick-or-treating and never been allowed to participate in Halloween festivities and, believe it or not, I don’t think they’ve suffered any long lasting ill effects as a result. We’ve been careful to explain the reasons why from the time they were very young and our children really don’t seem to think they’re missing out on very much.
A lot of well-meaning Christians resort to Halloween history lessons in their efforts to dissuade others from participating in the holiday. Certainly Halloween has pagan roots, though, in careful study, it appears it may have been just as influenced by pseudo-Christianity as by paganism.
Personally, I don’t have to look back to the origin of Halloween to decide I don’t like it and don’t want to participate in it. For me, Halloween past is virtually irrelevant. I make my judgment about Halloween based on its present, the here and now, and I can tell you I hate it because…
1. Halloween glorifies death and evil.
That’s creepy enough, really, the way so many seem to actually take pleasure in death this time of year. But it’s not just death–it’s often gory, grisly, awful death! And violence. And murder.
Now I realize that most parents are dressing their children as princesses and bumble bees and pea pods, not zombies and dismembered-bodies, but in modern times Halloween has become far more about adults than children anyway. And often for adults, the more vile and disgusting the Halloween costume, the better! Zombies and vampires are all the rage. Prostitute or would-be prostitute costumes, whether in nurse or sailor or medieval princess form, are popular for the ladies, and I’ve run across more get-ups with very suggestive themes than I care to recall.
If Halloween was ever really a holiday for kids, which is questionable to begin with, it was hijacked by adults long ago and what they’ve left behind is hardly suitable for children. Which leads me to the second reason I hate Halloween…
2. I can’t shield my kids from Halloween’s awful images.
I talked about costumes a moment ago, but I didn’t even touch on Halloween decorating! If anything made me hate Halloween, especially when I had littles, it was all the awful things I could not keep them from seeing.
Though it isn’t as much of a trend where I live now, (thank heavens!) our old neighborhood was FILLED with apparent Halloween-lovers! I could drive down the street and see orange string lights and Jack-o-lanterns, which seem fairly harmless and sometimes almost pretty, but then next door to them would be dead bodies hanging from trees or severed body parts lying across a lawn. It was like being forced to look through crime scene photos and it made me crazy that my children had to look at it, too.
A few years ago I made a quick run into a party supply store and when I didn’t find what I was looking for, I inadvertently made my exit up the Halloween aisle. There I saw the most horrid and disturbing Halloween decoration I have ever seen. I won’t even try to describe it for you here because I’d rather forget it, but I THANK GOD my children were not with me at that moment. Though certainly that was the worst thing I’d ever seen, (bad enough I should have complained to the manager and I regret now that I didn’t,) my kids are exposed to similar garbage in virtually every store I visit from August to the first of November.
If I wanted my children seeing trash like that, I would be renting slasher films for them to enjoy in their free time. But of course that would make me a bad parent. Sadly, outside of keeping my children blindfolded in public for six weeks or more, I can’t protect them from sights like that.
Oh, and incidentally, I believe these awful decorations are the biggest reason my kids have no problem abstaining from Halloween. They’re as bothered by zombies and blood and evil images as I am. To them, THAT is what Halloween is all about.
But I also hate this holiday because…
3. Halloween detracts from the incredible beauty of the season.
Is the wonder of God’s creation any more evident than in autumn? Fall literally takes my breath away at times–rusty reds and brilliant golds and magnificent shades of orange and purple–all blended together in these remarkable smatterings of deep, rich natural color. How do you take that all in and really convince yourself it happened by accident, that there was no Designer at work in such perfection?
Sometimes it seems Halloween was just a clever scheme of Satan, all of it aimed at distracting from a season that shouts out the truth of creation like few things can. If that was his plan, I’m afraid it has worked very well for him. The world seems more consumed with the commercialization of death than with this beautiful gift of summer’s end and harvest.
And even those of us determined to ignore Halloween as much as possible can sometimes struggle to look past the ugliness of it to fully enjoy the season. After all, it’s a little hard to relish the beauty of a flaming orange sugar maple when there are effigies hanging from it.
I'm not actually a Christian, Tanya, but I share with you your hatred of Halloween. My birthday is in a couple of days and I always find it overshadowed by the Halloween decorations in the shops. It has truly become another seasonal money-making scheme, and worse. There is nothing good about it and we don't celebrate it at all in our house.
Best wishes from England
I have an October birthday myself and I hate that something as awful as Halloween seems to set the mood for the entire month! And you're right–it's all about commercialization and the stores making money. But of course they do it because it works! I only wish more people would decide Halloween has taken such a dark and ugly turn it isn't fit for celebrating.
I'm delighted you stopped by today, Alison! Thanks for reading!
Thank you for giving me something to think about. We do participate in Halloween but I, like you, do not like the imagery this time of year. My almost 8yo and I said this morning we will have to watch DVDs after 8 p.m. on the weekends because of the disturbing commercials on Nickelodeon (during reruns of Full House!). He can sense something unsettling as well. We will not do violent, gory costumes or decorations, ever!
I'm not so sure Halloween was ever actually "innocent", but I can certainly say it's a far different thing than it was when I was a child. I realize now there were so many negative aspects to it I didn't even see at the time, but at least back then people knew their neighbors and there didn't seem to be such a fascination with death and gore, though I think it was heading that direction even then.
We usually go out and do something with our kids on Halloween night and they don't even seem to notice they're missing out on anything. Places like McDonald's Playland or Chuck E. Cheese's are open, but BARREN on Halloween night, which can actually be a tremendous blessing! We usually have free reign of the place!
I'm very lucky to live in a town under 1000 so it is VERY low-key here, nothing like a big city, we got to houses of people we know and one of the churches has a trunk or treat. And yes, many things are different than what I remember as a child. My son encountered a zombie video game at the movie theater one day while I was up getting popcorn, that I had no idea was there. Thank goodness he knew to RUN AWAY and come tell me.
I've come across some pretty creepy ads just jumping online for a few minutes. It's a different day for sure!
Halloween is actually a Catholic holiday, so yes at one point is was innocent and the world has twisted it into something evil, which is so often does! It was originally called Hallowed Eve (Hallowed meaning "Holy" and eve meaning the day before, aka: the day before a holy day) because Nov 1 is All Saints Day, which is a time to pray for and remember those who have died. Kids used to dress up as their favorite Saints. Unfortunately Satan has twisted it into something completely awful! But if you teach your children the roots of Halloween, it doesn't all have to be bad 🙂
All Hallow's Eve was, indeed, a Catholic holiday, though many do believe it was created as an alternative for pagan celebrations that began with the Druids or the Romans or both. But you're right–it's certainly become something awful. And while I know a lot of well-meaning people try to draw out the good, I find it very difficult to do so myself.
Thank you so much, Alix, for reading today!
Halloween was a pagan holiday before it was a Catholic holiday. You're right, the Catholics chose that day to celebrate the saints because it'd be easier to convert people.
I wrote about my thoughts on halloween here: http://dreamingofperfect.weebly.com/1/post/2013/10/my-thoughts-on-halloween.html
Hannah J
dreamingofperfect.weebly.com
My little boy will be 6 on Oct 30th. We refer to Halloween as the Devil's B-day so my children have no desire to celebrate it. Titus actually cried the other day because his B-day was too close to the Devil's. I never went trick or treating as a child and my children will not either. So surprised parents allow their children to accept candy from strangers anyway. Isn't that something we teach them not to do year round? But hey…. the hospitals open their radiology departments to the public on Halloween night to xray their candy. Such a scary age we live in…..
I take my kids to FPC for Neewollah. Halloween backwards. Reverses the darkness. They decorate using bright colors and lots of games non-Halloween related. That way my kids don't ever feel like they are missing out. We don't have to stay home with the doors locked and the lights out to avoid monsters knocking at our door.
I know a lot of churches offer alternatives. Our friends' son actually has his birthday on Halloween, which is what took us to Chuck E. Cheese's for the first time on that night. It actually proved to be a great idea! I had never even thought that all the usually kid-crowded places are empty on Halloween night. Makes it kind of nice!
Thanks for a great post. I do think that all the focus on the alleged (poorly documented) "history" of Halloween often gives the Evil One TOO MUCH attention! I'm glad you're focusing on the here and now. This is a post I can share some of with my dd – who is struggling to understand why we don't do this thing that the world makes look so fun.
I recommend that you call the store with the offensive display & make a complaint even now. Often managers don't like this stuff any more than you do – but feel compelled to put it up because the customers "demand it." If they can tell the boss that customers are complaining, that makes it much more likely that it won't be there next year : )
You make a good point, Anna. The creepiness of Halloween continues to worsen because people accept it and even welcome it. I'm probably not alone in thinking it gets worse every year!
So glad you stopped by today!
So true. I can't stand the glorification of death and evil. I just want nothing to do with that. I put together a post recently on my reasons for disliking Halloween as well, and they are along the same lines. But I love your last point. No one ever talks about that! My 4 year old, ever the people pleaser declared recently that "When I'm a Mommy, we're going to celebrate Fall, not Halloween!" OK, baby, we'll see. 🙂
Your 4-year old has the right idea! There are so many things I adore about fall like pumpkin patches and hayrides and apple bobbing. It honestly breaks my heart to see it overshadowed by the awfulness of Halloween.
Thanks so much for reading today, Gabby!
Thank you for this post. I agree. My prayer is that believers will embrace the wonderful Jewish Feast and Festivals that celebrate Yeshua (Jesus) the Messiah. I write about these on my blog, and invite you to come by for a visit. Shalom,
Thank you so much for stopping by today, Gail! I'll be checking out your blog for sure!
Gail, I so agree! Why do we push aside His Holidays but embrace the worlds?
Great post! My daughter is afraid of our local party supply place because of that reason. Sad. Supposedly Halloween is a fun time for kids. Really? My kids are terrified.
I've wondered before if it was just MY kids. Obviously not! Of course, anybody in their right mind should be terrified of some of the stuff you see out this time of year!
Thanks for reading, Marsha!
It's the consumerism of Halloween that annoys me the most. I don't hate it and I do give out candy, but I don't really celebrate it either. To me it's an opportunity to get to know my neighbors better and to be generous despite the consumerism.
You make a good point about the focus on death. Originally Halloween was focused on death because of the death of many plants in the fall. Evil has come to be attached to that because we fear death (and because of undead creatures like Vampires and Zombies). BUT I think the seasonal attention to death is actually a great opportunity to share the gospel and talk about Christ's atoning death – and how, through his grace, we can enjoy eternal life – not because we're vampires, or zombies, but because we are saved by his blood. Blood and death are not inherently evil – and in fact, Jesus showed that they can be the greatest good ever known!
I can't actually find the place to leave a comment, so I'll just to have reply! I found you via the blog hop. There are things that I detest about this holiday:the gore, the scary costumes, and the sexualization for adults, but especially kids. It seems to be getting worse. We live in a small Christian community, fairly conservative, and we do have trick or treating, but there is an understanding that there aren't scary decorations or costumes. What I do love about this holiday is the opportunity to meet your neighbors and others. How often do so many people come to your house? I think it is a perfect opportunity to be kind and welcoming. I thought this was a good article.
http://troublefacemom.com/2012/10/31/on-halloween/
To Amy: I agree that the shed blood and death of Jesus brought us good through His resurrection, but I have to confess I'd have a horrible time trying to make a correlation between His sacrifice and most of what I see at Halloween. The two just seem so far removed from one another. I do agree, however, that we can celebrate the eternal life we have through Christ, though relating that to Halloween is an awful stretch for me, too. While we don't have to fear death as Christians, it's nonetheless true that bodily death was a penalty for sin and is a sign of sin's curse upon man.
To Elizabeth: Thank you! I will say the main positive I remember from trick-or-treating as a child was seeing and chatting with neighbors as we went. But these were mostly people we had relationships with every other day of the year. Today I would say a very small percentage of people have real relationships with their neighbors and while, granted, making contact one night a year may be better than nothing, it isn't MUCH better than nothing, especially given everything else Halloween entails.
I'm so glad you found me and took the time to comment! Thanks for stopping by!
I am not a Halloween fan either. My birthday is the day after halloween….Thank you for sharing at the Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop Hugs!
Well a happy early birthday to you! And, as always, thank you so much for hosting. I appreciate the opportunity to link up!
I don't like Halloween or Christmas.They both have pagan roots to a degree and I used to be pagan so it makes me uncomfortable.I prefer to observe the feasts it talks about in the Bible.Most of my family celebrates halloween,easter,and christmas and I don't throw a fit or anything if they get my daughter a gift or if they want her to come over to spend time with the family,but for the most part I don't have much enthusiam for the holidays.
I wholeheartedly celebrate Christmas and Easter, but I do respect those who choose not to do so. Most American Christians are unaware of the fact that the early Puritans actually forbid the celebration of both. In their eyes the holidays were so deeply rooted in paganism as to be incompatible with their faith. Though I feel the celebration of Easter and Christmas have come a long way since their pagan and/or Roman Catholic beginnings, I also understand people feeling less compelled to celebrate them, especially given the way they have become so commercialized.
Interesting perspective. We, too, dislike the gory/scary images that so frequently pop up this time of year. We've taken a different view on the day over the last few years, though, in an attempt to redeem some of the better aspects of Halloween (similar to the way Christmas and Easter have been redeemed by Christians over the years). I wrote about it last week – "Halloween Redemption?". I know it's not for everyone, though. 🙂
Halloween presents a real challenge for a lot of Christians, I know. I read your post and I agree with much of what you said. I appreciate so many church's efforts to offer alternatives to Halloween and, at the same time, often the alternatives seem to be the same celebration, just packaged a little differently.
I never want to lose hope when it comes to the prospect of turning bad things around for good, but I must confess I see little of Halloween that's worth redeeming. But I do respect those who use the opportunity for outreach.
I was dubious when I read the title to your post, but you've made some good points and I have to agree with everything you've said! However, my grandsons are very young and I don't have a problem with them dressing up in cute little costumes and going to the fall festival at church, which includes trunk or treating.
Oh, and I'm your newest follower! I'd love for you to come visit me at True Hope and a Future! http://www.lisalewiskoster.com
Thank you, Lisa! I've actually been impressed as I've read of the different ways Christians choose to approach Halloween. Many use it as a way to reach out to their communities and I respect that effort.
I'm so glad you found me! And thanks for following!
I would like to see the original holiday come back–Hallow Eve. It was a time when the children would pick out a saint, dress up like the saint and get together with children in their church to share what they learned about the saint and pray together
I'm afraid it's a far cry from anything positive now. So glad you stopped by to read!
I'm also not a fan of Halloween for the reasons you listed above. I spent a lot of time praying about the whole thing and asking God for wisdom on this issue. One of the things He showed me was that while we may hate the evil and yuck that is represented everywhere it is a good reminder of all that He has saved us from! We don't have to be scared and frightened of death, demons, and Hell – all of which are very real – because of Jesus and His grace that has saved us! So now when I see these things out and about (you can't avoid them!) I'm using it as a time to thank God for His love, forgiveness, and that He has conquered death! I'm no longer going to let it make me feel depressed and upset – death has got no hold me!
It's true–we don't have to fear death when we know Christ. I just wish we didn't live in a world so consumed with death and evil this time of year!
I live in New Zealand, and there is an alternative festival that started here years ago, called Light Parties. On Halloween [ hate it!] the local churches in many communities have a Light party to celebrate Jesus being the Light of the World. Free sausage sizzles, fun games- a real whole family event. Maybe someone could get this idea to spread through USA ?
People do try to turn it into a positive event here in the US, but I'm not sure how effective it is overall. Certainly at a time like Halloween the world needs to see the light of Christ!
I wish it was just the cute decorations. I love those. Smiling jack-o-lanterns, orange lights behind the fall leaves, scarecrows, etc.
Oh, I LOVE fall decorating and my porch is fixed up with leaves and pumpkins and a scarecrow. I just wish all the ugly stuff wasn't a part of it all, too! Of course, it doesn't have to be at my house! 🙂
It is encouraging to find others who feel the same way as I do! This was our first Halloween where we did not celebrate. I've spent a lot of time studying the Bible the past year and it was made evidently clear that this is not something that my family is participating in.
Thank-you so much for doing your part in spreading the word!
Erin
Yellow Birch Hobby Farm
http://yellowbirchhobbyfarm.blogspot.com
Thank you for reading, Erin! I appreciate those who try to turn into something positive, but I find myself wanting to be as far removed from it all as possible.
So glad you stopped by today!
Excellent post! I like this…Thanks for sharing!
Amen! We have never celebrated Halloween either! Thank you for speaking out…