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Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. - Philippians 4:8
As with so many things in my life, not celebrating Halloween has the potential to offend others and cause controversy. It's okay; I'm used to it. As I tell my kids, and students in other classes I teach: If you know why you believe what you believe, then you don't need to worry.
So, here's a brief explanation of why our family does not celebrate Halloween.
It's a "holiday" filled with images of evil, which is something our family strives to avoid every other day of the year. Death, blood, and fear are glorified. There is no other time in our home when we would advocate such things, so we see no reason to set one day aside for such things.
I saw a great illustration of the oxymoron that the saying Happy Halloween is. On a porch decoration in my town, there was a huge white banner, covered in fake blood splatters with the words Happy Halloween. Now, who in their right mind would associate Happy with blood splatters? Same thing with fake graveyards as decorations. Anyone who's lost a friend or loved one does not associate a tombstone with Happy or celebrations of any kind.
This discussion comes up in our house when one of the younger children gets old enough to notice that other people are trick-or-treating and celebrating Halloween. I simply explain what I've stated above, and remind the child that they have the opportunity to play dress-up all year 'round, and we can get candy anytime.
There is a lot of history behind this holiday, and if you're interested, just start googling. I'm just stating our family's position.
To end with, I would like to share what I read from Vision Forum today, that expresses my feelings perfectly:
"Halloween was conceived in evil and has remained a celebration that uses children to promote a fascination with darkness and superstitious fear. Simultaneously, it makes light of things that the Bible describes as evil. Stand against such things, and the world will find you very scary indeed. The fear of the Lord makes men turn from evil (Proverbs 16:6)."
