Attention all Christians: Here is a question for you?

Personally, I would find my costume. But if you are true to your religion and true to their beliefs, you will put on the dress. They are probably the ones that dressed in costume the fastest when they were kids, not thinking at all it was a satanic holiday.

I'm planning a huge Halloween Party. Wanna come? LOL

I celebrate Halloween, but you should do what you feel is appropriate to your faith.

Just do what your own heart tells you to do, dear Amy. We don't celebrate Halloween at all in Russia, BUT, if only someone approached me with the news "about our loving savior Jesus Christ", even though I'm a believer myself, I'd tell him/her... to mind his/her own business, at the very best. Not because I don't value the Gospel, you see - just the way around - but because I AM literate, for God's sake, and therefore quite able to read and decide by myself. I don't know about your American approach, but our Russian approach is simple - if you see something being advertised, this means that it is not really worthy of attention. ANY attention. ;-)

And do you want another good advise? IF only the church tries to tell you what to do and what not to do, just run away from there. You're an adult, responsible human person and don't need anybody save God alone to guide you.

Blessings - S.

Our family spent many years in a very controlling christian group/cult/church. They were firm that we were not to celebrate pagan holidays nor associate with non believers. My children's early life was very limited and when we finally extracted ourselves from this community, on our first Halloween, my son said "so...I don't have to dress with Joseph's coat of many colors and pass out tracts?" Funny but so telling. I love harvest festivals and Halloween now. It is a fun family celebration and has done us no spiritual harm. I have a deep faith but do not let myself be entombed any longer. Such a hard decision but you are a wise woman and you do not need to fear.

I've been a christian all my life and I celebrate Halloween every year, either by dressing up and/or handing out candy to the little ones.

You should do what you feel is right for you though.

You have joined an extremely narrow Christian group, not one in the mainstream of Evangelical Christianity, where kids enjoy their costumes at Halloween parties with their neighbors and classmates and go trick-or-treating. There are plenty of great fun Halloween parties held in conservative church basements!!! I m born agin and grew up among very conservative Baptists where there was never any nonsense about not celebrating Halloween. My mother made me a nice witch costume when I was around 7 or 8, for example--and she was the daughter and sister of very conservative Baptist pastors!

I say if you want to enjoy your costume, go! You won't be sinning doing what you ay you do.

Mind you, I am concerned about the harm you do your body getting hyper on sugar, but I don't think it is sin. Just stupid. Though not as stupid as excessive alcohol, inhaling nicotine or doing drugs.

You've joined a group of Christians that is excessively controlling and limited. Find another church!

For what it is worth, you should do what makes you feel best. Me, I'd do what you have been doing. You're not celebrating pagan beliefs; you are celebrating laughing children, dressing up, and the joy they and you get from it all in my mind. I can't see God having a problem with that. That's just me though....

You do what you wish. I am a Christian. I take my kids trick or treating. I do it to allow them some fun. We don't have much money and rarely get to do things. So letting them dress up and go get candy is a treat for them. I won't deny it as I had fun doing it as a child.

We do not celebrate Halloween, but understand there are many who do. We have lived in this house through 2 Octobers and are yet to give out candy. The first one we were at a girls hockey game and the 2nd one, our daughter was giving birth.
We celebrate All Saints Eve instead. I also do not like handing out tracts for people to place in the trash. I live my life to celebrate my creator, and you will know that I'm a Christian by my love.

Why not dress up and pass out candy with Christian stickers. You can buy the stickers and other religious novelty items at http://www.orientaltrading.com/

Sounds like a good compromise to me.Thanks for posting to All About Autumn

I don't worry about these things anymore. These are non-issues, and a distraction when there are more important questions to ask, and more important real issues to educate ones self on, and to make decisions about.

Our church is fairly large and has an alternative to Halloween every year that's just called "Fall Festival." Everyone chips in to rent huge inflatable slides, a cotton candy machine, a DJ (often someone at the church), and have games set up where kids can win candy and tickets they can redeem for small toys at a central booth. The teens have something like "Battle of the Bands" or a "Fear Factor" type contest. My husband and I don't have kids yet, but we each volunteer to run a booth. It's funny to watch. The kids can wear their costumes, and kids and parents outside the church are welcome as well.

Toward the end of the night they'll have some kind of interesting Christian entertainer (one year it was a strong man who could rip a phone book in half and bend steel pipes; another year it was a guy who could do tricks with basketballs) who shares their story/testimony and about Jesus in the process. There's been about 20-25 kids every year get saved because of that.

I don't understand the fear of halloween symbols that so many evangelicals seem to have. You can put on a costume without selling your soul to Satan, for goodness sake. And you can read a harry potter book and not go to hell either.

I don't celebrate Halloween, but I don't believe you are a devil if you do.
That said, I also don't believe you are some kind of nut if you want to dress up and go pass out tracts, either.
Sin is often a different thing to different people. Some people drink a glass of wine a month and it is no sin to them. Others, bound by alcoholism, should avoid it at all costs.
To many people, Halloween is a time of joy and harmless foolishness. To others, it is the high holiday of their Satanic religion, or it draws them closer to that pathway of evil and witchcraft.
We are called to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling. If you, as a Christian, desire to do something that is not against the Word of God or the law, and feel no guilt or conviction, do it. If God convicts you, don't do it.
It all boils down to this. We all stand before God alone. "My church does it" or "my church doesn't do it" are not what he will be asking us. He will only want to know if we obeyed him.

I belong to a baptist church,, and we do what we want,, as long as we feel comfrontable,,
myself no way would I push myself on stranger,, do what you want and feel good about it...that is American baptist

I personally dont celebrate it because what it represents and of course my religion, but my church is pretty laid back and we all can do what we want.

I say dress up and go out and have fun. It is only one day. Go pass out his word on another night

I'm a Christian myself and don't see any problem with celebrating Halloween as long as you don't get heavily into the satanic aspect of it. I enjoy getting dressed up. I don't drink and none of my friends do, so, we don't get crazy and do stupid things. We just have a good time and enjoy each other' company.
Just remember. Whatever you choose to do be responsible and don't get into trouble. There's nothing wrong with friendly fun when everyone consents to it.
Purrs,
Catwoman=^..^= & Mija

I for one have dealt will this issue. When my kids were very young will belonged to a church that held a Harvest Festival. The kids could dress up however they wanted too. Later we joined a church that was against Holloween, this church held a costume party, but the kids could only dress as someone from the bible.

I understand where the confusion comes from, but let me add some advice here from someone that has been where you are.

Pray from God to show you what HE wants you to do. Do not listen to the 'beliefs of others". They are human, but listen to your heart and what God's wants for you.

If it was me I would dress up, have a good time with your friends and share Jesus with them. This is not a SATANTIC HOLIDAY! It was the feast of the harvest to the pagans! It only became satanic after the church took over their feasts. The day after Holloween is All Saint's Day, during the Dark Ages this was the highest day in the church year. Not until they took it over did Satan even appear in this feast.

I will step off my soap box now. But pray for God to show you what He wants for you.

Oh,for Gods sake,it's for the kids,they dress up and have so much fun,lighten up,I had fun dressing my kids when they were small,and taking them out,I would dress up every Halloween for work and everyone loved it,it gave them a laugh and being served by a waitress in a holloween outfit,the whole dining room would get into it,Don't read all of this crap into it,it's just halloween,and remember It Is for the KIDS.Not you

thanks everyone for your kind words of wisdom. I think I am going to be able to make an informed descion and stay with halloween. There might be pressure not to do it. But i want to have fun.

I am an evangelical Christian/Lutheran, and our family has celebrated Halloween ever since our son (now 21) was a little boy and we'd get him cute costumes and dress him up and go out on Beggars' Night........I always decorate our yard....we have a 5 ft. tall pumpkin tree....all the lights are orange, and it's really beautiful..........I love decorating and do so in a very tasteful manner, esp. using a lot of pumpkins and "nature" things....not 10 ft. tall stuffed monsters that howl and scream and terrify kids!
We live in the city and every year we get around 100 to 120 kids...we used to give out cans of Coca Cola/Pepsi/7-Up, but with that many kids, it gets a wee bit expensive! Sometimes we've given out large candy bars or wrapped popcorn balls.
We do NOT celebrate Halloween as any kind of Satanic thing....NOOOO way.......it's just a fun time for kids to dress up in cute costumes and go out begging for candy.
My husband always buys our Labradoodle a Halloween costume....last year it was a pumpkin, this year it's a devil! He sometimes takes her out for fun..........the little kids and parents just love it and howl with laughter!!!!!!!!!

this church sounds like it's just into control.

Amy,

You did ask, but this is something you need to decide for yourself. The Holy Spirit, and the Word is supposed to guide you, isn't it?

And now, about that sugar. YOU, my dear, need to read my article on cancer. I DO believe it shall give you some insight into sugar that I, a lay person cannot do.

Sugar is no good -- the jury is in, and the verdict on sugar is:

GUILTY
GUILTY,
and
very, very, unquestionably . . . GUILTY!!!

You know,

I suppose I should supply the link to you, amy, because I REALLY want you to lose that sugar, FOREVER, so here:

Link to cancer article

Now, if the information on sugar here does not convince you, nothing shall.
Amy, let me know.

I am Christian and have since childhood partook in dressing up and having fun on Halloween. Sure, it has pagan roots in Christianity's eyes, but so is Easter if you get down to the roots of the Easter bunny. It's a holiday....it's fun. Lighten up and enjoy.

I am Christian and I still dress up and get hyped up on sugar on Halloween. There is a difference between, like, worshipping the devil on Halloween, celebrating it by stuffing your face with candy, and totally not doing anything 'fun' at all. :)

You can celebrate and still believe! We used to belong to a church that didn't "believe" in celebrating Halloween either but to me, it's not what it used to be - a pagan holiday to scare off spirits, etc. - but a time to enjoy, party, dress up in fun things and get a good scare, etc. If THAT makes you an UNbeliever then I think people better rethink what life is about. Times are different, the holiday is different and I truly think that if your intentions are to enjoy a day, have fun and not to honor or worship something wrong then go for it!

My opinion and a buck might buy you a cup of coffee! So take it for what it's worth!

As for me, I'm a little surprised at the number of people who have come down on the church for what they believe. There's a question in your own mind or you wouldn't ask the question. We all have to answer to God for our choices and so my advice would be to ask HIM. Pray about it and He will never leave you without an answer!

I'm coming to this post after Hallows...what did you decide and, more importantly, how do you feel about it?
The fact is, Halloween is a pagan holiday. It has nothing to do with devil worship. In fact, there is no devil in paganism. Beyond that, however, the holiday has been totally de-religioned (yes, I know that's not a real word, but I can't think of the word right now). Unless you are a practicing pagan/wiccan, there is no real religious meaning to Halloween, just as (I'm preparing for the onslaught of stones here) Christmas is no longer a strictly religious holiday. If you are a practicing Christian, Christmas certainly has a deeper religious meaning. But for most people, it's a nice reason to get together with people you love and eat some really good home cooking. These holidays are what you make them. Intent counts. If it is not your intent to celebrate in a religious manner, then you are not guilty of anything. If you are a Christian and practice sacred pagan rites at Hallows, you are sinning against your religion (not necessarily against your God, for who can really say what God approves?).
Always remember, intent matters. Whatever you do, in religion, your intention matters as much as your actions.
Remember, too, that God gave you a brain. It would be a waste and an insult to Him to not use it.

Personally I would go have fun in the costume! I have a deep faith in God and Jesus. I was brought up Catholic and went to Catholic schools. Halloween is not about worshipping the devil and never has been. Halloween was one of my favorite times of year. It was the beginning of all the holidays. My sister left the Catholic church years ago and joined another Christian church that believed halloween was evil. She never let her kids go out on halloween. They missed out on so much and now let their kids go. Don't miss out on the fun times in your life because of a few closed minded people. Life is to short.

Rebecca, I so agree with what you have written. No stones being thrown from me.
I could open a can of worms here, as I am a Wiccant. All I'll say is that people such as myself and my family and friends (and believe me we put our drawers on the same way everyone else does, and actually we eat the same foods other people eat) get ridiculed so much. We do not believe in Satan or the devil and we do not worship either. I believe in God, may not be the same God you in your heart believe in, we each have our own preception of him. I also ask Jesus (there again, may not be Jesus as you precieve him to be) to be with me daily and drive with me back n forth to work. (Personally, I think Jesus was and is a fantastic person).
As far as Halloween goes, do what you believe in your heart. No Church, person, group etc, has the right to tell you not to go. That is to controlling.
This is what I found when I went looking to try and explain my feelings on this:


The name Halloween comes from "all holy's eve" the day before All Saints Day, a big church holiday in the Middle Ages. Like many Christian holidays it has it's roots in a former pagan one.
In pagan times October 31st was recognized one of the four days midway between a solstice and equinox. The pagans believed that the forces between the worlds of the living and the dead were at their weakest and at this time the two worlds could merge.
Also October 31st was also the last possible harvest for the farmers of northern Europe. Everything had to be stored away and prepared for the long coming winter. Livestock also had to be slaughtered because rarely did any farmer have enough silage and hay to keep them all alive for the whole winter. Some of the animals were preserved and some were cooked in one last communal celebration of the harvest.
Many families knew by then if they had enough food stored away to make through the winter or if they would starve to death before spring. Most of their neighbors also had a good idea who would survive and who won't. So in a way the living were partying with the dead (or at least soon to be dead).
All this nonsense about the devil's birthday is just that -nonsense. Christians have attacked pagan culture because it challenges their mythology of the world.
The best thing is to enjoy the holiday, dress up, have some candy and don't worry about what other people say.


On that note, I"ll let you know what I will be doing on Halloween. After I get my grandchildren ready to go out, I will be setting outside with a bowl of candy, handing it out along with my oldest daughter. Afterwards, we will open a bottle of wine, and will pour some on the earth to thank her for a wonderful harvest.......then we will toast my/our ancestors who have gone on before us. THen we will leave a feast out for whatever animals that are still awake.

Even tho it's only May, Happy Halloween! Have fun, act like a child again! Honestly, the day/night is what you make of it!!

The most important thing is what most people have already told you - listen to the Holy Spirit as He speaks to you through your conscience. And if you are like me you are saying "Okay, but what if I am only hearing what I want to hear?" That's when you turn to what your church tells you. My church (I am proudly Catholic) was the one that came up with Halloween to begin with - the Eve of the Feast of All Saints - all those holy men and women like our parents and grandparents who have found their home with Jesus, but who were not outstanding enough to be recognized with a their own day of celebration by the Church. The Church sets aside a day to lump them all together and celebrate with them the joy of eternal salvation. As far as dressing up in silly or scary costumes, extorting candy from the entire neighborhood and coming down from an ultimate sugar high with either a splitting headache or a rumbly tummy, the Church isn't responsible for that - like any Mother, she lets us figure out our own ways to have a good time - but what's not to love? I guess my attitude is this: who has a better reason to thumb our noses at death and laugh in the face of Satan than those of us who know that by the grace of God (and the love of His Son), he can't hurt us. I LOVE Halloween, both as a wonderful kickoff to the celebration of all the good people I have known, especially the ones who have left us in the past year, and as a way of showing that I am confident that we have a God who has overcome evil and that as long as we are faithful to him we have nothing to be afraid of.