To wonder why some Christians have a problem with Halloween?

[JellyDiamonds]

The first time I encountered this was at Uni when a girl I was friends with refused to partake in any Halloween celebrations whatsoever on the grounds that it was "evil". Her family were evangelical Christian, and even though she was more relaxed in her religious beliefs than them she wouldn't budge on Halloween. It was a shame as she missed out on all of the fun. But she'd never celebrated it, and her family would go out on the 31st to avoid trick or treaters.

I don't understand it? My mum was raised a Christian and has always loved halloween. She sees it for what it is, a bit of fun for kids.

I feel a bit sorry that these people won't allow their children to take part in the same customs that their peers do. Doesn't it leave them feeling a bit left out at school etc?

Should these people just get a grip and stop being intolerant?

Are ghosts evil? Surely they are usually someone's granddad.

Greengrow I think a fair few of us on here are in the UK and are into Halloween..
I do think that bonfire night isn't as popular as it used to be though regardless of whether you are on GF's side or not. Fireworks go off pretty much every night for weeks round here!

I think the posters who see Halloween as 'celebrating evil' are responding to an Americanisation/vulgarisation of it, which has turned what was in my childhood in Ireland essentially a folk festival observed by everyone - 'going round the houses' (the term 'trick or treating' wasn't commonly used), carving turnips, apple bobbing, eating monkey nuts and oranges, telling ghost stories, wearing masks - into something associated with horror films, blood and gore and sexy zombie costumes.

In extremely devout Catholic Ireland in the 70s, it was completely incorporated into a Catholic worldview - Halloween and All Souls the next day (a feast of obligation, the start of November, the month of the 'Holy Souls' where prayers were offered for dead family members thought to be in Purgatory) balanced each other out. Halloween was about the spooky side of the dead where the usual rules were in abeyance (though lots of the ghost stories were religious in flavour - the devil appearing to a priest trying to bring the last sacrament to a dying person, a ghost wanting her baby to be buried in consecrated ground etc etc), and church the day after recuperated all the darkness back into the Church worldview.

It probably helped that the dead are very present in Irish Catholic culture - visiting family graves, praying for the dead, having wakes and month's mind masses, older people carrying Mass cards for dead relatives in their prayer books. Halloween fits perfectly well with that.

Exactly, Back. The Ireland of my childhood recognised that ghosts were someone's grandad.

I am a Christian and my sister is a Pagan.

I'm having a Hallowe'en party for the family and, although we won't trick or treat, we will be welcoming ToTers and giving sweets.

I'm also having a Christmas party for the family. And my sister is having a Yule party that we'll all go along to.

I may be wrong, but I was under the impression that Beltane was the bigger festival anyway? How many village infant schools dance around the Maypole?

Sparky I also believe that evil exists. The older rituals didn't celebrate the macabre but the modern Halloween certainly does.

My birthday falls between Halloween and Bonfire night. As a Christian child I had a choice of a few wet apples or fireworks, bonfire and baked potatoes. Guess what was chosen?

I find it all really tacky and tedious. Glad the Dcs have grown up and we don't have to bother with it any more. We never get trick or treaters as they are too scared to come round the back of the house and up the dark stairs! Oh, the irony!

greengrow- "We have never gone in for Halloween much in the UK thankfully. There are the two festivals of All Souls and All Saints.
We have never really done Halloween in any kind of sense. "

What rubbish.

Halloween was taken to the USA by Irish and ottish immigrants. It is thriving and has thrived for centuries here in SCotland.

Tanith, you have reminded me.. My 3 used to attend a very rural CofE primary school where Halloween was frowned upon (mainly/partly because a JW family were there and objected to lots of things) BUT they gladly celebrated May Day (Lady Day in the old calendar?) .. Halloween was banned on the grounds that it was Pagan, but really what could be more Pagan than maypole dancing? AFAIAW it's a mimicry of Druids sacrificing people to the old gods by skewering them to a tree and making them circle it while their guts came out!! (Hopefully I've got this wrong )

I don't like the "give me sweets or I'll do something you don't like". I know most kids don't think of it like that, but that's what it is.

SparkyLark, really? I consider myself to be a humanist and I don't view Halloween as something that gives evil more power, at all. If I really stop to think about it, I think it's allowing people to indulge in pretence which lessens the influence of evil. If you're dressing up and making fun of evil things*, you're taking power away from them.

*Not that I actually think they are evil, but if I did, that's how I'd view it.

My GP's were traditional CofE christians and always enjoyed making pumpkin lanterns with us for the halloween at half-term when we stayed at theirs. We might do a bit of apple bobbing too.

I think it has got a bit out of hand and scary these days though which is a shame, and the trick or treating can be a nuisance to some like my grumpy DH
I'm always happy to give out some sweets though, and let mine go up and down our short road too now I feel they're old enough.

Basically it has changed a lot in a generation - with media and American influence - and I can see why some might be against it now to some extent

Am not much into all hallows eve, use it as a time of remembering the departed in my family, hoping they are well and safe (so don't much care to see effigies in the street.) Don't mind the kids celebrating at school though but make nothing of it at home. All Saints day, I wish them peace.

Astounded at all the "celebrating evil" bouncing about here. As JellyDiamonds said the origin of Halloween is Samhain which is still celebrated by many people. No "evil" here.

Well yes, as a pagan I find it baffling too. We simply don't "do" Satan or devil worshipping or any other demonic nonsense that's so erroneously chucked in our direction.

Samhain is the Irish for November.
Oíche Shamhna is Halloween night in Irish.
We went trick or treating as children and my mother is a devout RC.
Annabanana I'd prefer my dc to beg for sweets from the neighbours than throw eggs at their door

My parents are in their 70's and from rural Scotland. They celebrated it as kids and told me the disguise was to ward off any spirits attempting to return to the world of the living, hence going round the doors was known as 'guising'. And they used turnips (tumshies) back then, which were a bugger to carve! We always did a party piece at folk's doors to earn our sweeties!

I find the satan worshipping accusation a bit baffling as well, it's hard to worship something you don't believe in

I used to carve a turnip= no pumpkins aound in my day.

Our local primary school ( non denominational, state school) bans Halloween. Kids are not allowed to talk about it, dress up draw pictures or write stories about it.
The head teacher deems it unchristian.

Tanith Samhain and Beltane are 2 of the Sabbats, Yule is another one. all of them are fire festivals

YANBU!!!

Turnips are the more traditional option, originally the carving of turnips and dressing up were seen as ways of "blending in" with the spirits as they crossed the veil... so as you didn't end up being taken back with them. Samhain is still a much celebrated festival in the Pagan community (in the modern pagan calendar there are 8 festivals throughout the year, that hark back to some traditional/seasonal celebration). We're a Pagan family and celebrate Samhain... but the kids also dress up and do "Halloween" too. I don't know why people are still so anxious about this, I do work with interfaith educational events, with two college chaplaincy teams, there are pagan charities, official bodies, ministers, etc, etc... the level of ignorance shown by some is truly astounding!

Isn't the person opening the door supposed to be the one to say trick or treat? The kids choose a trick or a treat....that's certainly how I thought it was supposed to be. Although I know all the kids now say trick or treat as soon as you open the door....

The BBC has a page listing our traditional celebrations at this time of year.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-29742774

Hollyisalovelyname - begging for sweets want done back in the early 80's. Certainly not where I lived. Plastic pumpkin shaped buckets weren't available. And nor were expensive fancy dress.