Holloween for Christians?

Question

Ok so here is the deal my husband and I are Christian we have a 7 month old son. I do not want to Celebrate Hollowen for alot of reasons but my number one is it is the Witches Sabath. My Inlaws think I am crazy for not dressing my son up so 1 how do i explain to them why it is soo important to us? and 2 do you have any ideas on things i can give out to share Christs Love on holloween instead of just Candy. And when my son gets older things he can do llike Hand out Tracks??? what do you think and what do you do with your Children?

Answer 1

Just tell them you don't celebrate Halloween.

What we used to enjoy doing on halloween was going door to door and asking for contributions of canned food. THen we'd make nice thanksgiving baskets for poor families!!

Answer 2

My best answer for you is this question

What is more powerful, your family's faith in God or a specific date that is tied to paganism?

The way I see it is that as long as you are good Christian parents the very worst thing that can happen is a fat child. When the child gets older, you can explain everything to him and why you don't have certain decorations up. But I don't think letting a child understand the generousity of the neighborhood in the guise of their favorite character does anything against the faith of the child.

About those tracks....DO NOT PUT THOSE IN TO THE KIDS' SACKS!!! You give them to the parents for their review. Remember the 10! Do NOT use your personal beliefs to enable sin to take foot into that household.
Now what you can do is use trick-or-treating in a productive evangelizing way by having your child give the tracks to those that give him candy.

Answer 3

Although it began as a pagan celebration of the harvest and the annual death of the earth, it did eventually become a Christian celebration. That being said, Halloween these days is not a religious holiday. It is not a Satanist holiday. It is not a witch holiday. It is a commercial holiday.

Relax lady. Enjoy life. Have fun.

EDIT: When handing out tracts (if that is what you mean) you are not sharing in Jesus's love. You are just giving out pieces of paper children will not read. It's not as if his love is a virus where all you have to do is touch it and you'll catch it. It takes a lot more than that. Further more, consider the possibility that you will be alienating people when you do something like that. What child would want to embrace the teaching of Jesus if his followers don't enjoy something as fun and innocent as Halloween?

Answer 4

Yeah that moody girl is right. They are originaly Pagan holidays. The only reason I know this is because I study it, and I might also convert to it. But Holloween is nothing to be afraid of. And to all the haters out there, who really gives a crap what day a religion celebrates on the same day. Witchcraft has been going on way before Christianity. Chances are you really really old ancestors also practiced it. Trust me, it was really a small world back then.

Answer 5

The way I see Halloween is as a more secular thing, something that has nothing to do with worshiping witches. Dressing up in silly costumes and asking for candy from neighbors does not scream witch worship ping to me. Its simply a fun time of year, and no it will not make your child want to worship the devil or do evil things.

If you however are not comfortable with the holiday then that's fine too, I believe there are trick or treat for UNICEF boxes. You could collect change for a cause instead of candy if that would be a compromise that interests you.

Answer 6

Mine are teenagers now, but when they were young, I would take them to our church, where there were activities and treats for the kids. They could dress up, but not as monsters, witches, etc. but instead they were encouraged to dress as their favorite Bible characters. I wouldn't have my child pass out tracks on Halloween or any other occassion, though, unless this was something he himself really wanted to do. A seventh month old doesn't know the difference and your faith is your decision, not your inlaws, so I wouldn't spend a lot of time trying to explain to anyone.

Answer 7

Do you know the Christian connection to the holiday?

The true origins of Halloween lie with the ancient Celtic tribes who lived in Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Brittany. For the Celts, November 1 marked the beginning of a new year and the coming of winter. The night before the new year, they celebrated the festival of Samhain, Lord of the Dead. During this festival, Celts believed the souls of the dead—including ghosts, goblins and witches—returned to mingle with the living. In order to scare away the evil spirits, people would wear masks and light bonfires.

When the Romans conquered the Celts, they added their own touches to the Samhain festival, such as making centerpieces out of apples and nuts for Pomona, the Roman goddess of the orchards. The Romans also bobbed for apples and drank cider—traditions which may sound familiar to you. But where does the Christian aspect of the holiday come into play? In 835, Pope Gregory IV moved the celebration for all the martyrs (later all saints) from May 13 to November 1. The night before became known as All Hallow’s Even or “holy evening.” Eventually the name was shortened to the current Halloween. On November 2, the Church celebrates All Souls Day.

There is nothing wrong with Halloween. I believe the Witches or Satanists got involved later and tried to claim the day...but that is not it's origin. You can tell you son the truth about the day and allow him to enjoy it.

At its best, Halloween is a reminder of our own mortality and our own need to prepare ourselves to one day face God. The festivities attached to the holiday can, like Mardi Gras for Lent, prepare us for All Saints and All Souls Days, and for the month of November, which the Church has traditionally set aside for remembrance of the souls in purgatory. Christian parents have a variety of options for celebrating the holiday in a Christian spirit and should feel free to pick among those options what works best for helping their families learn the "reason for the season."

Answer 8

I'm a Christian, and I recognize that Halloween used to be at first a Pagan party. Its only a reality. The usual perception used to be that on Samhain, the veil among the sector of the residing and the sector of the lifeless used to be the thinnest. That's why men and women carved jack-o'lanterns and wore mask, in order that they would push back spirits. When many Pagans modified to Christianity, this time of 12 months used to be followed INTO Christianity. The proposal of the "skinny veil" used to be nonetheless there, that this used to be the time of 12 months that we had been closest to the folks that had handed on earlier than us. That's why All Saints Day used to be most likely celebrated by means of lighting fixtures candles for household and leaving your doorways open, in order that your household would stroll freely via your dwelling. Sadly, its given that of the mischief and widespread misconceptions that many Christians have come to view this party as being concerning the satan. Its foolish for any folks that train ultra-modern Christianity to disregard the truth that lots of our practices have Pagan roots. But what does it topic? All days belong to God besides ... so its the reason in our hearts that topic! Edit -- Do you now not recognize that MOST EARLY CHRISTIANS USED TO BE PAGANS??? Pope Boniface made the "Festival of the Dead" into All Saints Day in 998 AD, and set it apart on yet another day. When the folks customs of celebrating Samhain endured, Pope Gregory III transformed the date of the party to wipe out the Pagan customs.

Answer 9

Yeah, that'll work. Kids LOVE tracts! Maybe if you printed them on rice paper or something. Or you could offer to pray for a blessing for them. Little Bibles might be expensive (and you'd hate to have to pick them up off the street in the worning). Cross pins? Is that a graven image?

Maybe turning the lights out and hiding behind the couch is best. I'm sure your son won't mind.

Answer 10

I take my son to the church that sells pumpkins, and we pick out some nice ones. They have hundreds, and sell them every year! Their decorations show jack-o-lanterns, so I know they're not thinking that people are buying their pumkins for pies.

My son dresses up (he's going to be a tiger this year!) and he goes Trick-or-Treating. If he gets any religious tracts, they go straight into the trash when we get home, and we try to figure out which house gave it to us, so we can avoid them next time.