to ask someone to explain to me the issues surrounding Hallowe'en from a religious point of view?

[Permanentlyexhausted]

Just that really. I understand that the celebration of Hallowe'en is offensive/unacceptable to many Christians but I don't really understand the specific reasons why. The only people I know who actively disagree with Hallowe'en are Christians but maybe it is offensive to other/all religions. I'm just interested in finding out a bit more about the situation.

Please enlighten me.

I am an atheist but DP's family are religious (think vicars, pastors, Bible school etc.) and we have different views regarding Hallowe'en. My DDs carved pumpkins for the school competition (DD2 won third prize ) and went to the school hallowe'en disco - DD1 wore shorts and t-shirt, DD2 dressed as a witch. They had a lovely time but that is as far as it goes. They won't be going Trick or Treating (but that is basically because I am anti-social and it will also be cold!)

DP's family are very 'against' Hallowe'en. here is the article a member of his family shared to explain some of their reasons why.

(They don't 'do' Father Christmas either 'for religious reasons'... but that is another whole thread!)

People turning harmless fun into yet another thing to whinge about.

Oh and btw, pumpkins are much much easier to carve than neeps! Sometimes it's better that traditions evolve.

I dont celebrate Halloween but neither do i whinge about it. i just ignore the whole thing as it doesn't effect my life what so ever if someone else wants to celebrate it.

I know it wallinson. Have the scars to prove it too. They also don't smell as bad when you put a candle in them, although I do kind of miss the roasted neep smell, contrary bugger that I am.

Actually, that roasted neep smell is pretty evocative, WilsonFrickett. Maybe carving the buggers would have been easier if we had been allowed to use something other than a butter knife and a frigging tablespoon 'in case you hurt yourself'!

It's because the origins/practices of Halloween is based on the occult. As a Christian, you are 100% not to be involved with or support the occult, witchcraft, demonism, or any other thing that uplifts the occult. To do so is to contradict God’s word-the bible.

As a Christian parent, God has given responsibility in our children and their ability to resist this form of spirituality is much less than ours. From a Christian point of view, if you allow your children to participate in Halloween (Trick or Treating, costume parties, etc.) you are allowing them to play on "the devil's turf," so to speak and you are opening up doorways into their young lives for evil by bringing them into these activities.

The phrase "it's just a bit of fun" detracts from the true purpose behind it, and majority of the secular world will view it has harmless fun.

This is just from a Christian perspective-hope it answers OPs question.

WTAF is a neep!7

i dont know where the 7 came from......wooooooooo

Turnip, TooOld

Wooooo made me

GHOSTIES!!!

Don't English people call neeps swedes and Scottish people call them turnips? I always get confused. But I think that neeps are swedes.

Here is a quick guide to the swede/neep/turnip controversy en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turnip_(terminology)

That's an interesting post, GhettoFabulouz but I don't think it's true of all Xtians. For eg, I had a proper old school Catholic upbringing and we always celebrated Hallowe'en. We were told that it was when all the souls walked the earth, good and bad ie as someone upthread said when the lines between the living and the dead became blurred. There wasn't anything Satanic about that - it was just a blurring between the two realms. Then the next day it was all about the Saints walking the earth because the other spirits had gone away again.

It's because you're letting the devil into your life.

I told my sister and her friend that trick or treating at the vicar's house wasn't a good idea. We got quite a lecture from the vicar's wife. Not that I'm still feeling bitter 30 years on or anything.

IIRC...Hallow E'en was the end of year for the Celts.

Wallison that's true. Not all Christians believe this. There has always been a debate between Catholics and other Christians as to whether the origins are occult or merely secular. But the beliefs of Catholics and other Christian denominations are different and that's a whole other topic.

Although some of the origins are not wholly occult, there has been a strong change in the way it is celebrated. The way it is glorified today is not something that most Christians would want to be a part of.

Do you notice how many horror/satanic movies are released around this time of the year? Then society wonders why people go and re-act what they see in the movies.

Personally I don't believe in religion or Halloween.
But I have a good Xmas and enjoy a bit of toffee apple when the need arises.
Being a happy hypocrite isn't all bad you know

Halloween has a theme around death (e.g. ghosts, skeletons, graves, zombies) and evil (e.g. devils, witches).

A baby in a pumpkin outfit is cute. Kids playing games and having fun is good. Those are examples of us (e.g. everyone, faith or none)celebrating good things.

Real death and evil are repulsive to us (e.g. again, everyone). Death feels wrong and soul wrenching. Evil is seen in pointless acts of violence and subtle exploitation etc.

The Christian faith is all about Jesus becoming a sacrifice for evil because if God was going to be fair, he couldn't just let people off - there had to be a death - either the person responsible or God himself in human form (a.k.a Jesus).

So, as people who believe someone has died for them to able to be forgiven, Christians might see the themes of death, evil, good and life from this living spiritual perspective.

That means some Christians will opt out of Halloween, but some may choose to be involved - safe in the knowledge that colouring in a ghost isn't going to undo Jesus' love or power.

Personally, I think that a festival or event, like Halloween, is all the richer and more valuable for having absorbed several different influences. Our culture is not static, but snowballs along, incorporating various, significant parts of our history. Halloween began as a Celtic, pagan festival, when these ideas held sway and later came to reflect aspects of Christianity when it became the dominant religion in Britain. To the atheist or agnostic, both these influences are equally interesting and important and just serve to make an event more layered and significant.

To me, one of the most important aspects tof Halloween is the seasonal one - it is a celebration at the end of October , representing an autumnal gateway between summer and winter. Nights are getting rapidly darker ( Halloween coincides with clocks going back) and winter is in sight. "Samhain", the original pagan festival, means "Summer's End" which was celebrated by the Celts on the 31st October. Autumn fruits such as apples, pumpkins and nuts are prominent in Halloween games and celebrations and this is an aspect of Halloween that I always used to stress to children at Halloween parties and events.

This mixture of influences, pagan, Christian and s5easonal, can be seen in all our major festivals, - others being Easter and Christmas - and reflects, very interestingly, our long and diverse history.

Yeah, you're right about the Catholics compared to other Christian thing. There seems to be a quite strong belief in the supernatural and magical amongst a certain strain of Catholicism - I mean, I've seen people speaking in tongues, being touched and falling to the ground in a trance etc. I would guess, although I don't know, that that kind of thing doesn't happen much in the CofE.

Not with you so much on the horror film thing. I consider myself something of a horror fan and watch loads of them but would never go out and kill people or whatever and don't see how any of them would inspire you to do so - I just don't think films are that powerful. I guess that is though as you say a whole other topic, although maybe I like horror films because of the echoes they have to the strand of the supernatural mystery element that was a part of my upbringing; I still think that The Exorcist is one of the scariest films ever made.

Sorry, that last post was to GhettoFabulouz. I would like to say as well that I think that lots of people who were brought up Catholic would say that The Exorcist is proper scary - more so than torture porn - because if you've had that kind of upbringing then it properly resonates with you. Doesn't make me want to go out and be possessed by a demon though!

ddubsgirl

Jesus did not "become" the Holy Ghost according to Christian teaching.

Also, a big yawn at those suggesting that Christians "hijacked" Halloween and other festivals. You are displaying your ignorance of history. I suspect this comes from the (very inaccurate) idea that a bunch of vested people in Rome told everyone what to do ntil about 1517 or thereabouts.

A more accurate way of putting it was that as Christianity became more widespread in society, it sychronised with traditions already existing in that society; those traditions were reinterpreted over time by the common people.

My observation (as a practising Anglican) is that when I was young, churches didn't really give a stuff about Halloween, possibly because it was less widely observed than it is now. Attitudes have hardened since. This is probably in part due to Halloween becoming more popular, but also very much due to American-inspired conservatism, which doesn't really have much truck with traditional folk festivals of any sort. In fact, when I compare traditional European Catholics and Anglicans, it's suprising just how syncretistic they are compared to people from places colonised by Europeans. Halloween won't be celebrated in the Toad house, but that is mostly because my SA DW won't have it. I wouldn't mind at all.

My SIL is a minister in the Anglican Church. She believes that Hallowe'en is a open door to bring Satan into the world and actively campaigns against it.

She also believes that Satan has been responsible for her DH's depression, the granting of planning permission for houses in the field next to her and a bunch of other stuff. Yoga is also the work of the devil. She may not be the best authority on this stuff.

I just think Hallowe'en is americanised crap and avoid.