Tonight is Halloween. YAY! Now I will be the first to admit that I don't get into it nearly as much as others. Sure, I love to see the kids dress up and go out for candy, and I can appreciate a scary movie or two. (side note...reading the plots for multiple horror movies in one day is NOT a good idea and WILL keep you up at night). But the whole darkness anti-Christian stuff...I just don't see it in today's celebration.
I think much of the religious meaning has been taken out of most holidays nowadays. This is a bad thing when it comes to Christmas, where we celebrate Jesus' birth. Instead of focusing on Advent (which to my horror I learned that many never even heard that word before) and Jesus' arrival in human form, the Christmas season has been marketed towards Santa Claus, presents, and the seasonal music and atmosphere.
On the flip side, I believe that most if not all the "evil" meaning of Halloween has been taken out of modern celebrations. It has been marketed as a big party, not as the history of goblins and monsters and the devil coming to earth for one night. Scary movies come out other nights of the year besides halloween, so the scares are not limited to one night.
I have been seeing several comments about people who refuse to celebrate or recognize halloween due to their religious convictions. That is fine for them. I don't have a problem with it and respect their convictions. I have a problem when Christians are told we should not be celebrating such a pagan night. My reply to those who say I am not a true Christian for celebrating Halloween is this...I certainly hope that you do not have a Christmas tree at Christmas, as the origins of the Christmas tree derive from a pagan celebration. If you are okay with a Christmas tree but not with children dressing up and getting candy, then I call BS. BOTH are pagan in origin and NOT Christian.
For those who just choose to not expose their eyes to the evil that is halloween, that is fine as well. I am curious how people who are so afraid of one night manage to live the other 364 days without having a crisis of faith as evil is not limited to one night of the year. The World Trade Center was attacked in September, the Oklahoma City Building in April...very few actual atrocities that many refer to as "evil" actually occurred in the month of October, much less on October 31.
I know many churches choose to have fall celebrations instead of "halloween" parties. This is the same thing to me has having "holiday" parties instead of Christmas parties. Each person takes what they believe out of it no matter what it is called. I will gladly celebrate either.
So I will be bringing my children out in their C3PO and R2D2 costumes tonight to collect candy, then hopefully eat some of it myself after they go to bed (gotta love being the parent). Does that mean I believe in the mythical background of the night? Heck no. In December my children will go to bed one night fully expecting that a big fat man will be wiggling his fat butt down our chimney to deliver toys to them by morning. That does not mean that we will not be teaching our children what we believe is the TRUE meaning of Christmas and the significance of the day.
How can I do this some wonder. How can I teach my children that it is okay to celebrate the non religious meanings and expect them to learn the real meaning of the season? Well, that is simple. There are 52 Sundays in year. The last time I checked, we don't go see Santa every Sunday...there are no Sunday morning schools devoted to teaching about how much Santa loves us. We don't sing worship songs praising the Easter bunny. And we don't read the gospel of the tooth fairy. These imaginary creatures and events come up once a year, and once they are over no more thought is given to them until the next season. That is not the way with our faith. Besides, the evils of the world will make themselves known to our children much sooner than what we would want....I will let my children live in the innocent fantasy while they can.
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