Is it okay to let our children Trick or Treat?

[Jessica]

After having read about the history of Halloween it makes me think that letting our children trick or treat is not as innocent as I thought it was. I thought as long as my kids didn't dress up in dead things or as witches or other ungodly things that it might be okay. Now after having read that it makes me feel like they shouldn't. What is everyone else's views after having read the history of halloween?

[taylor]

THIS IS AN ARTICLE ON THE WEB BY JENNA ROBINSON


Bible Basics Site
Jenna Robinson
BellaOnline's Bible Basics Editor



Christians and Halloween

Fellow Christians, I have been asked whether I am against Halloween. My response is that I am. I of course have no aversion to candy...or dressing up in a ridiculous costume to be funny. I have children, they're grown now, but when they were younger we always viewed Halloween as a time to be funny and get a chocolate rush. All it took was one Christian friend to show me that what I thought was harmless and fun-filled was dishonoring to God and wrong for my family. So, now, my opinion has changed and I don't celebrate a holiday which can lead my family down the wrong road.

Halloween is also refered to as Samhain( pronounced sow-in most of the time), and is still celebrated as an ancient pagan festival of the dead by wiccans and pagans all over the world. Unfortunately, just giving the date a "holy" name like All Hallows' Eve or All Saints' Eve cannot change its character.

"Deu 18:13 Be completely loyal to GOD, your God.
Deu 18:14 These nations that you're about to run out of the country consort with sorcerers and witches. But not you. GOD, your God, forbids it.

Halloween is filled with different kinds of pagan characters and customs that Christians should avoid. The black cat, for example, was believed by the Druids to be evil spirit friends of witches, and even witches themselves. Some witches are worshipers of the spirits of the earth. They believe that the whole earth is the giver of life and has power to give and take away life from humans; kind of reminds me of the ancient beliefs of the Romans. Either way, God does not condone the worship of earth-spirits. Scary masks were worn by the Celts to scare away evil spirits. The jack-o-lantern was used for the same purpose, although a turnip was originally used.

Even the orange and black colors of Halloween have a pagan origin. At the Druid Festival for Samhain, huge bon fires were used for offering sacrifices. So the colors of the night were orange flames glowing in the dark. Trick-or-treating might have found it's origin in the custom of peasants going house to house begging for money to purchase necessities for a feast. For more information you can read this article on Witchvox.com You Call It Hallowe'en... We Call It Samhain Author: Peg Aloi

Beloved, it is my opinion that Halloween is not for Christians. Honor God instead by refusing to observe Halloween this year.

The Bible says,

"Deu 18:10 Don't you dare sacrifice your son or daughter in the fire. Don't practice divination, sorcery, fortunetelling, witchery,
Deu 18:11 casting spells, holding séances, or channeling with the dead."

"1Co 10:21 And you can't have it both ways, banqueting with the Master one day and slumming with demons the next.
1Co 10:22 Besides, the Master won't put up with it. He wants us--all or nothing. Do you think you can get off with anything less?"

" 2Ki 21:5 And he built shrines to the cosmic powers and placed them in both courtyards of The Temple of GOD.
2Ki 21:6 He burned his own son in a sacrificial offering. He practiced black magic and fortunetelling. He held séances and consulted spirits from the underworld. Much evil--in GOD's judgment, a career in evil. And GOD was angry."


Are you a TRUE follower of Jesus Christ? Then SKIP Halloween this year and tell others to do likewise!

"And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them." (Eph. 5:11)
"The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light." (Rom. 13:12)


Here are some books that might give you better idea why Christians should not celebrate Halloween

[Jessica]

Thanks Taylor for that article. My children are 19, 15, 13, 12 years old. I talk to them about this and explain my views and what the bible says. I pray the Holy Spirit will open there eyes and ears to what is right in the eyes of the Lord.

[Gods Princess]

Excited children masquerading as witches, pirates, devils, ghosts, Dracula and other creatures bounding through the neighborhood, going from door to door shouting, "Trick or Treat" the party at school or a friend’s house where they tell ghost stories, bob for apples or tell fortunes the visit to the community "haunted house" and homes decorated with witches, skeletons and eerie looking grinning Jack O Lanterns...IT MUST BE HALLOWEEN! Sounds like harmless fun, doesn’t it? But there is THE DARK SIDE TO HALLOWEEN YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT, a side that I never liked because it was associated with evil, the devil, fear, death and violence. That side of Halloween always gave me "the creeps." And after a thorough study of Halloween I know why I felt that way because BENEATH HALLOWEEN’S CANDY COATING IS A HISTORY OF DIABOLICAL EVIL. In a moment I will share with you some of my findings relating to THE DARK SIDE OF HALLOWEEN. I will share with you briefly three things. 1) The History Of Halloween 2) The Heroes Of Halloween 3) The Harm Of Halloween.

The History Of Halloween

Halloween is a "religious day" but it is NOT a Christian day. Tom Sanguinet, former high priest in the Celtic tradition of Wicca (witchcraft) said "The modern holiday we call Halloween has its origins in the full moon closest to November 1, the witches’ New Year. It was a time when the "spirits" (demons) were supposed to be at their peak power and revisiting the earth planet." He went on to say, "Halloween is purely and absolutely evil, and there is nothing we ever have or will do that would make it acceptable to the Lord Jesus."

What is the man talking about, you might be asking yourself? Let me explain. The origin of Halloween is the Celtic Festival of Samhain, lord of death and evil spirits. Long before Christ (at least 2000 years), Druids in Britain, Ireland, Scotland, France, Germany and other Celtic countries observed the end of summer by making sacrifices to Samhain. The Celts considered November 1st as being the day of death because the leaves were falling, it was getting darker sooner and temperatures were dropping. They believed Muck Olla, their sun god was losing strength and Samhain, lord of death, was overpowering him. Further, they believed that on October 31st Samhain assembled the spirits of all who had died during the previous year. These spirits had been confined to inhabit animals’ bodies for the past year, as punishment for their evil deeds. They were allowed to return to their former home to visit the lving on the eve (Oct. 31) of the Feast of Samhain. Druid priests led the people in diabolical worship ceremonies in which horses, cats, black sheep, oxen, human beings and other offerings were rounded up, stuffed into wicker cages and burned to death. This was done to appease Samhain and keep spirits from harming them. It is clear to see that HALLOWEEN HAS ALWAYS BEEN A CELEBRATION OF DEATH.

Which brings me to my next point. How were these sacrifices obtained? Druid priests and people would go from house to house asking for fatted calves, black sheep, and human beings. Those who gave were promised prosperity and those who refused to give were cursed and threatened. In addition, it was likely that all of the "wandering spirits" would get hungry. If you set out a treat for them, they would not trick or curse you. Hence we have THE ORIGIN OF TRICK OR TREAT. "Trick or Treat is a reenactment of the Druidic practices. The candy has replaced the human sacrifices of old, but it is still an appeasement of those deceptive evil spirits. The traditional response to those who do not treat is to have a trick played on the. When you give out Halloween candy, you are, in essence providing a sacrifice to false gods. You are participating in idolatry" says the former high priest of Wicca, Tom Sanguinet.

Did you know that even the Jack-O-Lantern has its origin with these pagan practices? In the book Occult Conceit the author says on page 190, "The candlelit pumpkin or skull served as a signal to mark those farms and homes that were sympathetic to the Satanists and thus deserving of mercy when the terror ("trick or treat") of the night began." Further, an old edition of The World Book Encyclopedia says "The apparently harmless lighted pumpkin face of the Jack-O-Lantern is an ancient symbol of a damned soul."

What about COSTUMES? They originated with these terrible Druid death rites also. As people and animals were screeching in agony while being burned to death the observers would dress in costumes made of animal skins and heads. They would dance, chant and jump through the flames in hope warding off the evil spirits.

It is obvious that Halloween is a pagan day rooted in the worst kind of pagan rituals and worship. The Bible urges Christians to "Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness" (Ephesians 5:!1). Through Halloween is diluted somewhat there is obviously nothing Christ honoring about the day. It is a pagan sacrifice day and the Bible warns Christians "the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that you should have fellowship with devils." (1 Corinthians 10:20). Halloween is the devil’s day!

The Heros Of Halloween

You could not celebrate Halloween without the WITCH. The oldest known illustration of a witch dates back to the pre-Columbian era. He drawing shows the pagan goddess Tlazolteolf naked, wearing a pointed hat and riding a broomstick. Where you find witchcraft you will find nudity, divination, gross immorality and occultic practices just to name a few. According to the Old Testament of the Bible witchcraft and the whole spectrum of the occult were capital crimes, punishable by death. In the New Testament, in Galatians 5:20, witchcraft is listed among those things that are to be renounced by believers. In fact, Acts 19:18-19 records how that those who became Christians renounced all dealings with the occult and burned any occultic material they had. Popular west coast Bible teacher Dr. John MacArthur expresses it clearly enough when he says, "Dressing up like witches, ghosts, or goblins is incompatible with a Christian’s testimony. Furthermore, many of the customs of Halloween are associated with the worst kind of pagan ceremonies; they are usually centered on the sinister things such as demons, witchcraft, and superstition."

The other heroes of Halloween aren’t any better. Consider Dracula. Did you know he was a real person? He live from 1431 to 1476. During his six year reign this demented maniac massacred 100,000 men, women and children in the most hideous ways. He devised a plan to rid his country of the burden of beggars, handicapped, sick and aged. He invited them to a feast at one of his palaces. He fed them well and got them drunk. Then he asked them, "Do you want to be without cares, lacking nothing in this world?" They yelled "YES!" Dracula then ordered the palace boarded up and set it on fire. No one escaped. This tragic event was the original House of Horror.

The overwhelming majority of Halloween Heroes are evil, demented or demonic. That should not surprise us. Halloween is the devil’s day! But there is something else that concerns me even more

The Harm Of Halloween

Halloween is a dangerous day and here are the reasons why...

HALLOWEEN IS FOCUSED ON VIOLENCE

In January of 1988 I stopped at a restaurant to pick up a bite to eat before my next appointment. I picked up a paper on the way in. As I was eating I came across Ann Landers’ column entitled "Parents must tackle violence." The parent wrote "I heard something today that made my hair stand on end...Last October, the teacher of a fourth-grade class asked her students to write a short essay on what they would like to do most to celebrate Halloween. Eighty percent of her 9 year-olds expressed the wish to "kill somebody." Where do children get such ideas?" she asked.

The answer is a simple one. Halloween accentuates mutilation, murder, blood, guts and gore. It even glorifies it! I well remember seeing the large picture in the newspaper of a mutilated corpse in a blood stained bathtub. It was utterly repulsive. The accompanying article lauded a community organization’s youth work using this "haunted house." The truth is, millions of people, and likely your kids will be exposed to some of the almost endless string f TV programs, videos, community and church activities that GLORIFY MUTILATION, TORTURE, and BIZARRE MURDERS this Halloween. Now before you say "it won’t hurt them, it’s only fantasy," perhaps you should consider what a horrified mother discovered in her teenage son’s diary. She read "Last year I stole a car at Halloween and ran over a kid and killed him for the Devil. I plan on doing it again this year." The boy is now incarcerated.

HALLOWEEN IS HARMFUL BECAUSE OF ITS FOCUS ON THE OCCULT

The two most frequent ways children are introduced into the occult are through rock music and Halloween. I was introduced to the occult at a Halloween party. Tragically, more an more children are being introduced to the occult by teachers in the public schools. And unfortunately, Halloween is one of the two Holidays that public schools celebrate. They choose Halloween (and Valentine’s Day) because supposedly there is no "religious" significance. How wrong they are about Halloween. To be sure, there is no Christian significance to Halloween but it is obviously a religious day.

Our forefathers recognized Halloween’s association with the occult. The Pilgrims banned celebrating Halloween in America. The ban lasted until 1845. At that time multiplied thousands of Irish emigrants flooded into New York because of the Irish Potato Famine of 1845-46. They brought Halloween with them and gradually it spread throughout the rest of the country.

Halloween is the devils day.

[Jessica]

Thank for the info.