When my kids were young, in the spirit of enabling them to enjoy their time with their peers, I allowed my children to do the "begging for candy in the neighborhood" thing on Halloween. My wife is a fan of Halloween, and you know the saying. Happy wife, Happy life. In my case, happy kids, manageable marriage.
Sometimes, for the fun of it, I even dressed up, though it was never a scary costume. I've dressed up in the past as Popeye the Sailor, a pregnant biker nun, and a greaser from the fifties. That last one I have pictures with my daughter, who dressed up in a poodle skirt.
My grandkids, especially my son's kids, thoroughly enjoy Halloween, so my grandson Ezekiel was stunned yesterday when I told him that Halloween is my least favorite of the holidays.
I don't mind handing out candy. I know that the date is a fun-filled night for kids. They have fun dressing up as ghouls and goblins and wacky characters that only their imaginations can summon. It's all for fun. I get it.
Like any other holiday, Halloween is a super-charged, commercialized, media frenzy, and an incredible opportunity for corporate giants to make big money. The socialist leftist commie Democrats claim to hate corporatism, yet they are fine feeding the Halloween beast. It's kind of hypocritical, in a political sense, one may think.
For me, origins are important. I like Thanksgiving because of the story about the colonists and the Indians coming together after the Englishmen's failed experiment with communalism (socialism/utopianism), Independence Day because it commemorates the birth of the United States, Easter and Christmas because of those holidays' roots in my faith in Jesus Christ, and my favorite is Constitution Day for obvious reasons.
The demonic origins of Halloween, however, are not exactly something I find myself in agreement with. Halloween's origins are connected to the end of summer sacrifices, All Hallows Eve, and a belief that evil spirits were all around and that the way to escape them is for humans to wear disguises making them look like the evil spirits themselves. As the sky darkens, and a darker winter dances in the near future, the evil spirits rejoice and play nasty tricks. Most of the things we do in connection to Halloween can be traced back to ancient pagan rites and superstitions. In today's society, the Wicca (religion of the witch) consider Halloween to be a very important day of the year, and for those that practice witchcraft, Halloween represents an opportunity to embrace the evil, devilish, dark side of the spirit-world.
As a Christian I am not interested in what Halloween has to offer, and I am not interested in attempting some kind of alternative. I simply do not celebrate the date. In fact, in recent years, I don't even hand out candy, anymore.
While I understand the pressure of society, and how Christians have decided to give in just a little bit by allowing their children to dress in more “innocent” costumes, the truth is, despite the fact that in today’s Western culture it seems impossible to avoid Halloween, we have been witnessing a demonic downward spiral in our society that reaches far beyond October 31st.
Lucifer is a master of deception. Evil never appears as darkness. The worst of intentions are always draped with what looks like innocent and harmless things. Evil always appears as an angel of light to deceive and to establish itself as nothing to worry about, and if anything, something to desire.
Christians are supposed to be the light of the world, the true light, the light powered by Jesus Christ so that the darkness of the world will retreat. Reality is, evil does exist, a spiritual war is currently being waged, and as Christians we should not be intentionally promoting an annual event that is designed to celebrate evil and the dark-side of the spirit-world.
While we are temporary residents in The World, that does not mean we should hop into The World with both feet, or stand with one foot in The World, and the other in Christ. As Jesus said, we are either for Him, or against Him. So, rather than celebrate the darkness that Halloween represents, we should be spending time together celebrating Jesus Christ, and the heroic efforts of Christians in history, and today. We should be discussing and praying about the persecution of Christians worldwide (China, and the Islamic World comes to mind).
As Christians, while the macabre world of Halloween mirrors the true intent in the hearts of many people, we should be outwardly celebrating how good always triumphs over evil, and how Jesus Christ's life was triumphant over death. It is no surprise that Halloween has become so popular. When one examines the annual event's roots, we realize it now mirrors a society that is experiencing immoral ruin.
Halloween, however, is not a complete loss, for my household. October 31 is also Mrs. Pistachio's birthday, and that is something worth celebrating on that date. I have to admit, it's nice to be able to go out to an empty restaurant (because most are out celebrating Halloween).
That all said, let's remember our roles as Christians. While the culture is rolling in the blood of death, cheering at anything that defies Godly faith, and is calling for false gods to fill the gaps they believe they have in their lives, we must remember that God gave us the desire to seek Him out. We have a natural desire to fill the holes in our lives with the blood of Christ, but when we reject His very existence, we will seek other things to fill the void. In the end, however, those worldly things fall short. Those things cannot fulfill what we seek because only the Love of Christ can fulfill our longings for spiritual contentment.
The pagans in Hollywood run around with goat heads and Satanic symbology on the stages of their award shows, and the sets of their programming. The liberal left celebrates the slaughter of Christians, while welcoming the invading forces of Islam who call themselves "refugees." Entertainment is filled with sexual talk that goes way beyond innuendo (I saw this camping show on HBO with Jennifer Garner that about had me gasping in disbelief), worship of fertility gods (and goddesses), rituals and a perversion of our moral standards that would be considered shocking only a generation ago. Christians are being targeted for their faith, and the force of law is being used to coerce Christians into compliance with The World's evil agenda, be it homosexuality, abortion, or other celebrations of death and perversion. They seek other gods in their orgy of rebellion against Jehovah, but will never be fulfilled.
While the liberal left secular anti-God forces have been trying to use legal avenues to silence anyone who dares to stand against their agenda (from baking cakes to church sermons), they are wrong when they claim that Christians and conservatives want to use the rule of law to discriminate against their political and social stances. I don't think there should be a law against Halloween, personal perversion (as long as it does not infringe on another's natural rights) or evil worship. I am a constitutionalist. I support the idea of liberty, and the idea that among our rights is the "pursuit of happiness". That said, as a culture, we can diminish the impact of these evil attempts to kill the American System, and its Judeo-Christian foundation through our own, personal, cultural efforts, be they refusing to support pagan-soaked dates like Halloween, or standing firm against various other issues that stand directly against the One and True God.
I will not assist in helping the culture of death and evil evolve into what it is becoming. While a part of freedom is the recognition that people are free to be stupid, it bothers me that so many people abuse that privilege. . . and I don't plan to participate in expanding it. It would not be the Godly thing to do. As Christians, we should not participate in worldly traditions that stand in opposition to God. We should ignore the accusations that we are trying to "spoil the fun," and recognize the seriousness of what things like Halloween offers. That, my friends, would be the Godly thing to do.
