Friday, October 7, 2011

Why I Don't Celebrate Halloween


Why I Don’t Celebrate Halloween
 
Why I Don’t Celebrate Halloween
      When Christianity came to Britain, the Church found pagan people, the Celts, who celebrated a feast of their god “Samhain”, the Lord of Death, in the fall. On the night of “Samhain”, it was believed that the spirits of the dead roamed the earth and needed to be appeased, so that they would not work evil. To imitate this ritually, people would pretend to be the dead and roam from house to house demanding “treats.” On this dreadful night, as well, there were probably human sacrifices to appease death, as there were human sacrifices at many of the major Druidic holidays.
      When the Church came to Britain and Ireland, of course, She strove mightily against the pagan religion of the Druids and attempted to stamp out such practices. In revenge, the pagans intensified their practices. This included, on “Samhain”, harassing those who would not give them “treats” – thus the threat of “tricks”. It also came to include mocking Christian practices: for example, “decorating” with skeletons was done in mockery of the veneration of the relics of the saints. The carved pumpkin is a mockery of the revered skull of a saint.
     The original date of “Samhain” varied, because the Celts had a lunar, not solar, calendar. But after the Romans introduced the Julian calendar in Britain, “Samhain” came to be fixed on the night before November 1st. Thus it stood in direct conflict with the vigil for the Feast of All Saints.
      It was very clear, then, that on the Eve of All Hallows, only PAGANS roamed the streets demanding ‘treats’, while CHRISTIANS KEPT VIGIL FOR THE HOLY FEAST DAY in a pious and Godly manner. When we go “trick or treating” we are, whether we know it or not, identifying with the pagans against the Christians.
But Isn’t the Modern “Halloween” Harmless?
      Some people may object to all this and say, “Well, that was true at ONE TIME, but NOW Halloween is just a time for kids to dress up, get candy, and enjoy themselves.” I am afraid this is wishful thinking. The facts are these:
      The “cute-ification” of the witches, demons, and other symbols of Halloween is not harmless. On the contrary, it is the NORMALIZATION of things that are EVIL. Things that are evil should not be depicted as if they were friendly or harmless. This teaches children the opposite of what they should be learning. And even if our children dress up as something harmless, they are “swimming,” as it were, in the atmosphere of the occult symbols that are everywhere at Halloween, and we are lending support to the whole thing by being part of it.
      Real witches still exist, and they STILL regard “Halloween” as one of their “holy” nights. All over the United States alone, thousands of “Wiccan” and “Church of Satan” practitioners perform evil ceremonies on this night, ranging from the Wiccan neo-pagan nature worship to actual Satanic rituals. On a night when such things are known to go on, it is more important than ever not to confuse our Christian identity with things that are anti-Christian. It is also a night when we should intensify our prayers to combat the forces of evil.
      By taking part in the pagan Halloween, we make ourselves part of the rapid de-Christianization of the United States and Europe. Current data indicate that the number of people who “keep” Halloween is constantly growing and may at some point surpass the number of people who observe Christmas in the United States! Do we want to contribute to this trend?
      We may THINK that we “mean no harm” by “doing Halloween,” but uncritical behavior regarding invisible realities that we don’t really understand often invites demonic activity. Why should we take a chance on letting demons into our lives? Are we absolutely sure that Halloween is so harmless?  
      In summary, Halloween results in one of two things.  Either it is a celebration of demons and evil, or else it makes fun of these things as though they aren’t real or to be taken seriously.    Either way, it is a contradiction of the Christian Faith.