We have two big black tom cats. They are indoor/outdoor cats, and 11 months out of the year they are free to go in and out as they please. They are living lawn ornaments that lounge on the fence, in windows, on the benches, and on the patio furniture. They hang out in the yard except for the times when my pigeons are out exercising. The exception to this pattern occurs in late October. Knowing that the humane society won’t allow black kittens to be adopted in October and having heard of ritualistic abuse and black cat disappearances, we keep them inside for about two weeks. They yowl, they growl, they fuss, they beg at the door to go outside, and they plot escape constantly. It’s a chore keeping them inside.
9. There are too many goofed up people out there.
I live in one of California’s poorest counties and I’ve had the opportunity to get up close and personal with people whose lives are significantly goofed up. I’ve walked into living rooms that were piled calf-deep with garbage. I’ve fed and befriended the homeless – not at a soup kitchen or organized event, but in my home. (I haven’t fixed anyone’s homelessness, but I’ve developed genuine friendships with a handful of people in that situation.) I’ve prayed for and counseled people struggling against demonic power, and I’ve locked my doors and prayed hard for protection from the dangers that truly disturbed people are capable of inflicting. Around Halloween it is widely acknowledged that there are disturbed people out there. Children are warned to be careful to watch out for them. “Check your candy.” It’s the only acknowledgement that there something about Halloween that is truly dark and disturbing.
8. There is too much blood, gore, and injury.
One time I was watching a “home movie” type show that showcased the dangerous. One particular clip involved a person attempting to drive an ATV up an extremely steep incline. The ATV toppled over and tumbled down the hill with the rider tumbling along limbs flailing about like a rag doll. It was one of those “it hurts to watch this” clips. As the clip was replayed for the third time (in slow motion) my then 3 year old daughter burst into tears and cried out, “Why does he keep doing that? He’s getting hurt.”
In an instant my spirit was checked. I wasn’t feeling the compassion she felt. Instead, I was entertained by it. That episode with my daughter changed something inside me. I don’t want to desensitize myself to human suffering. I want to be moved with compassion for injuries, blood, and gore.
7. It's an excuse for adults to party excessively.
The commercial value of Halloween for kids is costumes and candy. For adults, it is drinking and partying. There’s a whole new emphasis on “sexy” costumes. College towns are now battening down the hatches to try and “educate” the students not to binge drink or party too hard on Halloween.
6. Distasteful store and lawn decorations are everywhere.
I can’t stand the cobwebs, skeletons, blood and gore (see #8), hobgoblins, witches, or spooks. It’s gaudy, dark, excessive and most of it is in poor taste. Yuck!
5. It is deeply embedded in the public schools.
The newspaper this a.m. had an article on the origins of Halloween exploring its Pagan roots, Samhain, the whole nine yards. Instead of rejecting it outright as demonic, pagan, and worthless for Christians, the Catholics thought it could be cleaned up and celebrated in a Christian manner. They inserted it right before “All Saints Day.” I’m not sure how this made sense, but even if it did, it was based on human reasoning, not Biblical principles.
The vast majority of public schools embrace Halloween ignoring its religious overtones and trampling on the rights of the Christian students. (Though a great deal of this is due to weak, limp-wristed Christians who refuse to make a choice against Halloween.) Halloween is so deeply rooted in schools that it cannot be acknowledged as a celebration of evil. Winter break and Spring break have taken the place of Christmas and Easter, but Halloween is in schools to stay.
4. The message of “Scary Fun” is preached.
Jesus doesn’t ask children to grow up so that they might understand Him – He encourages me to become more like a child. When my kids were toddlers, Halloween masks and decorations made them shudder and hide behind my legs. Little ones don’t want anything to do with skeletons or skulls. They have an inherent revulsion to these images. But at school, kids learn about Halloween as being “scary fun.”
This is the line that teachers use to justify celebrating the spooky and supernatural including skeletons, ghosts, monsters, etc… A teacher needs a line to explain the disparity between all the virtues and good character he or she is attempting to instill with this great glaring exception of Halloween. The rest of the year may be spent discouraging violence; the school may even have a “no weapons” policy. But on Halloween, you might see a bloody rubber knife protruding from a skull or a bloody severed limb. Of course everyone’s against violence and trauma. “This is just scary fun,” the teacher explains to his or her impressionable students.
3. Death is glorified.
Why do I struggle so much with death? This is a question that has wracked me for years. I embrace life eternal and know that I have it, but death has separated me from several people I loved and despite being over it (in my mind) my heart still aches. A friend recently gave me this perspective. “We are eternal creations and we were not created for death.” I think she’s right. Even though I knew that someday my Dad would die and I wouldn’t have him around anymore, I wasn’t ready for it and I still cry about it from time to time. I know I’ll see him again someday, yet that isn’t enough to fill the ache that appears from nowhere time and time again.
I am an eternal being. I was created for life, not death. Death is part of the equation and will be until God changes the equation. That date is always getting closer, but until it arrives I have to live with this “mismatch.” I don’t have to celebrate it. Halloween glorifies death. I want eternal life glorified. I don’t enjoy looking at spooky gravestones, I want to see empty tombs and resurrection.
2. Witchcraft is promoted as interesting, fun, and make-believe.
Shakespeare introduced hag-like witch characters dancing about a boiling cauldron in Macbeth. Hollywood embellished it further with and the Wizard of Oz. Since then society’s image of witches has range from the cartoon Hilda to television’s Bewitched to the ever popular Harry Potter. I guess most Americans haven’t met a witch, and it’s rare to find an American who takes witchcraft seriously. But those who experiment or become entrapped in witchcraft experience a dark and miserable life. Several have true supernatural power and along with it have endured ritualistic abuse and live in fear of being killed for their power. Witchcraft is real. It hurts people. God hates it, and so do I.
1. I made a decision
Several years ago I left Halloween in the “judge by intentions” category. I didn’t outright hate it because most people didn’t participate intending to promote evil. Most were just having fun. Several were just into having dress-up fun and didn’t even promote anything scary or evil. What’s so wrong with that?
Then a tiny nugget of truth became embedded in my life and irritated me into changing my view. I began to think about being a Christian or a “little Christ.” I began to ask myself if it was possible to be “like Christ” and differ with Him on any fundamental issue.
I had to take Halloween at its face value and decide how God might see it. My focus was on the “typical” Halloween decorations – witches, skeletons, goblins, etc…
I thought long and hard about how God felt about witchcraft? From scripture it was apparent that mediums had genuine supernatural encounters. God seemed to make a distinction between those who received supernatural guidance that was from Him (prophets) and those who worked miracles and received power from another source (sorcerers, mediums, divination, Pharoah’s magicians). I wondered about Balaam, the prophet for hire as well as other characters like the fortune-teller slave girl, “Simon the Socerer,” and Elymas. If their stories are included in the Bible, it must be for a purpose. I considered the great repentance at Ephesus that included a book burning (made up of volumes that have a great deal in common with a typical Harry Potter read). I pondered the verse that equates rebellion with the sin of witchcraft and decided that if I was against one (rebellion) I ought to also be against the other (witchcraft).
So, I made a decision to hate Halloween. Instead of tolerating it or sifting through it and winnowing the acceptable from the bad stuff, I acknowledged that it was full of all sorts of stuff that made the “bad” list in the Bible. I could either let my case by case interpretation of “intentions” guide my conscience or I could take a different path – one that abandons my rights to make that call. I want to be more like God and agree with God. So, if God hates it (witchcraft, divination, fortunetelling, sorcery, etc…) and Halloween is basically full of it, I decided to hate it also.
I hate Halloween.
