But I want to ask you something.
At one point in my life, I said I wasn’t going to observe
or participate in Halloween (or Christmas). I have… different views now.
Have you ever stopped to think that maybe the reason why Christians are being encouraged to reject American holidays, is because celebrating them provides a
sense of community and actual face-to-face connection?
How much of this do we have left?
The holidays are typically a time when people actually, physically, gather together… willingly. It’s a time when grandparents get to see the joy on kids’ faces when they come
to the door and say “trick or treat” or when they open presents and spend time together.
Do some people make Halloween into something twisted and demonic?
Absolutely. Do some people make Christmas into nothing but materialism?
Yep. Do I think we should be letting kids drown themselves in processed sugar?
Of course not. Can we celebrate these holidays meaningfully, without eating a
bunch of junk that will make us sick, or glorifying evil? Yes.
Look. There people out there who give a bad name to everything that exists.
Is there anything that exists in the world, that someone out there, does not use, for evil? No. That phone in your hand, the computer on your desk… made with materials that were obtained through horrible practices… Devices that are used for evil, every minute of every day.
Do we therefore get rid of everything, because someone, somewhere in the world, uses these things for evil? Where do you draw your line?
Do we just stop doing things that bring provide a sense of community and safe place for our families – to feel loved by those around them and have special experiences, because someone wants to claim that while wearing costumes and going to neighbors’ houses and having a treat is not evil any other day of year, it IS evil (or a “sin against God”) on THIS day?
This time of year has forever been significant. 🤔 🎃🍁🍂And it doesn’t take a historical record or science to understand why.
It’s the time of the last harvest, when the harsh realities of winter are approaching.
It’s a time to be reminded of our limited resources, in addition to feeling the days
getting shorter and much colder (depending on your latitude and elevation).
Many of the earliest humans would only hope to survive these conditions until Spring.
It would be even worse if you were a mother with a nursing child… The very young and
the very old – the ones who held our hearts the most – were at greatest risk.
Imagine being one of the ones who survived, while one or more of your loved ones were taken overnight, by the bitter cold? And what happens next year, when it starts getting cold again and you wake up one morning and feel that same cold starting to set in… the frost on the ground, your breath visible in the air around you?
Would you not be reminded of those who died the previous winter?
Why do you think that this time of year became a time to remember and honor the dead?
How is this “evil”?
It’s not. It’s actually a very sobering and meaningful season if you pause and
think about it for a moment. These days, we have turned it into something else, yes.
But it’s *still* a time where people come together in their communities to spend time together and connect, face to face. Harvest festivals, trick or treating, holiday markets, Christmas gatherings and carolers, etc.
What other times of the year – as a country – have we designated as a time where people should visit their neighbors (especially neighbors we may not know very well), be generous (give treats and/or gifts to each other), and exchange smiles and just generally, be kind?
How sad is it to know that this wholesome side of Halloween is at risk of dying out, because Christians are feeling condemned by themselves or others due to the existence
of some very sick, twisted people out there, who do evil things on this day (and probably every other day as well… but those days don’t matter)?
How odd is it that some have abandoned celebrating Christmas with their friends and families because it’s not Christian in its origins, yet what about all of the other things people participate in all year round that are “pagan” or do not have Christian roots?
How sad is it to know that this sense of community – the little we have left for our families and children during the year – is being abandoned, through judgment and division created by the Christian community?
Everyone has their reasons. We could be transforming these holidays into something more meaningful and healthy, and less materialistic, but instead many are abandoning them altogether.
Just my thoughts. Maybe pause for a moment and consider the effect this will have on our communities and our country… especially during a time when division is off the charts. (I’m sure our “overlords” couldn’t be happier about it).
Oh the ways people try and justify aligning with darkness. Halloween does nothing but glorify death, hell, witches and demons. Maybe you should go with your own convictions or lack thereof and not push your compromising attitude on others.
Another judgmental “Christian” condemning others for not being a legalistic pharisee
like they are. The number of posts I’ve witnessed from people like this, telling others they shouldn’t let their kids wear a costume and go to neighbors’ houses because it’s “evil”, is absurd. That is the only reason I even posted this… Because of people like you, trying to push your self-imposed convictions on others. You sound like a really nice person to be around…
Because you are still honoring the universal understanding, regardless of your intentions. With a great platform comes great responsibility. The Bible does talk about how people will be drawn away from the truth. The world calls it “open-mindedness. “and “I like this point of view.” Some like the point of view that all go to Heaven. Both of them are called wishful thinking. It doesn’t make them true. Biblically, there’s nothing that convinces me anything Halloween-related is acceptable. In the end, it says men will do what is right in their own eyes. So if most people are agreeing with you, that might tell you something.
In the Christian tradition, the festival of all Hallows (or Hallowmas, which is made up of All Hallows Eve, All Hallows Day, and All Souls Day) was celebrated to pray for the souls of recently departed people who they believed had not yet made it to Heaven. Christians are supposed to be in the world, but not of it. Being neighborly should Never be based on pagan celebrations. It should be Daily. We were given the Sabbath to celebrate and worship and fellowship. That happens every week.
Maybe that’s part of the problem instead of designating certain days for community togetherness we should be practicing this regularly throughout the year. A sense of community should be all the time not on any designated day. Having more block parties, gathering on weekends with family and/or friends, Family/friend sleepovers…instead we put all this pressure on these holidays that have been designated for us. We do not need someone to tell us when we should get together. We should be doing that every day in our normal lives. We do not need holidays regardless of if they are evil or not to get together, to spend time, to love and to build-nourish and enjoy our communities. 🫶🏽
These “holidays” are only what you make of them.
When I think about Halloween, I think about being a kid and dressing up in animal themed costumes and going trick or treating in our neighborhood with my dad and my three siblings. I think about how fun it was to spend time with my siblings in this way and the joy it brought us. I think about how much our elderly neighbors looked forward to seeing all of the neighborhood kids knock on their door. Halloween doesn’t stir up memories of demons and monsters because that’s now how my parents chose to promote or celebrate it. There is so much sense of community we are missing when removing ourselves from EVERYTHING that someone has made evil.
I cannot speak for anyone else, only myself and my families, personal convictions.
I do believe that the Holy Spirit convicts us differently for different reasons.
So I can only tell you here are my convictions: I was convicted about celebrating Halloween about three or four years ago, and really have only been practicing not celebrating it for that short amount of time.
And I 100% know what you mean about the community aspect of it.
We are living in a very large community right now and they celebrated Halloween last Saturday. There were tons of families and kids out trick-or-treating and while we did not trick-or-treat or dress up (again, just our own personal convictions there) We went out and socialized with friends and said hey to everyone that was out and about. And I loved that sense of community about it. But we don’t just limit our social times to Halloween time, Christmas time, etc. we are always looking for ways to have community outside of those holidays.
I’ve struggled as a Christian with both holidays as well.
But you’re right. Everything can be used for evil. We leave healthy snacks on our doorstep even though we don’t dress up and trick or treat. It’s heartening to see our neighbors and say hello and exchange positiveness.
I’m reminded of a Christian song years and years ago by Chris Christian, “Why Does the Devil Have All the Good Music.” Well, of course he doesn’t but has deceived God’s children that certain styles or even songs that don’t mention God’s name are bad. Ridiculous.
Thank you … I’m going to embrace the community more and not judge it. Christ came into the world to save it. Let’s engage more and love more … less petty judgements.
You should step off your pedestal.
You admit how you used to feel, and then you talk about how you opened up your mind and heart to understanding and learning more, and then had a change of heart and mind. This. All of this. This is what the world needs. Being willing to grow, change, and adapt. Being humble enough to admit that maybe what we once thought (for many valid and good reasons) isn’t what we should think and feel now when presented with new ideas or information.
Saw this today and said, “Yes”!!
I know only a very few that will not celebrate at least one of the “reclaimed” pagan holidays. The others will say this one – Halloween – is bad but put up a Christmas tree as soon as they can (a reclaimed pagan tradition) and celebrate a made-up day for Jesus’ birth (it wasn’t December 25th, for those who didn’t know).
When Was Jesus Born? Bible Facts and Historical Evidence (christianity.com)
This view is why we spend this time exploring other things (cultural/alternative/creative gatherings) in exchange for American tradition.
We celebrate Christmas for our family, too. But in our own way. Same for Thanksgiving- with friends and gratitude.
I like this post. It is like controlled opp division.
I’ve gone through my own motions of it but still don’t celebrate conventionally– instead, creatively!
I feel like… Don’t burn the bridge of the old paradigm but BE the bridge to a new paradigm.
I stand for that position, and slowly I become aware I can apply it to all areas right now while the world is in collective chaos.
I honestly get a lot more out of regular social gatherings than holidays and so do the kids. And I think that’s valuable– less expectation for ONE day and more gratitude for EVERY day (that we get to do with friends- we live far from fam)
It’s a FULL Moon tonight on this post. I wonder how many of these people need a pumpkin spiced drink and a warm fire to go sit beside. In there home with their families Goodness
Why do we celebrate halloween – Search (bing.com)
Halloween night sky 2023: See Jupiter, Saturn and maybe some spooky fireballs
If you plan to accompany children around your neighborhood, you might want to enlighten them by pointing out some of the objects that will be visible in the sky.
For the sky turns winter October 31st at 12 midnight on Halloween night
The first two objects that will attract attention will be the planets Saturn and Jupiter; about two hours after sunset Saturn will be visible about one-third up — 30 degrees high — in the south-southeast sky. Remember that your clenched fist held at arm’s length is approximately equal to 10 degrees in width, so Saturn appears roughly “three fists” up from the horizon; it shines like a bright star with a sedate yellow tint.
Many consider Saturn as the most beautiful of all the planets. Its rings are still readily evident, with the north face tilted some 10 degrees to our line of sight. A telescope magnifying 30-power will bring them out; through a 4-inch telescope at 100-power, they are readily seen, while the view through larger instruments is jaw-dropping. Be prepared to hear exclamations from your young audience like “Awesome!” and “No Way!”
And you really can’t miss Jupiter — the largest planet in our solar system. Although only about one-third as high — 10 degrees — compared to Saturn, it will be in the eastern sky, appearing to shine with a very bright, silvery-white light. With even a small telescope using low magnification, you’ll be able to see its disk as well as all four of the famous Galilean satellites, so named because Galileo Galilei was the first to see them with his own crude telescope in 1610. On this Halloween night, you’ll see two satellites to the east (left) of Jupiter, going outward, Io and Ganymede, and two others to the west (right), Europa and finally Callisto.
If you’re outside as late as 8:30 p.m., the main celestial object that will attract everyone’s attention will emerge from beyond the east-northeast horizon. Earth‘s nearest neighbor in space: the moon.
On Halloween evening, our natural satellite will be three days past its full moon phase.
One might get the impression that showing off the moon through a simple pair of binoculars might be a bit of a comedown from using a telescope. And yet, even a casual glance at a gibbous moon through 7-power binoculars can show you more detail of the lunar landscape than was seen by Galileo who gazed upon its surface more than four centuries ago. The moon is by far, the most satisfying object that a youngster can observe. It appears the biggest and exhibits lots of surface features. And best of all, it shows well even in heavily light-polluted cities.
Dark zones on the lunar surface were referred to as “mare” (pronounced “Mar-rey”)
or seas by the first observers to explore the lunar landscape with telescopes, though
we know today that there is not a single drop of water in these regions.
The line separating light and dark on the lunar surface is called the terminator. Point out how mountains, valleys and craters all stand out in sharp relief right along the terminator, demonstrating just how rough and rugged the lunar terrain really is.
Because they are active over Halloween, and they displayed an impressive outburst in 2005 at the end of October, the Taurid meteor shower is sometimes called the “Halloween Fireballs.”
The bits of debris that make up the Taurids are a little larger than average, so they can result in brighter meteors and even fireballs, or exploding meteors (called bolides), that streak across the sky and leave incandescent trains in their wake. While they are most active during the second week of November, a few forerunners can show up on Halloween night, darting from out of the east-northeast part of the sky. So, if you or your young visitors see something resembling a flare from a Roman candle sweeping majestically across the evening sky, it may very well be a Taurid meteor.
Related: How to photograph meteors and meteor showers
In the September 2019 issue of The Astronomical League Magazine “Reflector,”
author Richard W. Schmude Jr., offered some tips for those who plan to do public
outreach for astronomy on Halloween:
“Firstly, children sometimes grab or touch the eyepiece, so use an inexpensive one.
I gently warn children not to touch the telescope. In my area, parents have learned to tell their children not to touch the telescope. In some cases, a child will grab the eyepiece, causing the telescope to shift. For this reason, a Dobsonian telescope with a good finder scope is a good choice for Halloween outreach.
A small stool or booster ladder may help very small viewers.
Sometimes, parents hold their children up to look through the eyepiece. One may also place a monitor-connected video camera in the telescope and people can easily see the object on a screen.”
“Finally,” adds Mr. Schmude, “I have my bag of goodies next to my telescope so that the children get two treats!”
Joe Rao serves as an instructor and guest lecturer at New York’s Hayden Planetarium. He writes about astronomy for Natural History magazine, the Farmers’ Almanac and other publications. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.
Join our Space Forums to keep talking about space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community@space.com.
Halloween: Why Do We Really Celebrate the Spooky Season? | HuffPost UK Life (huffingtonpost.co.uk)
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Cell phones, towers, arm candy, microwaves, meds, celebs, big gov, pharma, churches, lotions, candles, etc.
Probably doing more physical damage to your life than a few lollipops in your trick or treat bag and all the while making some sort of family fun out of it.
AMEN.
