I can't believe the house is still so quiet this morning! I am enjoying my Hills Bros. cappucino and doing a little blog hopping. In a little while, the little ones will start wandering into the living room with tousled hair, blankets and lovies. They'll ask to "watch shows." Then will come the task of finding something to watch that isn't all about Halloween.
We choose to not celebrate Halloween with our children. We never thought too much of it until (when GuitarMan was a baby) a man came to our church and did a fantastic seminar. This was a long time ago obviously but basically the gist of it was th evil in our society and how we unknowingly expose our children to it. He covered a lot of material. Part of his lectures dealt with Halloween. After that we have always felt convicted that we shouldn't take part in it. Now it covered way more than just this topic, but for this post, Halloween and our family is what I will talk about.
We don't dress up in costumes, go trick-or-treating, welcome them with candy (or tracts), or attend harvest festivals. When The GuitarMan was growing up I remember we did attend a church harvest festival here or there sometimes but it wasn't like we just felt like we HAD to do something or he would be left out. (just keeping it real here) We also tend to avoid books, tv shows, and movies that deal with witches or themes our family isn't comfortable with.
I know some folks, Christians included, choose to celebrate and view it as an innocent time of family fun. Knowing what I do now I just can't view it that way. I don't even like the church activities anymore. My thought is that if we really want to celebrate a harvest festival, why choose to do it on Halloween? Why teach my child that it's wrong to do the Halloween activities, then turn around as a church and have costumes and candy? That just seems confusing. It feels like we would be doing the same things but stamping a happy little benign name on it and calling it okay. I prefer one that is held later on in November so that it correlates more with Thanksgiving.
If you aren't sure about why I feel this way I would encourage you to research it for yourself. This post isn't about slamming you with the whys of what we do. There is plenty of information available these days just by doing a simple Internet search. It's more about encouraging you to fill your heart with Christ and His ways and then follow your heart with whatever you decide.
Some would say it is okay as long as the costumes aren't scary or gory. They say activities such as costumes, treats, jack-o-lanterns, and apple bobbing are just innocent fun. Some would be quick to tell me that even Christmas has pagan roots.
I understand that and I'm not here to argue with or judge anyone. This is something we have been convicted about for a very long time. If I research it and feel uneasy or feel a lack of peace deep within my spirit then that is conviction. I believe if conviction is present then that makes it sinful for me to take part in whatever the activity is. This is where we found ourselves.
So instead of a monster bash around here I'll take a different route. When we make our grocery run each week throughout the year I'll let the children pick out their favorite candy. They can play dress up to their heart's content whenever they wish (as long as they clean up their mess LOL). I will teach them that although there is a day called Halloween we don't celebrate it because we don't feel like it honors God.
I will also let them know that many people do choose to celebrate it. Sometimes good friends or family members may choose to take part. That doesn't mean we should relax our own standards or convictions. But neither does it mean that we should judge them, look down on them, or try to make them feel "less than" because they take part. I will teach them how to gently share their heart so that friends or family will know why they won't be participating but will still feel loved (not ostracized). Because all the works mean nothing without love.
Peace.
We always did Halloween with our children, but avoided dressing up like devils, etc.
ReplyDeleteHowever, these days Halloween is grosser and grosser to where I do not even like to go into a store that sells the decorations because they are fake corpses, etc.
I'm glad my children are grown. I threw out all the Halloween decorations just for gp (general purposes) and just use fall decorations.
Mary,
ReplyDeleteYou are so right about the decorations! Lots of gore there for sure.
It does seem easier to avoid if you don't have young children. We are grown, of course, so we choose for ourselves. GuitarMan is 19 now so he makes his own call on it at this point. But it seems to target children with the commercialism (as do other holidays as well) so it is hard to avoid. Little ones see it everywhere.