The last couple of weeks as we have gotten closer to Halloween, I have seen multiple Facebook posts and even a few blogs of acquaintances ranting against the celebration of the holiday. Usually they talk about how we are suppose to be as Christians the light of the world, not partaking in darkness, and so they have proudly claimed that they will not partake. They will not celebrate. They will not go to corn mazes and or carve pumpkins. They will not dress in costumes. They will not give out candy.
All of this has bothered me a little bit, but I have mostly ignored it. It's not a subject I am unfamiliar with... as a kid there were plenty of other children in my church that were not allowed to watch Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty because of the magic. But today, on Halloween, as I am sitting in an airport, I have had a little more time to reflect on the issue, and I've decided that I will also give my side of it: Why I don't stand against Halloween.
First of all, I believe extremes are dangerous. When you over-religiousize something it becomes dangerous. Jesus gave us two rules: 1. To love your neighbor as yourself and 2. To love God with your entire heart, body, and soul. That's it. No more legalism. It's not about what you can or cannot do. And I think that when you try to make so many rules, you risk missing the real issues. There are other actions and behavior that occur as a result of following those two rules, but if you are following those two rules whole heartedly, you don't have to worry about it too much... the "other rules" will fall into place naturally. When you are loving others and God sincerely with your whole heart, you don't need to be told to be kind, to be giving, to not judge, to not condemn; you won't need to be told to spend time in prayer or to be told to live a lifestyle that will honor God... these things will occur because it is all that can occur withina whole-hearted devotion.
So one might say : well, then, out of this desire to please God, one should naturally not desire to partake in anything ungodly... anything evil. And I agree with this. As a kid growing up, I trick-or-treated with the best of them... but never as a gory, scary, person. I was always Snow White... or Laura Ingalls from Little House on the Prairie (hahaha)... I do think that children need to be taught that there is a very real good and a very real evil in this world. And that the evil is a lot more evil than any Lord Voldamort could portray. I believe that children need to know that there are real witches. And that that there is a real good - a good which will ultimately conquer all. Good wins. So, if by dressing in something fun and good, we are in fact teaching our children to celebrate the good and not the evil, isn't that worth something?
I also think things are a lot of what you make them. For example, even if you celebrate Christmas, you can make it all about Santa Clause and presents or when you celebrate Easter you can make it all about bunnies and eggs... or you can teach them to celebrate the birth and resurrection of Christ. When participating in Trick-or-Treat, one can see it as participating in an evil, scary holiday that celebrates death, or you can teach your kids to celebrate a fun night of dress up and fall fun. After all, everyone knows that fall is the greatest season and worthy of a fun celebration. Why does going to a corn maze or carving pumpkins have to be seen as something evil? (I don't get that one at all!) Why can't it be a further celebration of fall?
And finally, I think that parents of children need to learn to choose their battles well. There are things worth putting your foot down about. I don't think a dress up party is one of them. My question: if the dress up party was in March and not on October 31st, would it be a big deal to you? And if not, then why are you making it a big deal now? It's all about the heart...
When I was younger, my dad pastored a church that had very conservative roots. Until I was about 8 or 9 years old, the denomination as a whole had actually condemned the wearing of jewelry. My Mom who had had pierced ears and loved earrings had given her earrings up, as to not make others in the church stumble in their faith. She is an amazing woman, who I respect for her ability to make such a selfless, caring decision for others in her life. As the years had gone on, there had been a trend into this thinking that this was an old fashioned and wrong belief, and people were beginning to relax on the issue, although not totally. About the time I turned 10 or 11, I started really liking jewelry. I had a few plastic pieces although I didn't wear them outside of dress-up. But I REALLY wanted to get my ears pierced. My dad was a pastor of a fairly large church that had a lot of prominent people from the denomination at it... and he knew that me getting my ears pierced might cause him a bit of trouble. My Mom went to him and she said something to the effect of, "If you believe that letting her wear jewelry is really wrong, truly sinful, then you can raise her within these convictions, but if you do not, this is not a battle to choose to fight. You cannot raise her based on the beliefs of others." And so for my 12th birthday, my Dad gave me a birthstone ring... letting me know that jewelry was not something he personally believed was wrong, and he would not hold me to an expectation of a lifestyle based on the beliefs of others. Later that year, I finally got my earrings, and I've been wearing them as long and dangly as possible since. But, later, when my Dad did put his foot down on (other) issues, I didn't have a very hard time respecting his wishes. I had learned that he would only require a behavior of me that he felt strongly about, and because he had chosen his battles, it was a lot easier for me to let him win other bigger ones.
I think Halloween could be the same kind of issues for others.
Teach your children about guarding their hearts. Teach your children about real good and evil. Teach your children that it's not about what you do or do not do as much as in what attitude you do or not do it in...
And let your children be children. I think a childhood without bobbing for apples, corn mazes, carved pumpkins, hayrides and dress-up would be a very sad childhood indeed.
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