[Note: this is an old blog post. The takes in this post may no longer apply to what the author currently believes and/or the information may be outdated. Please take all that is written here with a grain of salt.]
*deep breath* Okay. Here we go.
I know I’m going to offend a lot of my Christian friends. I might even lose some followers over it. But I feel a need to summarize all my thoughts on the subject into one, organized whole and present it up to my Christian peers (probably to be slaughtered, but oh well).
Recently, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking on Halloween. Why do I dress up and eat candy, even though many Christians say it’s evil? I decided to dig deep and figure out my reasons.
(Just so you know, I’m being completely, painfully honest in this post. I don’t mean to offend anyone, though. That’s not my purpose. I just mean to defend myself … and any other Christian who has similar views to mine. I respect those who don’t do Halloween – know some of them pretty well, actually – and I trust they have great reasons for doing so. It just so happens, I have great reasons for celebrating Halloween. Or at least I think so. 😉 )
1: To me, Halloween is more of an event than a holiday
I mean, I do dress up and walk around asking for sugar (or at least I used to; I probably won’t this year just because I don’t have any great inspiration for a costume), but … that’s about it?
We also carve jack-o’-lanterns, but just because it’s fun (except for the time my little brother cut his hand and got like … I think six stitches?), not because we want to scare of demons (no worries on that front).
2: I don’t do bad things on Halloween
I watched a video on why Christian girls shouldn’t celebrate Halloween recently … and the vloggers went on and on about how Christian girls use Halloween as the one day a year when they can be bad.
In response to which I say … not really???
I have never once done anything bad on Halloween that I haven’t done every other day of the year. (And I say that because of course I do bad things, from sassing my parents to picking on my little brothers; Christian don’t mean perfect, y’all!) And certainly not because of Halloween!
When Halloween comes around, I don’t go out and worship demons or whatever it is that those vloggers think Christian girls do on Halloween. Where on earth did they get that idea? Halloween doesn’t make you a Satanist by default. It just makes you a Christian who isn’t affected by a holiday that has its roots in superstitious medieval people (like some Christmas/Easter traditions, by the way).
On Halloween, I’m the same old Kell I am any other day of the year.
3: I’m not worshipping demons
To me, saying that just because some people celebrate Halloween in an evil way means that no one should celebrate Halloween is the equivalent of saying that because some books are bad, we shouldn’t read any books.
Because some food is unhealthy, we shouldn’t eat.
Because some water can be contaminated, we shouldn’t drink.
Also, for your information, Halloween wasn’t originally about worshiping demons … it was about scaring them away. Superstitious medieval people believed that, on the day before their “All Saint’s Day,” demons walked the earth before their “holy day,” getting their last “mischiefs” in before they were apparently banished by all the “saints.”
(Not the place for this, but all Christians are technically saints … except the meaning of the word has twisted so now when you call someone a “saint” it means they’re perfect – or considered a saint by the Catholic church – while it really just means a Christian which Jesus has purified … so every Christian …)
And they had to scare them off by dressing up and carving pumpkins.
And yes, I know Satanists and such use this as their main holiday and do worship demons and sacrifice cats (NOOOOO!!!) and whatever … but that doesn’t mean you have to! It also doesn’t mean you have to participate in anything scary or Satan-worshipping.
All Halloween means to the vast majority of the world is a chance to dress up as your favorite Disney character, eat candy until you throw up, and (for some, though not for me) get scared a little.
What on earth is wrong with that? Except, you know, dying of over-sugar-ment …
4: CANDY CANDY CANDY!!!
Halloween is conveniently placed right before November … and therefore right before National Novel Writing Month.
What is the #1 Thing You Need to Survive NaNoWriMo?
I’ll give you three guesses.
No, it’s not perseverance.
No, it’s not a great outline.
No, it’s not Scrivener. (Who even told you that?)
IT IS CANDY.
How convenient, am I right? Almost God-ordained. (Okay, not really, but y’know … sometimes God chooses to bless us in little ways, so I figured …?)
Even if you’re not doing NaNoWriMo, candy is awesome. #caseclosed
5: I don’t feel guilty about it
My #1 reason (even though it’s actually #5). I’ve never once, in my deepest subconscious, had any doubts about dressing up and snatching up as much candy as I possibly can.
If I was doing something wrong, wouldn’t God be on my back about it? He sure is about my other sins. Wouldn’t I have the tiniest sliver of doubt? A little voice in my head saying, “Kell, this ain’t good, girl!”
I don’t feel that I’m doing anything wrong. I’ve even prayed about it. I’ve researched it. I’ve read any Bible passage that would shed any light of the subject. I don’t feel convicted!
But maybe you do. Maybe the very thought of Halloween feels you with dread. Listen to God! Pray, read the Bible, talk to other Christians whom you trust. It’s up to you, not to (Christian) society, to decide what’s wrong and what’s right!
(Major Disclaimer: If you’re a minor, you need to listen to your parents, but if your convictions end up being different than theirs, you can act upon them when you’re an adult in your own household. Still, if your parents are violently opposed, just don’t celebrate Halloween. It doesn’t hurt you to celebrate it … but it’s a purely selfish pleasure if doing so is going to hurt those you love – and are supposed to obey! Don’t break up a family over something so insignificant – please!)
In summary … Halloween isn’t necessarily bad. The way you celebrate Halloween can be bad. But not Halloween itself.
Halloween today isn’t about scaring demons off … or even consorting with them (unless you decide to do that, though you could do that any other day of the year as well as on Halloween; Halloween doesn’t make it easier or anything!).
Halloween is about candy. About a good, meaninglessly fun time. It’s the confirmation that you can be Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty or whoever you want to be with the right costume. (Actually, you can’t, but a three-year-old doesn’t know that …)
It’s sure not Christmas or Easter. It doesn’t have a deeper meaning. It’s just for fun. I don’t believe it’s helpful or wonderful. It won’t teach you anything. But it’s harmless. Kind of like (the better) modern-day kids cartoons. No real point … but no real loss, either.
Just do what God leads you to do. That’s all that matters.
~Kellyn Roth~
p.s.
I’m reasonably sure you can come up with your answers without any questions. I bet we’ll have some *coughs* fun discussions …
64 Responses
I agree with you. I’ve never actually went door to door for candy (well – maybe once ’cause I feel like I remember something), but I have gone to a church event two years in a row (and helped out) that has an event for Halloween. They do that because they’re trying to draw people to the church and hopefully witness to them. My mom’s side of the family (including my conservative aunt) has “celebrated” Halloween, except it was a Disney Halloween event at her christian school when she was younger.
I think of Halloween as “free candy!” or “cheap candy at the store!”
I think it’s fun to dress up (as long as it isn’t inappropriate, etc)… I think it’s fun to have candy. I don’t worship demons or anything satanic like that. This year, we won’t have an event to go to though… so we’ll probably hide in the basement to avoid people knocking on the door or something. 😛
I don’t think I’ll allow my future kids to trick-or-treat door-to-door just because it’d be stressful, I’d be concerned for their safety, and for the moment I just feel like it wouldn’t be right… (we’ll see if my future husband has anything to say about that xD or if my mind changes).
*highfives Crystal* Exactly! IT’s “free candy!” day. (Honestly, if it weren’t for candy, I would have no interest in it at all, haha!)
I live in the country, so there aren’t a lot of people to trick or treat besides my grandma … but we have gone to my sister’s neighborhood one year (because it’s a pretty good section of town) and my parents and brother-in-law walked around with my brothers and nieces and nephew (I just stayed home and popped popcorn; I don’t think I had a costume that year). I might let my children trick-or-treat IF we lived in a pretty safe neighborhood, but I’d have to be with them constantly. 🙂
thank you!! i love halloween because of the decorations and costumes and pumpkin carving, but i can never say how excited i am at church because i know someone will freak out and tell me it’s “the devil’s birthday.” but the devil was never actually born, so . . .
my parents have never celebrated halloween — we go to a fall festival instead — but they’re not really against it, either. so they don’t get after me for liking halloween.
thanks for writing this! i hope you don’t get any angry comments.
happy halloween! 🎃
xo loren
Yes, God made the devil (and all the angels) at the beginning of time, whenever that was … it isn’t like he has a special birthday or anything. XD
Yeah, we have a “Harvest Festival” we go to every year. We’ve never majorly celebrated Halloween … but I have nothing about it.
Eh, I’m okay with some angry comments. I know where I stand, and I’m not too worried. Thanks for reading, and Happy Halloween to you, too! 🙂
I don’t really have an argument for you, except for this: why do you celebrate a meaningless holiday? That’s actually an oxymoron, since holiday comes from ‘holy day’. So Halloween is a holy day because we can dress up and get candy? So fine, ‘celebrate’ Halloween, but don’t call it a holiday if you’re not actually celebrating anything. XD I know a lot of people actually do celebrate death/fear/anything related to Satan on Halloween, which is something to stay far away from. (I know you don’t do that, but still, the stigma is there…) But then, people have also ruined Christmas and Thanksgiving with their greediness.
BUT, anyway, no arguments here! 😛 The most important thing is to do what God tells you to do. And if you’re not convicted, who am I to tell you you should be? We celebrate All Saint’s Day on November 1st. We still get the candy, dress up, and actually ‘celebrate’ Christians. 😉
CutePolarBear
I didn’t call it a holiday, Hanna … I made a point of NOT calling it a holiday, because it really isn’t anymore (although it definitely was a holiday in medieval times; it was a time to get together and ward off evil, unnecessary and ridiculous as that is).
Oh, okay. (And yes, we do need to ward off evil, but dressing up isn’t the way to do it. :P)
True … I guess what I meant is we don’t need to ward of evil by silly rituals like dressing up as Disney princesses or anything like that. 😉 SCARY CINDERELLA AAAAAH. (Okay, now I’m being silly, but y’know … I couldn’t resist …)
No, I don’t think that would work. 😛 (I know, Cinderella is REALLY scary!)
(So terrifying … all that cleaning and … um … talking to animals … singing … magical slippers … scary fairy godmother … *can’t think of anything* Still. Scary. xD)
Uh….really? I disagree.
No, not really. I was just joking. 🙂
Oh. Oops. 😛
Yes, I think it is ok if someone isn’t doing anything wrong, and if you don’t participate in the death aspect of it; heck, I lllooooooovvvvvveeeeee dressing up!!!! We choose not to do halloween, but I think if a person doesn’t participate in any death aspects, it’s fine; it is really about conviction at this point. You are very right!!!
I think a lot of reasons Christians steer away from Halloween is because MOST people make it a celebration of death; but if a person doesn’t do that, I don’t know as there is really much of a problem with it. Thanks for sharing on such a controversial topic!!!
Honestly, I haven’t met a lot of people who celebrate death at Halloween. I think it’s a lot more rare than people think for people to actually outright celebrate dying.
I love dressing up, too, though this year I couldn’t think of a good costume ,,, oh, well. I guess I’ll just be myself. 😉
You could be Maleficent…….Just saying. She is sorta scary. 😉
I don’t think I’d look good with horns … 😉
Haha! Probably not…………*gasps* Ursula!!!!!!! 😀
Tentacles don’t suit me either. 😛
Seriously? Ugh……I’m trying to help you out here!
Let’s see here……….
Cruella De Vil!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Dye your hair black and white!(wigs are terrible)
Or Yzma!!!!!!(Emporers New Groove) Man, she is creepy…………..
😉
Yzma is a good idea. So is Cruella De Vil, though … 😛 You seemed determined for me to be a villain, so mmkay. 😉
Yup. Only villains for you. Sorry, but they are the only scary ones. Unless you think Mole from Atlantis is scary(which he is. Seriously. VERY scary)
;P
Yes. He’s scary. 🙂 Why can’t I be someone happy, though? *pouts*
*laughs evily*
Haha, good idea!!! 🙂
Well put, Kellyn! I agree completely. If someone feels convicted to avoid anything Halloween-related, they should avoid it, but if you don’t feel that conviction and aren’t doing anything that *should* make you feel convicted, like celebrating death and violence or committing evil acts, then I don’t think there’s a problem.
I personally have never gone trick-or-treating as my parents never felt that was safe because you do, unfortunately, get weirdos running around on Halloween night sometimes. But, I used to always dress up when I was a little kid (usually as a cat because young me loved kitties :p) and when we lived in an actual neighborhood (we’re way out in the countryside now), we handed out candy. We never decorated, and still do not decorate the house with anything scarier than a carved pumpkin, which, just like you, we carve because it’s fun, not because we believe it scares anything off. While, as an adult, I don’t go full costume for dressing up anymore, as a Tolkien fan, I actually made myself sparkly elf ear cuffs out of wire and sparkly beads and Halloween is the one time of year I don’t feel silly wearing them out of the house :p if I even have reason to go out of the house on that day at all. (I wore them to one of my dad’s doctor’s appointments that was scheduled on Halloween a couple years ago, LOL. The older people in the waiting room looked amused.) Some years my parents and I make s’mores on Halloween night, and every year we watch Disney’s old historical mini series “The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh” which isn’t scary at all, but the guy dressed up as a scarecrow to hide his identity from King George III, so, yeah. 😛
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this subject and doing it well. 🙂
We never went trick-or-treating as kids, either, because we live out in the country and there aren’t really neighbors so much. 😛 Well, I guess once or twice we went downtown … every year, a certain business street in our town has every business giving out candy on the sidewalks, and it’s super fun if a little crowded. 😉 It’s a fairly small town, so that works.
That’s fun! I can never think of a good costume, so most of the time I end up not doing anything, but I used to every Halloween. I’d plan for it all year. Most of the time I was a princess. Once I was a Roman lady; that was the best. 🙂
Thanks for reading! Nice to hear your thoughts on the subject, too.
I’ve actually never celebrated halloween, nor has my church, but I agree with you. you can just do the fun part of halloween (dress up, trick or treating) and not have to participate in the worshipping demons part. and that vlog about people doing bad stuff on halloween… I’ve never heard of that before! nicely put, Kellyn! xo
I actually couldn’t find that vlog when I wanted to link to it for this post, but oh, well. I don’t think I finished it anyway; it was pretty long and I got bored halfway through, haha!
Thanks for reading!
This was such a good post, Kellyn!
I agree totally! (but it’s not something I would do just because my parents don’t do it sooooo 😉 )
Oh, and of course NaNo candy. *large grin as I stuff candy corn in my mouth*
Oh, and we have, like, no neighbors, sooooo………….
CANDY CORN. That’s my favorite. 🙂
Well, if your parents don’t do it, then definitely not! Like I said, their opinions come first. 🙂 Thanks for reading!
Oh yes! Candy corn is amazing!
Yup………But I’m pretty sure candy is on discount during October so, good excuse to get some LARGE bags and stock up…….*huge grin*
Yep, definitely a good excuse! 🙂
Good post Kellyn! I have always believed it was a personal conviction to or not to celebrate Halloween and the same thing applies to every other holiday. If you truly have an open heart and are listening to God’s Spirit and you don’t feel convicted about it, then why not? I think the heart attitude is what is important in this situation, not what your ending conviction is. 😀 Well done. I applaud you for writing something that could be considered controversial. Our family personally chooses not to go trick-or-treating because it can be kind of dangerous where we live and we like to stay home, cuddle up as a family with special snacks and watch a movie.
Love, Victoria
Thanks, Victoria!
We don’t really do trick-or-treating as we live out in the country and it would be impractical. And kind of short-lived as there are only a couple families within walking distance. 😉 On Halloween, we do different things … usually just stay at home and eat candy. Sometimes we’d trick-or-treat businesses in town (a lot of businesses in town are open for trick-or-treating on Halloween or days around Halloween … depends on the year), but mostly not. Just because it can often be unsafe.
This is a very interesting, insightful post, Kellyn!! Thank you for sharing. To be honest, my family has never celebrated Haloween in the traditional way, but we love using it as an excuse to get huge bags of candy from Walmart and do something fun we wouldn’t normally do. I don’t know why we’ve never dressed up or gone trick-or-treating–I guess we never really cared? That sounds so bad. XD It’s just not something I’ve ever thought about much. (Other than candy–that is nice. 🙂 ) I really loved reading your thoughts on this. Thank you so much for sharing!
That is … kind of how our family usually celebrates Halloween? I haven’t dressed up in a couple years now. We used to, though, just because my family really enjoys pretending to be people we’re not, I guess? 😉
Our main “Halloween” activity has always been our homeschool group’s Harvest Party … it’s just a fall-themed party where we dress up and get candy. We basically just call it a “Harvest Party” because we don’t want to offend people, in my opinion … though I don’t understand what the difference in names makes! (sorry for the mini rants … *coughs*)
Halloween does not have to be evil. I do not like all the creepy and gory decorations. I am Catholic and some children dress up as a favorite Saint. I never wore anything evil growing up when I went trick or treating. Thank You for this post.
Marilyn
Nope, it doesn’t! Ah, that’s a cool tradition, I suppose. I’m honestly not bugged by anything creepy or gory, though I don’t support it … at least, I don’t think so. I’ve never given it any thoughts. 😉
YES!!! I totally agree! If the Christian society wishes to banish Halloween, considers it as a way to celebrate evilness and believes that it’s all about scariness and demons, then they would also have to banish every gargoyle from every old building and church in America! Back in medieval-times, ugly-looking gargoyles were created to fend off spirits and to keep the buildings safe (or so they thought). Today, many buildings and even very old churches have added gargoyles as a tradition, and nothing more than that. So in comparison, Halloween is like a gargoyle. Hundreds of years ago, both were created to chase away bad things. Today they are both traditions, and for the most part harmless. (Unless a gargoyle were to fall off the building and hit you on the head, which is not likely!) 🙂
If we, as Christians, have the Holy Spirit in our hearts, then we have nothing to fear, not at Halloween, not ever. The Holy Spirit is more powerful than any evil thing on Earth and beyond. If we truly believe in the Holy Spirit, we do not have to fear anything, especially a one-night tradition in which children knock on your door and ask for a lollypop!
~ Megan Joy
Ooh, that’s a great example … I didn’t think of that (mostly because I didn’t know the history of gargoyles until now!). That’s really interesting … and a great point. 🙂
Definitely! We have nothing to fear … we’ve got God! 😀
Yup! I couldn’t agree more! I’ve actually never done Halloween before, and I’m certainly not crazy about it, and I’m not going to carve pumpkins and decorate my house with useless freaky stuff, but I do enjoy going out and getting candy if I ask for it. 😉 I’m not even gonna dress up. I think my brother and I are going around as a barrel of toxic waste (disguised as a human) or an alien disguised as a kid to take over the world when everyone is old and weak. *nods*
I don’t know much about halloween, but I don’t think people do it for the same bad reasons anymore. I think they just do it to make kids happy by giving them candy. And kids do it so they can stuff their tummies.
The backround of Halloween us freaky, but I agree; to me, it’s more of an event then a holiday.
Oh well I have no idea what I’m talking about…. okay I’m going now.
Ooh, great costumes! 😉 I’m probably not dressing up either (I don’t know … I might throw together a random something at last minute) and I won’t be trick-or-treating just because I need to stay home and do last-minute NaNo prep, haha. 😛 I don’t know about my brothers … I have no idea what their plans are this year! Probably nothing.
Nah, it’s okay! It was great to have your thoughts, even if you don’t think they’re too organized. They seemed to make sense to me, though, so there’s that. 🙂
😉 Haha I should probably do that to. 😛
Hehe, thanks, Kell! 🙂
I don’t mind celebrating in the fall (harvest, Thanksgiving, etc.) but I don’t like seeing all the gross stuff in the store! 😛
I think I must have a high tolerance because I don’t find Halloween decorations scary or gross … but then I’m just weird like that. 😉
I just love your posts, Kellyn. You have so many epic mic-drops and roasts. 💪
—Madi
Why, thank you, Madi! <3 That's so sweet! 🙂
I do Halloween because I like candy. And to be honest I like creepy stuff. 👻🎃🍫
So do I! I like being scared. 😉
Same, I watch creepy storytime videos at night… Its weird I don’t get nightmares. XD
#Contraversial – *cue screaming and hiding* – just kidding! We don’t “celebrate” Halloween, but only because my mom doesn’t like how some people dress up scarily (which apparently freaked me out when I was little), so we go to festivals and trunk-or-treat type things instead. It is important to do what *you* feel convicted to do, not what other people think. SO GOOD JOB FOR SHARING YOUR THOUGHTS. Ahem.
I’ve never really gone trick-or-treat in the neighborhood kind of way, though I have trick-or-treated businesses, I guess. Mostly we do harvest parties. I’d actually never heard of trunk-or-treat until just a couple weeks ago because our church is doing that!
This post = my thoughts exactly! Great post, kell!!
Thank you! 🙂
YES! I couldn’t agree more, Kell!
FINALLY. I hate that reaction that whenever the word “Halloween” or “Harry Potter” is mentioned people are like OH GOSH NO GET THE HOLY WATER GET THE HOLY WATER…it’s ridiculous. Have you ever heard of Katy Gregoire? I think she has some similar opinions 😉 Thanks for this entertaining and meaningful article! <3
YES, RIGHT? I’m the same. I’m just like, “Well … that’s how you feel … but, um, I’m actually fine with it? AND PLEASE STOP SPRINKLING THE HOLY WATER ON ME IT’S ANNOYING THIS IS A NEW SHIRT.” 😛
No, I’ve never heard of her. 🙂
I just realized I never commented, but I just wanted to say I agree! I don’t see Halloween as evil or bad, just as a fun time to go knocking on stranger’s doors and get candy, haha.
I saw part of the vlog I believe you were talking about, and stopped watching it simply because I didn’t really care to waste my time… As soon as they said that Halloween is the time when good girls go bad I was gone! XD
Great post, Kellyn!
Yes, exactly! I think it’s actions (e.g. what you’re doing) and reasons (e.g. why you do it) matters more than what other people do or originally did or whatever. 😉
Yes, it was just a waste of time; I think I got about halfway through. I think that was the most disgusting thing about it. It was a generalization and an untrue one at that!