“Your Thoughts on Halloween”

I hate it.

 

We love Halloween for the most part. Hate when it lands on Sunday though, like this year.

Usually, we don't have the sorts of mischief that other area see. People here are armed and won't put up with much, except decorating the trees with toliet paper. LOL And that is likely to happen spontaneously any time during football season, depending on which local team is playing which other local team. I'm sorta surprised we've made it to October without seeing at least one yard so decorated this year. Guess its been too hot!

 

We love it. It's a great time for the kids in dressing up and getting candy for mom and dad

For those who don't have kids and stay home...great evangelism tool. Only one night a year the lost come to your door one at a time!

 

We have done trunk or treat in the past on Halloween night, but won't do it this year because we won't cancel a service for halloween.

I enjoy Halloween because it's fun to see the little kids dressed up.

 

Halloween is a time for children to go out begging for candy and forcing people to either give them what they want or get malicious things done to their property.

It's also a time for teenagers to go out and vandalize as much property as possible.

Also, I don't like the idea of allowing children to dress up like ghosts, witches, the devil, and all manner of strange creatures--real or not.

 

I didn't vote because, for me, Halloween is sort of an in-between thing. I don't "hate" it -- it is just another pagan holiday, and we have tons of them already. I don't "love" it because it is just... Well, you know.

Over the years, I've done all sorts of things, from trunk or treat, taking the kids out trick or treating (never any tricks, just treats from neighbors), done the church lock-in thing (I'm of the opinion that lock-ins are of the devel... :laugh: ), and just sat at home. We love the little kiddos that come to our house, and love to treat them.

A lot of people freak out about the pagan or Satanic aspects of Halloween, but I figure that "dead in sin and trespasses" means just that. Worshiping the cause of that death doesn't make one more dead... So, I'd rather be in the business of relationship building with an eye toward the gospel than a monk hiding out in a stone room, isolated from the very people the Lord has called us to serve and love. We become almost animistic,fearing evil spirits, talismans, etc., instead of fearing the Lord who actually has the power to utterly destroy!

I do prefer the Christian celebration of the day, "All Hallows Eve" where those who have gone before us to the arms of Jesus might be remembered for their faithfulness, but most people don't even have a clue about that aspect of the holiday.

 

I've been trick or treating in many neighborhoods and have taken my kids treat or treating in several neighborhoods. Never once have a seen anything malicious done to a house that wasn't handing out candy. It's real simple...leave your porch light off and the kids pass right by your house. You don't even have to talk to them!

 

I love Halloween, because it is an exellent time to provide a witness to the children who come to my door. The favorite thing I can hear is, "Mom, this guy is giving our Bible verses with the candy".

I do not care for many of the "ghoulish" costumes, but have seen many princesses and princes at my door. I especially try to remind them that they are children of THE King. Have any become believers because of my witness? I do not know, but that is God's work, not mine.

Bill :godisgood:

 

Wow, things must really be that much different in FL than here in Ohio! Nothing even remotely like that happens here.

I do agree about witches, devil, etc.

 

There are plenty of other costume choices other than evil ones.

 

I don't mind the kids dressing up and going door to door getting candy. I really enjoy all the autumn decorations, with the carved pumpkins, etc. But I hate the evil/scary stuff associated with it all. For the last few years, we have boycotted halloween. We turn off all the lights and go out to dinner with friends.

 

You're in Cleveland and don't see that? I used to live there...it doesn't even have to be Halloween for that to happen! You must be in a nice part.

I detest Halloween. I don't want to leave the house and see all the blood and gore and nasty scenes in the store or the ignorant parents who think it's sweet and cute to dress little Timmy as a demon or axe murderer.

Cute little princesses and princes and such? Sure, but why take them out and expose them to the other nasty stuff going on?

There are many stories about the origins of the holiday. Some are nice. Some are not. I really don't care. What it is NOW is primarily a time to glorify death, witchcraft, and crime. THAT makes it evil and wrong and for the life of me I can't figure out what it is that makes a parent think it's harmless. You can dress your kid as Christ himself but what's the point when you're tossing them into a mess of ghouls and blood to go knock on doors asking strangers for candy? Isn't that kinda opposite of both Godly AND common sense? The rest of the year we teach them demons and murder are wrong, death the result of sin, and to NOT take candy from strangers.

So what's the excuse again? What's the great, powerful logic that makes this okay?

 

Because some of us are able to teach our children that there are aspects of halloween that aren't healthy for them, but to avoid those aspects. My children dress up in costumes that have nothing to do with death, withcraft, or anything of the nature. We escort them around to our neighbors, who we know, and let them get some candy.

If you are going to exclude anything that would allow your children to see evil, then you are going to have a lot of sheltering to do. I hope your kids are prepared for the outside world when they leave your nest.

 

Shell out, shell out, Or, I'll smash your wondows inside out........a Heckoween chant of years back.

Cheers,

Jim

 

I don't care for it either!

 

I live in an eastern suburb and have never seen it. In fact, I don't recall ever seeing anything remotely like that on the news. There are always bad apples in any city, but nothing like that here.

 

While I don't care for Halloween, I enjoy handing out candy to the children who dress up and go door to door. Tonight was trick-or-treat night in our town, and it was a very fun, safe neighborhood event for the children. I passed out apples this year, along with gospel tracts that explained the plan of salvation.
This year most of the kids were tiny little ones in cute costumes. I had very few gory, ugly stuff, except for some of the older boys. We had at least 100, and I even gave doggie treats and loved on the dogs who were brought along.

It was a great time to meet people in my town and show some kindness to their kids. Many of the children were thrilled to get apples instead of candy (go figure) and I complimented the parents who taught their kids good manners.

If we lived in a big city I probably would feel differently, but for now, I'm ok with it here.