Today's post is titled Should Christians Celebrate Halloween and Why Some Christians Don't Celebrate Halloween. The goal of this post is to provoke reflection and to share some of the principles that have convicted me to avoid participating in Halloween traditions. This post is going live on October 30th, but whether this reaches you today, on Halloween, or anytime afterwards, I believe it's a good thing to reflect on thoughts regarding this controversial holiday.
Should Christians Celebrate Halloween?
Halloween isn't something that I grew up celebrating. My mother, who identifies as a Christian as well, did not allow us to go trick or treating. I think that as a child, I believed that Halloween could be bad or dangerous and I believe she even told me before that it's wrong to celebrate it. Even so, my mother would buy us candy and buy candy for the children who would knock on our door. We would also enjoy our favorite childhood movies like "Halloweentown" or "Hocus Pocus" during the Halloween season. Additionally, we looked forward to participating in the Halloween parties at school as well. Because I didn't grow up celebrating Halloween, I didn't give much thought to it as an adult until I had my son. I lived with my son's father and his family for a while after having my son. My son's grandmother loves all holidays and the holiday traditions and she would decorate her house with Halloween decorations and buy candy to pass out to the children participating in Halloween. Due to my son being a baby, I didn't protest too much about his grandmother wanting to dress him up. He wasn't going to be going anywhere and he was so young. His grandmother knew that I didn't think Halloween was a good holiday but as I previously mentioned, I didn't protest and it didn't create any conflict.
He dressed up as Tiger from Winnie the Pooh on the first Halloween of his life and then when my son's father and I moved out of state by the next Halloween, his grandmother sent him a Ninja Turtle costume. I believe we took him to the mall where there was an event for children, but we didn't go trick or treating and I didn't decorate for the holiday. I was just participating in events around us that seemed kid friendly until I started seeking God more. He began convicting me of any participation in Halloween at all. Some may believe that it's just a personal conviction, but I always challenge anyone who debates whether this holiday is okay or not to simply pray about it and ask God for themselves.
Why Some Christians Don't Celebrate Halloween
There may be other scriptures or principles that have come to other Christians' minds when relating to this topic, but I want to share the two that speak to my heart the most. The first one speaks on discerning God's will, and my conviction not to allow my son to participate in Halloween came from what I had discerned personally. Romans 12:1-2 in the King James Version of the Holy Bible states, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."
The next set of verses relates to entanglements and states,
"Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concern hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believers with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore Come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, And touch not the unclean thing; And I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, And you shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty (2 Corinthians 6:14-18).
I've also done my own research about Halloween and what occurs on that day and I view it as a day that celebrates death, darkness, and the connection between the what we see in the physical world with that of the spiritually dark world. There is no justification for participating in it for me, let alone allowing my impressionable child to participate in it. On any other day witchcraft and these dark themes are taught to be bad so why is it okay on Halloween? I also personally don't like the idea of trick or treat or the idea of luring children in with candy like in a fairy tale that leads to children potentially being harmed. It was taught to us as children not to accept candy from strangers, but then it was advised to on Halloween. There are people who do practice witchcraft and so many other dark things in this world that are not generally known, so I think it's foolish and naive to think that raising a child to be open to witchcraft and darkness on one day of the year won't plant seeds in their minds and make them susceptible to being open to that same darkness one day. I have a couple of videos that I've done on this topic and will share them here if you're interested.
With that being said, I hope you'll reflect and pray on whether celebrating Halloween is right. Thank you for reading and visiting my blog. Until next time,
