The greatest struggle I have with the facebook posts against Christians getting involved in Halloween festivities is that most of my facebook 'friends' are Christians, so if I post something it's not in order to evangelize it's to share it with my fellow christian. So when my Christian friends post a blog that tells why allowing your kids to trick or treat is wrong I assume they are hinting that I should not be allowing my kids to go, since they already choose not to. Then I feel I have to post a 'this is why Halloween can be ok' blog to defend myself. This whole thing irritates and disappoints me. I cannot understand why we can't give each other the benefit of the doubt! I believe all my christian friends, trick or treaters or not are prayerfully doing their best to raise their kids to honour God. I hope and pray that they will believe the same of Ryan and I.
Respectfully, I would like to point out my personal reasons for allowing my kids to be involved in trick or treating and then I would like to explain why I believe some of the 'reasons' people give that allowing involvement in Halloween is a dishonour to God is incorrect.
On why we allow our kids to get involved.
1. Because we have busy boys, who we ask to sit still in Church and school and this is one night they can run around and ring doorbells and have fun, it makes us and them glad to do it.
2. Because it a chance to speak to all our neighbours.
3. Because of the way the seniors faces light up when they see the kids dressed up.
On why I don't feel we're dishonouring God
1.All Hallows Eve's origins are actually not pagan, Samhain is pagan and it was a three day festival that the druids and Celtic celebrated. (While we're at it a reminder that the Christmas tree has similar 'pagan' roots.) All Hallows Eve was placed on the middle day of Samhain to overshadow the pagan festival. See here.
2. Participating in trick or treating is not 'conforming to the world'. If I felt trick or treating was wrong I guess allowing my kids to be involved would be conforming to the world. Since we don't allow our kids to dress up as grim reapers or watch scary movies on Halloween we think we are not being 'of' the world. As it is I hope and pray they are a light in the world as they do their thing tomorrow night!
3. It is not glorifying Satan to allow my kids to trick or treat. It is just a day, Satan is not any more powerful that day than any other and to buy into such an idea is to be superstitious and to be superstitious is to glorify Satan. In Romans 8: 7,8 Paul speaks about eating meat that was sacrificed to idols and isn't at all concerned about eating it. It's just food.
4. I am not diminishing Reformation Day because I thank God for my (reformed) faith every single day. There is one day a year that kids can ring neighbours doorbells and get treats and to be honest we do this for 2 hours in a 24 hour day. There are 365 to praise God for the 95 Thesis. Then I could always dress Ethan up as Martin Luther that would be a conversation starter! :)
5. Lights turned out does not imply that you are abstaining because you are a Christian. I know for sure that some feel they are making a great sacrifice and statement by choosing not to participate. On our block which is the only place we take our kids half the houses have their lights out. So not being home or hiding makes no statement at all.
I have prayerfully considered my opinions and God's direction for our family on this for several days and am brought back again and again to Romans 14.
Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister. I am convinced, being fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for that person it is unclean.
This is verses 12 to 14 but the whole chapter talks about this. It talks too about stumbling blocks and I know that some may say by allowing this I am placing a stumbling block for those who feel it's wrong. But that is a two way street. Sometimes I feel like my brothers and sisters in the Lord are trying to make me feel something is wrong that I don't feel is wrong because they aren't comfortable with it. We have christian liberty in Christ. We have to decide for ourselves and it's God's business to do the judging! But we should all at least think highly enough of each other to believe that we all have thought about it and do desire to honour God. Friends please don't be distressed, Ryan and I truly have thought this through. We respect your decision please respect ours.
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