Halloween–What to do?

// October 3rd, 2007 // Christian Living, Family Life

We are quickly approaching the holiday I hate the most….HALLOWEEN! We have a conviction as Christians not to celebrate this holiday as its origins are rooted in a belief in celebrating dead spirits and giving power to them and their other gods. I do not want to expose my children to those kind of beliefs as innocently as they are now being packaged. The problem is that the holiday has become tailored for kids. We run into a problem when every t.v. program in the month of October revolves around Halloween. I don’t like my children watching things about ghosts, goblins and witches. The nice thing is that they watch virtually no t.v. during October.

The other problem I run into is that my child attends a public school and everything in October is about Halloween there too. One of the reasons that we have our daughter in public school is we believe that we need to teach her Godliness in spite of her surroundings. We want to teach her from an early age to be in the world and not of it. My child is six and we have explained it to her on her level as best as we can. I think she understands it, but I am curious about how other parents address this dilemma.

I know some parents who take their kids out of school on Halloween because they are kind of young to understand all the aspects of it. I know others who send them on without a costume and use it as a learning tool. I know some who let the children dress up so that they won’t feel left out. Let me know what you do? Do you see a problem with everything being bent towards this for the entire month of October? Or do you think it isn’t a big deal and is just an innocent thing for kids to have fun with? I realize I am treading on rocky ground here because I know that there are a lot of Christians that do celebrate Halloween. So, leave your comments, tell me what you think about this.

Head on over to Rocks In My Dryer Blog Carnival to see this and other questions posted there.

16 Responses to “Halloween–What to do?”

SingForHim @ Real Life says:

October 3, 2007 at 1:24 am

You’re up late, too, eh? You beat me by a few!

We have gone over to the “Dress up and go to the Bible Festival” camp. So, I can’t help. Love ya!

Heather says:

October 3, 2007 at 7:26 am

Yeah. We have gone to the church things several years in a row. I guess I am wondering about school? Do you send your munchkins? Do you let them dress up?

Kathy says:

October 3, 2007 at 8:57 am

No kids here, but I remember my mom sending us to school, but not letting us participate in halloween. She talked to our teachers and made them give us “alternate activities” during halloween. On the actual day I don’t think she kept us at home. I don’t remember ever dressing up either.

It was kind of embarrassing being the only kid in class not doing the halloween thing, and sometimes the teachers were mean about it (mostly because they were being inconvenienced). But I would say, talk to your daughter’s teachers and see what they have to say. I also remember Jehovah’s witnesses skipping out on Christmas activities and other things that contradicted their beliefs, so it’s not unheard of.

SingForHim @ Real Life says:

October 3, 2007 at 9:33 am

Heather, I think it depends on the child and how strong your convictions are. We let HipChick and Princess dress up at school, dance class, etc. Mainly because they love to dress up, and they don’t really understand why they can’t. When they get older, we’ll talk about the real story behind Halloween, and make the decision with them.

We don’t, however, decorate or have Halloween stuff in our home.

There is a neat activity you can do with a pumpkin, called “Are you a Pumpkin Christian?” I’ll post it on my site this week. Personally, I decided I wasn’t going to let the devil steal my daughters’ joy when she doesn’t understand. I’m not giving him that power; we just ignore him…for now.

Heather Cotten says:

October 3, 2007 at 11:53 am

Interesting perspectives. Thanks for adding. I look forward to seeing that “Are you a Pumpkin Christian?” In looking at stuff about Halloween (I just linked to something about the origin) I was reminded that in a rebuttal to what the Celts began as a celebration of the dead and their spirits, the Christians created a day called All Saints Day (or all hallows day). Halloween was the eve of that day. Too bad that All Hallows day didn’t stick around like Halloween did. :)

Jan says:

October 3, 2007 at 1:43 pm

I just moved to Mexico… that solved the whole problem.

Cathy R. says:

October 3, 2007 at 5:48 pm

Heather, I feel for you when my babies were in school I was a new baby christian mom. All I knew I hated the holiday , I did go speak to the teachers some understood and some hated it,just to know I was in the school. I need to ask my kids how was it for them, I do remember one year the teacher send my kids out while they had a party and my kids felt left out.I think it didn’t bother Sara to much she was my outspoken one so she would speak her mind about ,I will have to get back to you after I speak to the each one of them!

Tonya says:

October 3, 2007 at 7:27 pm

Just wanted to drop by to say I read your comment on another blog about making the platter for a gift – that is BRILLIANT! I absolutely adore that idea! My kids aren’t that little anymore, but we could just do other designs. Thanks so much! Tonya

Greg says:

October 4, 2007 at 9:56 am

Wow…if my son was in public school I would send him on Halloween dressed as the prophet Elijah to call down fire on the pagans just to ruffle the Publik School Tolerance Police.

Rodney M says:

October 4, 2007 at 12:44 pm

Heather wrote: “I don’t like my children watching things about ghosts, goblins and witches.”

I’m going to stir the pot a little here and I’m pretty sure you guys know that I love you. What about C.S. Lewis’s “Chronicles of Narnia” series? A man whom most Christians would refer to as a giant of the faith chose these subjects to convey Christianity through his beloved children’s stories. Tolkien uses the same beings as subjects in the Lord of Ring series as well. Sometimes, I believe we get our panties a little too bunched up over the subject of ghosts, witches, goblins, etc…

My kids are homeschooled and I doubt they’re going to dress up. Kim and I have mixed feelings about the subject of Halloween. We have taken them to Christian alternatives at churches and whatnot. I have no problems with that. If we choose an alternative that glorifies God, then why not celebrate? All the kids want is candy anyway – they could be dressed up like a refrigerator for all they care. As long as they could get some candy from somebody.

One thing I never did, but wanted to do was to celebrate All Saints Day by picking a character from the Bible (one who displayed Godly characteristics) and learning all about that person for that day. Each year would be someone different. I guess it’s not too late to start.

Ben Cotten says:

October 4, 2007 at 2:11 pm

Awesome comment, Rodney. I was wondering if anyone would make that distinction.

For me, the issue is what we are celebrating not so much that witches and goblins are involved. With those books you mentioned (and IMO, Harry Potter) there is clear good and evil. Good is celebrated and evil is shunned. Evil is punished and good is blessed.

Halloween is a celebration of evil where the lines between good and evil are blurred and confused. Our culture is constantly blurring these lines for our children and it is up to us to draw clear lines for them. We are trying to use Halloween to help them understand 1) that they will never fully belong in the world and that’s a good thing, 2) the Devil is not to be feared or celebrated, and 3) just because their teacher and half the world says a thing is good doesn’t make it so.

So I don’t think the issue is really about how you deal with Halloween (church events, costumes, candy, etc) it’s whether or not your kids are getting the bigger points about Jesus and what it means to belong to Him.

Heather Cotten says:

October 4, 2007 at 2:25 pm

Good point, Rodney. You are right. I think too many times we make God too wimpy of a God. We don’t talk about the fact that He has defeated death and darkness. My point here is really directed at the time surrounding Halloween. I get angry at the celebration of evil…or even the way they innocently put it out there without thinking of the effects that it can have on young children.

I am all for alternatives and you put it in a great way when you said “If we choose an alternative that glorifies God, then why not celebrate?” I get frustrated with people that draw the line so much that they can’t even find joy in the alternatives. Thanks for this perspective! Hey, maybe someone should show one of those movies at a church on Halloween. That would be cool! Great idea about All Saints Day by the way…never have thought about that one. You should do it! I think it is November 2 for some reason???

Rodney M says:

October 4, 2007 at 8:31 pm

The way I see it is this (and you can feel free to disagree – I won’t be offended).

1. There is nothing inherently evil about getting candy.

2. There is nothing inherently evil in dressing up.

3. Halloween is generally a celebration of evil. It’s the one day of the year where being a light version of evil is OK. However, as Christians we don’t have to let Satan rule the day. That job belongs to God. So if my kids want to dress up (in something that isn’t romanticizing evil) and receive candy from a group of people then I have no real problem with that.

4. For those who say we are still participating in the celebration of evil by even recognizing the day or in choosing alternatives – well then, we should stop singing all those hymns that got there musical influence from bar songs. Just as these hymn songs were (and are) used in a redeeming fashion, so too can we participate in the Oct. 31st activities in a manner that is both glorifying to God and of sorts redeeming (or reclaiming) the day.

lew says:

October 5, 2007 at 11:55 am

Halloween is significant because it is the one night of the year that almost 100 of my neighbors will come right up to my door with their children in tow, uninvited.

We want to be remembered by the children and appreciated by the parents, so we give a bag of toys like hot wheels (somewhat expensive), superballs, yo-yos, etc. to the younger children, and we give king size candy to the older kids (we’ll get a couple big boxes at Sam’s Club). We seriously drop a dime on this venture as it is a huge opportunity for relationship building.

We make it a point to sit in our front yard out near the sidewalk. We’ve learned from the past that the parents will send their children up to the door and stay out by the sidewalk, therefore giving us no opportunity to meet the parents.

By sitting out near the sidewalk, we have the opportunity to engage the adults in conversation, or at least introduce ourselves by name. We are neighbors after all. We’ve gotten to know quite a few of our neighbors this way.

oneAustin says:

October 7, 2007 at 2:50 pm

I can’t offer much advice on the Halloween issue. I’m not sure how to handle it myself, but no kids yet, so I’ll let it go for now.
I am impressed and glad to hear that you are sending your children to public schools because you, “need to teach her Godliness in spite of her surroundings. We want to teach her from an early age to be in the world and not of it.”
Hiding from the world serves no one. God Bless.

Heather Cotten says:

October 7, 2007 at 11:59 pm

lew,
Great idea! Growing up, we always kinda hid away on Halloween night. As I grew up I was bothered by that but didn’t realize why. It was because we were hiding away from the world when we had an open door. Since then we have spoken about it many times and my parents say that they regret doing that now. Rodney, good perspectives!

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