But when it comes to halloween, I don’t see how the practice of wearing a costume and going door-to-door conflicts with any sort of beliefs. If it’s about the day’s origins, Thanksgiving has very brutal origins. But its current practice is a beautiful one. This nation has horrible origins and a dark history. If origins are a concern, how could you justify living here?

If it’s about “seeds” being planted, then I have to ask how many of those seeds do you think grow into something negative? The overwhelming majority of people in this country celebrate halloween as children but there’s no correlation between those who do and any negative behavior later on. If there was a correlation then I could understand your take on the matter. But right now your position seems to be one of “Just because I said so” rather than rooted in any sort of rational thought or logic (then again, nothing associated with religion ever is).

When I was growing up, there was one year in which my parents insisted I wear a sweater over my costume and I refused and they didn’t let me go trick-or-treating. As the night grew later and I realized my trick-or-treating opportunities were about to pass, some friends came to our door and I gave in and put on the sweater so I could join them for the rest of the night. That halloween stands out more than any other of my youth because it was fairly traumatic to me that I almost missed out on one of the biggest events of the year for a child.

Halloween is not a fad, it’s a tradition. It’s easy for you as an adult to say you won’t be celebrating halloween- you had your experiences growing up. If you don’t think your children will harbor resentment toward you for denying them the experience of halloween for the reasons you’ve listed here, then you are incredibly naiive. Well-balanced parenting creates well-balanced adults. Extreme parenting creates extreme adults. I have no vested interest in your family or in halloween. I’m merely an objective observer who’s seeing some very dangerous seeds being planted and they have nothing to dow with halloween.

Would love to hear your thoughts on the celebration of Christmas in general as a Christian as well since it too is a pagan holiday. I’ve been reconsidering a lot of the Christmas “traditions” lately. And articles like the following really make me scratch my head:

[Links removed]

Thank you for your comments. We share common experiences on this subject.

Jenée,

Your comments are borderline rude. I will allow them to stay because I want both sides of this subject to be seen together.

I take make responsibilities as a father and a husband VERY seriously. Take a look at my boys Riley and Caden. Do they look like they are denied of anything good and pleasurable in the world? Halloween is just a silly holiday, but it is a seed. You should do a little research on “seed, time, harvest” to better understand what I am talking about. If you have never heard of it, then start by reading the parable of the sower in Luke 8:4-15. If you still do not understand then pray and ask God to help you understand. He will.

Halloween is not the only holiday tradition that I take a stand on. Take a look at where I stand on Santa. This is certainly not the norm of society either.

I have already thought long and hard about this Halloween thing. I am not denying my children of anything by keeping them home on Halloween. What I am doing is placing a higher value on our time together as a family playing, doing Bible devotionals, and watching good clean videos. Oh, and I don’t let my kids watch an ounce of TV either. My wife and I preview all videos before our children watch them too. That is certainly not the norm either is it? But once again, I do not let society determine the path my family takes. Some parents do let fads and social norms determine what the activities that they take part in, but I try not to as best that I can.

I choose for our family to have its own unique identity based on solid Biblical principles. There is nothing in the Bible that prevents us from dressing up and exchanging candy on October 31st, but there is nothing in the Bible that requires it either. I choose not to participate.

Oh, there really was no harmful affects from my 37 years of celebrating Halloween that I am aware of. My first 37 years worth of experiences are not what was driving my decision. My closer relationship with God in recent years along with my focus on following His principles is what has driven me to come to this decision. Standing up for what I believe in and teaching my children to do the same far outweighs the loss of a couple of hours of trick-or-treating once per year.

In a nutshell- I don’t know what sort of harmful affects your 37 years of celebrating halloween have caused you but they must have been severe to take this stand (why would somebody who came out unscathed be opposed to it)? And if you don’t think your parenting skills are sufficient enough to prevent your children from becoming devil worshippers simply because they donned costumes, then halloween should be the least of your concerns.

I hope you think long and hard on this matter before denying your children the opportunity to enjoy one of the most joyous occasions of childhood. Any harmful effects that could possibly come out of dressing in a costume will be outweighed by the bitter lifelong toll it will take on your relationship with your child.

This made me wonder, why am I spending so much time looking for information on this subject? Why does is fascinate me so much? I suspect because I don’t really know what to think. I am also amazed at how quickly it is catching on. The local nursery is having a fancy dress party and there are costume parties in our area. It is getting very popular.

After some prayer I think that as I have been saved I have a different perspective on the world, so need to be aware that I may find this celebration wrong while others are unaware of any implication and see it as harmless. My decision is therefore not to celebrate it, to delete my halloween screen saver and to try and focus on my house group tomorrow night. While respecting my collegues and friends see this as harmless fun. They don’t join in on Sunday, so why should they expect me to join in tonight?

Thanks for a great article. One of the most balanced I have found in my search.
Kellie

I realize that you do not understand my point of view. I did not come to it over night. I used to participate in Halloween up until two years ago. Some may say that I am extreme with my view. Maybe so. I personally know dozens of people who share my basic view on this subject. I do spice up my posts a little to make folks think, but it is not a joke.

I see the participation in Halloween as planting seeds. They may be small seeds, but they could grow into big things later in life for your children. Let’s say I allow my kids to dress up and pretend to be a witch. At some point in the future they may decide to go research or ask friends about witches. After all, Dad didn’t mind me pretending when I was a young child. If they come across the right person at the right time with their questions, they could very easily be thrust into a world of satanic worship before they even realize it. It is real. I know people who have found their way out of it.

Simply avoiding some silly holiday will not land anyone in therapy. I am not spending the night preaching to my kids about the evil doers on the street. I just enjoy my time with them as I do on any other night of the year.

“Avoid every kind of evil. May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Thessalonians 5:22-23 (NLT)

I appreciate your comment. I lived with your point of view for 37 years.

It is my hope that this post will serve as a confirmation for those who God has given a conviction over participating in Halloween traditions. They are not alone in their convictions. This post is not intended to change the whole world’s view on Halloween.

May God Bless You!

Hank O

If you have kids I predict some expensive therapy bills in their future. Unless this whole post was a joke, in which case it’s kinda funny.