Why We Don’t Participate in Halloween 1

Why We Don’t Participate in Halloween

Don't Participate in Halloween

As fall approaches, many things come to mind. The beauty of the leaves changing colors.  Especially back home, it is breath-taking.  Curling up around campfires.  Fall smells such as apple pie and pumpkin spice.

For a lot of people, Halloween comes to mind.  I have already seen Facebook posts and Pinterest pins about it. For us, Halloween will pass by and we will have nothing to do with it.

Why you may ask? What is the harm in just a little candy, kids dressed up in cute costumes, and CANDY!!! Here is our story and why we don’t participate in Halloween. Can Christians Participate in Halloween?

Don't Participate in Halloween

HalloweenT-Shirt2

Why We Don’t Participate in Halloween

Growing up, both my husband and I did Trick or Treat.  I will be honest when I say it was one of my most favorite times of the year.  From as far back as I could remember my best friend and I would dress up and head out to houses getting candy.

We would come back to my best friend’s house and dig through it. We always had a great time and so many memories from that time. When we first started doing this, our moms would go with us. As we grew up, they would wait back at the house for us, themselves enjoying the night handing out candy to kids and them catching up.

We never participated in what I would call evil stuff. We didn’t do tricks, well usually! lol, We didn’t get into the what back then I would call the satanic stuff.  Both of us were, and are very rooted in our faith. Both of us to this day are very active in our churches. Both of our moms taught Sunday school.  We were definitely good Christian girls.

Don't Participate in Halloween

When my oldest was 10 months old, I couldn’t wait to dress him up in a pumpkin costume that I had gotten him and head out for candy. I really just wanted to show him off to the neighbors, because he wasn’t even eating that stuff but everyone else was doing it, it was harmless right?

As the middle one came along we continued to head out with the kids in tow, for the candy.  The last time we went Trick or Treating in OH, my oldest was so scared of so many of the neighbor’s houses.  Gone were the simple decorations of my childhood.

Now we had caskets and witches posts brewing and body parts.  It was awful.  We ended up going back home.

The next year, my husband was deployed again and I was excited to head out with my youngest, just wishing Daddy could be there too.  My youngest at the time was only 10 months old too but everyone was doing it right!?!

We got the kids ready and set out, as we went to a couple of houses the decorations again were just terrible! My oldest and middle son both refused to go to the houses. Keep in mind, at this time we lived on a military post, surrounded by military and my kids were terrified. Looking back, I think God sent them that fear to wake their Dad and me up.

My mom was with me during this Trick or Treat and we refused to MAKE the kids go get candy. So we went back home.  I was sad for them that they didn’t enjoy it, inside I was thinking I wanted them to have the special memories I had.

I was sad that folks had taken things so far, that kids couldn’t enjoy themselves.  After my husband got back we spoke about Halloween,  by this time was moving us away from it. We ended up getting orders for Maryland and we agreed to dig more into the scripture and talk about it before we sent the kids back out Trick or Treating again.

It was around this time that I came across this book Mommy Why Don’t We Celebrate Halloween? I read it cover to cover and then handed it off to my husband. He read it and then he spent a great deal of time going over scripture and in prayer.

He decided that we should not participate anymore. We sat down and explained this to my oldest, he was the only one really old enough to “get” it or miss it at all. He 100% understood and said he agreed after we showed him scripture as well, that we should avoid it.

Don't Participate in Halloween

So how did my husband come to this conclusion? Here are some of what we found in this study.

Halloween: Tis the Season to be Evil

Should Christians Observe Halloween? {Bible Believers}

Halloween from a Christian’s Perspective

Halloween Resources for Christians

Christian Pumpkin Notepads and Pencils

The Pumpkin Patch Parable

Religious Stampers for Kids

Let Jesus’ Light Shine on Halloween

Trick or Treat Pamphlets {Great for churches to hand out}

Mommy, Why Don’t We Celebrate Halloween?

Why is ok one day a year to dip into the dark side? To scare small children? To be a with or place a casket in your yard? If these behaviors can’t be done every other day of the year why this one day?

I am sure that most people who send their kids out Trick or Treating are not trying to get in touch with their dark side. I sure wasn’t when I sent mine out! However, one cannot escape the fact of what Halloween is, its roots, and what it stands for.

The Bible tells us to show all forms of darkness. It tells us to think on what is good and pure and lovely.  We can’t be on both sides of the fence. For a while, sisters I was right there with you. I know we can debate the origins and all that.

However, I am living right now and what I see from Halloween does not match up to Philippians 4:8 or 1 Thessalonians 5:22! We teach our kids how to behave and we show them our love for God, but then one day a year we “break” all of our rules, and our ideals and morals go out the window? That is not what I want to teach my little ones.

Don't Participate in Halloween

Albert Mohler writes an article last year that really sums up my thoughts on this. You can read that article HERE

While affirming that make-believe and imagination are part and parcel of God’s gift of imagination, Christians should still be very concerned about the focus of that imagination and creativity. …

Christian parents should make careful decisions based on a biblically-informed Christian conscience. Some Halloween practices are clearly out of bounds, others may be strategically transformed, but this takes hard work and may meet with mixed success.

The coming of Halloween is a good time for Christians to remember that evil spirits are real and that the Devil will seize every opportunity to trumpet his own celebrity. Perhaps the best response to the Devil at Halloween is that offered by Martin Luther, the great Reformer: “The best way to drive out the devil, if he will not yield to texts of Scripture, is to jeer and flout him for he cannot bear scorn.”

On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther began the Reformation with a declaration that the church must be recalled to the authority of God’s Word and the purity of biblical doctrine. With this in mind, the best Christian response to Halloween might be to scorn the Devil and then pray for the Reformation of Christ’s church on earth. Let’s put the dark side on the defensive.

no-trick-no-treat

I am thankful the Lord lead us to research and look into this holiday. I had no idea its roots, nor did my mom. Since our decision, my mom looked into it as well and she avoids Halloween now too.  My kids do not question it, nor do they miss it.

They know and understand. We are currently working with them on standing firm, regardless of what their friends do. As the younger ones grow up, we speak about why we don’t participate, we want them to know and understand why we made the choice we did.

Now I wanted to also stress to you that you can embrace fall though without embracing Halloween. We do and love fall, the leaves changing….the beauty. The time spent together as a family. You don’t have to celebrate Halloween to have that and make those memories. You might even sneak in a date night or two as a couple. 😉 

Don't Participate in Halloween

 

 

May God Bless you all as you seek to lead your family in the ways of the Lord. I hope you have a blessed and wonderful fall and make a lot of memories as a family.

 

For an update on where we are on this now, read my post on Why Christians Can Participate in Halloween.

Laura Awe Filled Homemaker

 

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