Is halloween evil?

[andysw]

Self explanatory.

[LucreziaBorgia]

I just see it as another benign commercial holiday. My favorite one, actually. I do know people around here though that see it as evil, and various church groups offer alternatives to the holiday.

[quankanne]

I don't think so, but I'm secure in my beliefs so I don't see how letting kids dress up like goblins and such is going to warp them – if anything, it allows their imagination to grow when they're allowed to mull over the neat things they can wear for trick-er-treating!

[JamesM]

It in itself is not evil per se as it is celebrated today, but it is the celebration of a pagan holiday...which IMO celebrates evil. The word itself originated with the Catholic Church.

 

http://wilstar.com/holidays/hallown.htm

 

Interesting question to ask in February. Especially when I look out my window and see all of the snow here in Michigan. Those poor children would freeze!

[amaysngrace]

Halloween isn't evil but I don't like to decorate with all that witchy batty crap. Everything is black. Or orange.

 

Ummm...yuck.

 

I decorate for harvest.

[lovelorcet]

It in itself is not evil per se as it is celebrated today, but it is the celebration of a pagan holiday...which IMO celebrates evil. The word itself originated with the Catholic Church.

 

http://wilstar.com/holidays/hallown.htm

 

Interesting question to ask in February. Especially when I look out my window and see all of the snow here in Michigan. Those poor children would freeze!

 

 

Easter and Christmas are also pagan holidays just taken over by the church.

 

Here is a little quote from wiki:

 

The English name, "Easter", and the German, "Ostern", derive from the name of a putative Anglo-Saxon Goddess of the Dawn (thus, of spring, as the dawn of the year) — called Ēaster, Ēastre, and Ēostre in various dialects of Old English and Ostara in German.

 

 

 

 

[JamesM]

Easter and Christmas are also pagan holidays just taken over by the church.

 

 

 

Correct.

 

That is why some/many Christians do not celebrate those days as religious holidays. However, many of us celebrate them as Jesus' birth (even though we know it is not the actual day) and His Resurrection (even though again it is not known what day exactly He died and rose from the dead).

 

The Catholic Church had a way of taking over holidays.

[HokeyReligions]

I guess it depends on how you celebrate it. I don't think its evil - its acontrived 'holiday' and,in my opinion, if one believes in God, then evil must also have a 'divine' origin and therefor a man-made, contrived celebration cannot itself be evil. It could be used to worship evil - halloween as a vehicle for evil I could see, but by itself - no.

 

I love halloween. We have run haunted houses before and host some pretty cool halloween parties! I have a garage full of props and costumes and there is nothing evil in our 'celebrations' of the holiday. I just wish 'they' would change it from October 31 to the last Saturday in October! It would make it so much easier for parties and such!

 

My favorite costume I made was a Werechicken. It was funny!

[quankanne]

my favorite Halloween memory is of Hokey's dog Willie, and the smoke machine .... :laugh:

 

The Catholic Church had a way of taking over holidays.

 

well, honey, when you're a first responder, you get dibs

[Moai]

Halloween is not only evil, it leads children to accept/practice witchcraft, astrology, demonology, vampirism, lycanthropy, and reanimated dead. Each one of these things (alone is bad enough, in combination the effect is exponential) leads to premarital sex, disrespect of one's parents, drug use, and murder. Halloween is yet another portal that Satan uses to inject sin into our lives. The danger inherent in this horrible holiday cannot be overstated.

 

Certainly children enjoy "trick-or-treating" and bobbing for apples, but all soul-killing sin starts as "harmless fun." When an adolescent, it feels good to touch yourself in the shower, and it harms nobody. But you keep doing it, and pretty soon you don't limit the behavior to the shower. Then, you purchase pornography and watch movies of questionable (re: above PG-rated) moral content. It is only a matter of time before you engage in premarital sex, have an abortion (or your partner has one) and you have an STD.

 

Surely the similarities between the above scenario and Halloween are obvious. It is the same with marijuana. It starts with pot, and ends with heroin abuse, prostitution and death.

 

Halloween must be banned. If you saw a man about to shoot himself, wouldn't you stop him? Isn't it our duty as a society to protect fellow members of it? One's eternal soul is worth more than their life, isn't it? When you see someone behaving in such a way that you KNOW is going to lead them to an eternity of torment and pain in Hell shouldn't a moral person do all he can to prevent it? Even if it is against their will to do so, we must protect people from themselves, if it comes to that.

 

Certainly Halloween has a history in our pagan past. Intellectuals will say that it is harmless, and is a carry-over from pagan festivals and obvious superstition BUT THAT IS SATAN TALKING. Isn't that just what Satan would WANT you to believe, so you will continue to practice the behavior? As usual, Satan uses intellectuals to do his work for him, and millions are led into damnation.

 

Please join me in calling for a ban on Halloween!

[shadowofman]

Not only does Holloween lead to AIDS, Heroin, and Death, but most feared of all, it leads to Harry Potter and then, no,.....I can't say it.......

 

Dungeons and Dragons!!!!!!!

 

 

"sob, sob, sob..........sob, sob, sob...."

[disgracian]

And when your D&D character is slain by an elf, you have to go and commit suicide for real. Jack Chick said so.

 

Cheers,

D.

[shadowofman]

I have always wanted to do a short film based on that track. But it's probably been done.

Edited February 6, 2008 by shadowofman

[a4a]

No it is not evil.

 

Real things like child molesting freaks are evil...... robbers are evil ('cept Robin Hood) sneaky politician are the super evilians.

 

One could dress up like Robin Hood for hallyweeny!

 

People still fear witches and goblins? Is that why Halloween is deemed evil by some?

[LucreziaBorgia]

Halloween is not only evil, it leads children to accept/practice witchcraft, astrology, demonology, vampirism, lycanthropy, and reanimated dead. Each one of these things (alone is bad enough, in combination the effect is exponential) leads to premarital sex, disrespect of one's parents, drug use, and murder. Halloween is yet another portal that Satan uses to inject sin into our lives. The danger inherent in this horrible holiday cannot be overstated.

 

Certainly children enjoy "trick-or-treating" and bobbing for apples, but all soul-killing sin starts as "harmless fun." When an adolescent, it feels good to touch yourself in the shower, and it harms nobody. But you keep doing it, and pretty soon you don't limit the behavior to the shower. Then, you purchase pornography and watch movies of questionable (re: above PG-rated) moral content. It is only a matter of time before you engage in premarital sex, have an abortion (or your partner has one) and you have an STD.

 

Surely the similarities between the above scenario and Halloween are obvious. It is the same with marijuana. It starts with pot, and ends with heroin abuse, prostitution and death.

 

Halloween must be banned. If you saw a man about to shoot himself, wouldn't you stop him? Isn't it our duty as a society to protect fellow members of it? One's eternal soul is worth more than their life, isn't it? When you see someone behaving in such a way that you KNOW is going to lead them to an eternity of torment and pain in Hell shouldn't a moral person do all he can to prevent it? Even if it is against their will to do so, we must protect people from themselves, if it comes to that.

 

Certainly Halloween has a history in our pagan past. Intellectuals will say that it is harmless, and is a carry-over from pagan festivals and obvious superstition BUT THAT IS SATAN TALKING. Isn't that just what Satan would WANT you to believe, so you will continue to practice the behavior? As usual, Satan uses intellectuals to do his work for him, and millions are led into damnation.

 

Please join me in calling for a ban on Halloween!

 

 

Is this from or inspired by a Chick tract?

[JamesM]

Is this from or inspired by a Chick tract?

 

Nah, it is a tongue in cheek.

 

He DOES have an eloquent way with words though, dontcha think?

[LucreziaBorgia]

Nah, it is a tongue in cheek.

 

He DOES have an eloquent way with words though, dontcha think?

 

I know... I love it! It begs for an illustrated version. There is a Halloween Chick tract, but it has nothing on this narrative. This one would be brilliant!

[NoIDidn't]

There is a Halloween Chick tract, but it has nothing on this narrative.

 

Yes there is. I hate it. It was so convincing to me when I was young and gullible that I should repent for celebrating it throughout my childhood.

 

Is Halloween evil? No. I just don't celebrate it because I don't like people knocking on my door asking for free candy. LOL.

[disgracian]

Last time I had kids come up to my door shouting "Trick or treat?", I yelled back "What does that even mean?" and they walked away after an awkward silence.

 

Cheers,

D.

[FleshNBones]

Easter and Christmas are also pagan holidays just taken over by the church.

 

Here is a little quote from wiki:

 

The English name, "Easter", and the German, "Ostern", derive from the name of a putative Anglo-Saxon Goddess of the Dawn (thus, of spring, as the dawn of the year) — called Ēaster, Ēastre, and Ēostre in various dialects of Old English and Ostara in German.

We know the date for Easter was set by early Christian religious leaders while they were working on the Gregorian calendar.

Here are a few things to think about.

Do any of you seriously think early Christian leaders would name a major Christian religious holiday after a pagan goddess?

Which came first? The holiday called Easter, or the English word "Easter"?

 

The date for Easter has a lot more to do with the Jewish Passover rather than some Pagan celebration.

 

Main Entry: Eas·ter

Pronunciation: \ˈē-stər\ Function: noun

Etymology: Middle English estre, from Old English ēastre; akin to Old High German ōstarun (plural) Easter, Old English ēast east

 

 

English Etymology by F. Kluge and F. Lutz

Easter.

According to Beda Venerabilis, in heathen times the Anglo-Saxons called the feast in April after their goddess Eostre, which is elsewhere quite unrecorded. The WEST-TEUT. word (base austron-_ is prob. of the same origin as east; ep. LITH. auszra 'aurora'.

[lovelorcet]

Do any of you seriously think early Christian leaders would name a major Christian religious holiday after a pagan goddess?

Which came first? The holiday called Easter, or the English word "Easter"?

 

The date for Easter has a lot more to do with the Jewish Passover rather than some Pagan celebration.

 

 

That is why I also had the reference to German because the term spans more than one language historically. Pagans (for example Germanic ones) were worshiping a Goddess whos name Easter (Ostern in german) is now derived from. Is it just simple coincidence that they worshipped her in the spring by burring eggs in the earth??

 

The church realized that this celebration was too important as they were coming out of Rome. So they converted the holiday into a christian one.

[brennan]

Self explanatory.

its attachly a relgious holiday the mask and decorations where origanly to drive away evil spirts.

[andysw]

I have parents that say how much halloween is evil by dressing up as ghosts or monsters, and I know a few christians who celebrate haloween.

 

So, I'm pretty confused of which side is right.

[LucreziaBorgia]

I have parents that say how much halloween is evil by dressing up as ghosts or monsters, and I know a few christians who celebrate haloween.

 

So, I'm pretty confused of which side is right.

 

It can get confusing, because generally speaking each side will tell you they are "right", and in a sense they are - but what is right for one is not right for the other. The way I see it, the only people that it is "right" for are the people themselves.

 

If a Christian wants to say Halloween is evil, and participate in "Hell House" instead then that is all well and good. If a Christian wants to celebrate Halloween as a harmless commercial holiday, then that is all well and good. What is not all well and good are people who presume to speak for G_d, and use it as an opportunity to try to dictate to other people what they personally feel is right. To me, that is what "using the Lord's name in vain" means - using G_d and the bible as a way to tell others what they personally feel is right and wrong - particularly when it is done to bash, belittle or browbeat others.

 

The bottom line is: what do you think is right or wrong? Consider your reasons. Write them down. Consult your passages if necessary. Form an opinion based on what feels right and then if you are comfortable talk it over with your pastor for further input. Find that path before following one someone else sets down before you and you aren't sure about. Your convictions will only be as strong as the effort you put into them to form them.

[Moai]

I have parents that say how much halloween is evil by dressing up as ghosts or monsters, and I know a few christians who celebrate haloween.

 

So, I'm pretty confused of which side is right.

 

If you dig Halloween, go crazy. If not, then don't. You are the only one who can determine what is right, especially when you consider something as benign as Halloween.

 

"Christians" can't agree on the Trinity,which day the Sabbath falls on, whether to listen to the pope or not, whether to pick up snakes and drink poison or not, birth control, what clothes are ok to wear, or even if it is cool to drive a car or not. They can't even agree what makes someone a Christian or not.

 

There is no such thing as ghosts, goblins, demons, zombies (the Bible disagrees with me here), reanimated mummies, witches (that have "powers"--there are quite a few knuckleheads that call themselves witches), wizards, dragons, werewolves, vampires, trolls, or liches.

 

That being so, Halloween cannot be dangerous in a spiritual or moral sense. If it were, Civil War re-enacting would be horribly evil, since there actually was a such thing as an Army of Northern Virginia or Army of the Potomac. Halloween can be dangerous for diabetics and those watching their weight, for sure.

 

Are costume parties in general evil, or frowned upon by god?

 

There are Christians who claim that playing cards are evil and if you have them in your house Satan can use them to "get in" and disrupt your family or even possess you. Games like "Magic: The Gathering" and Pokemon are tools of Satan, too. Puhleeze.