People are fine with being disrespectful to Christians

[Flymetothezoom]

At a church playgroup. The people who run it are very devout Christians. I am taken aback, by the number of parents, who thought it was appropriate to bring their kids to the church dressed for Halloween. Kids are dressed as witches, goblins, skeletons, creepy pumpkins etc..
The church holds a light party every year on Halloween and is very clear that they do not endorse Halloween.

So according to Google, at The Rapture, Christ will rescue the saint but at the second coming, Christ will bring judgement.

I had a quick look at eschatology and it looks like the kind of stuff I tune out of, very religious. I don’t do religion, I’m afraid.

You mean you’re ignoring my comment about only having come across really lovely Baptists? Thank you?

You must go and receive some prescribed ‘Hail Mary’s’! Haha

I hope that’s not offensive. Apologies, if it is

@HikingforScenery Sorry, I read that to mean the opposite.😄
Yes, that's rougly it, with the tribulation period between the two.

P.S. Tom Ellis is a definite hottie but I can't watch him in Lucifer.

I'm not in favour of messing with ouija boards either. This is because I'm realist enough to know that while I am an atheist, that doesn't mean there aren't things out there that are dangerous and that we do not know about or understand.

Lucifer goes downhill badly after season 3.

This was on FB

Written by a Christian who has a prominent ministry

Interesting reading

"Let me explain why I don’t agree with Halloween:

First, Halloween deceives us about evil. It creates a cartoon vision of evil as trivial, harmless fun that no one could possibly see as a threat. Yet all evil is serious and any messing with supernatural evil particularly so. To fool around with evil is a fool’s game.

Second, Halloween distracts us about evil. It presents evil in terms of the obvious and the spectacular; things that proclaim their identity with fangs and claws, cackles and cloaks. Yet evil is at its most seductive when it is silent and subtle. The most dangerous evils are not clumsy figures in skeleton outfits knocking on your door; they are infinitely better disguised. In the real world the most deadly evil doesn’t turn up with nocturnal cries of ‘Trick or treat!’ Instead it tiptoes around unannounced in broad daylight. It is there in the sudden opportunity to lie, gossip, slander or steal. The problem with the road to hell is that it never states its destination. By focusing on the recognisable and the grotesque, Halloween obscures the fact that most evil wears a charming face.

Finally, Halloween denies the defeat of evil. In Halloween, supernatural evil is presented as unchallenged and victorious. Yet as a Christian I believe that that’s only half of the story and the darkest half too. The reality is that evil has been defeated at the cross and that one day the crucified King, Jesus Christ, will return and abolish even the memory of it forever. That, not Halloween, is the story that I want to celebrate."

It's ideomotor movement. You can get ones for Barbie on etsy. It's as occult as a game of Scrabble. You're fine.

Not interesting at all, just the usual Christian fundie brand bollocks which completely misunderstands the origins and purpose of Halloween.

What was the purpose of Halloween?

Haha I see! I was confused there for a sec.
Thank you for making me seek the clarification between the two. I’ve usually just lumped them both together and pushed it out of my mind. It’s good to know

My local church had a pumpkin carving session for children who were dressed in all sorts of Halloween costumes. One child was dressed as a nun! I follow them on Facebook which is where I saw the photos.

@pointythings Good to know I'm not missing too much. 😉

@HikingforScenery No problem, always happy to help.

Agree with all this. Thank you for posting it @woodhill

It's ideomotor movement. You can get ones for Barbie on etsy. It's as occult as a game of Scrabble. You're fine.

@ReneBumsWombats Shamless thread derail, but whatever at this point Have you ever actually used one? I understand them to be very dangerous, spiritually.

Same here @Snippysocks.

Organised religion still has many many subgroups within it? And churches are really only the collective of the people who attend that particular church so those vary again within the subgroups. And within one church you get a wide range of opinions and interpretations. People tend to join a church because they feel it fits closest to where they stand in terms of their personal faith rather than because they 100% agree with everything that particular church or religious subsection agrees with? So yes it is highly individual? What offends one person in a church group may not offend another.

Halloween doesn't "glorify darkness". What a load of twaddle.

What nonsense. I don’t even care that much for Halloween but this is shows such ignorance of its origins. It comes across as if the author feels Halloween exists just to be an affront to Christianity. The arrogance of that as an idea.

@TheWurst I take it to mean the shiny, fake bloodied American gore fest that it's become. As any pagan will testify, Halloween has morphed into something far removed from it's origins.

@pointythings "I'm not in favour of messing with ouija boards either. This is because I'm realist enough to know that while I am an atheist, that doesn't mean there aren't things out there that are dangerous and that we do not know about or understand."

I thought an atheist didn't believe in anything but the physical world? So I am puzzled about the concern about "out there". If you are an atheist surely there is no "out there"?

@FlamingoRoad

atheist
/ˈeɪθɪɪst/
Learn to pronounce
noun
a person who disbelieves or lacks belief in the existence of God or gods.
"he is a committed atheist"

The "out there" is a whole other topic.

No, but if I wanted to, I could get one off Amazon for about RRP £15, depending on the brand. "Ouija" is trademarked to Hasbro so other companies need to make "spirit boards" or "talking boards". A very nice lady on Etsy makes miniature ones for Barbie and Ken to rave reviews. ("Totally yes!", "Totally no!" and "Bye for now!")

They are proven to be caused by ideomotor movement and were originally just a parlour game. Look up what happens when you blindfold the participants and secretly turn the board upside down. Penn and Teller can show you.

The danger in them comes from people who believe on some level who will then themselves cause the boards to spell out all sorts of crap and traumatise themselves. But it's not evil spirits (and isn't it interesting how a group that speaks only English never summons a Spanish or Chinese ghost?). Like so many things, it's internal. That's a far better lesson to take from them: you control your surroundings more than you think you do, for good or ill.

@ForTheLoveOfSleep

"Atheist
a person who denies or disbelieves the existence of a supreme being or beings."
OK
I also found this
"Atheists do not believe that life is inherently purposeful or meaningful, and following from this they do not believe that morality is an intrinsic property of the universe. Atheists see the universe as indifferent to the living creatures that have evolved within it."

So I'm not sure where the 'out there' comes in ?

I also found this;

"In contrast, the word agnostic refers to a person who neither believes nor disbelieves in a god or religious doctrine. Agnostics assert that it’s impossible to know how the universe was created and whether or not divine beings exist."

So surely, having a belief in an 'out there' makes one an Agnostic, not an Atheist?

To save you having to go through the thread, a very quick summary...

Hallowe'en (All Hallows Eve) is the night before All Saints Day in the Christian Calendar. It is also Samhain, an ancient Pagan festival. It's supposed to be the day where the veil between the worlds (living and dead) is at it's thinnest.

The dressing up is supposed to a) scare off evil spirits and b) help you hide from them by blending in.

@FlamingoRoad just because I see the universe as indifferent to the living things within it and do not believe that morality is an intrinsic purpose of the universe that does not mean that I don't accept the possibility that there are living things that we do not know about which may be benign or not. The whole point about being an atheist is accepting that there are things we do not and cannot know, mostly because we do not yet have the scientific/technological means to explain them. Atheism is all about the deities and not believing in them. You're assuming we are all hardcore and without spirituality - that's not the case. There are probably as many kinds of atheist as there are Christians.

@ReneBumsWombats thanks for the ouija board explanation, that helps a lot. Not that I'm planning to get one, but defo going to watch that Penn and Teller video.