Why We Choose Not to Celebrate Halloween

Last year I did a 4 part series on why our family chooses not to celebrate Halloween.  I have combined the 4 part series here in this one post in case you didn't get a chance to read it before.  If you would like to read the original posts and the comments from last year, just click here.  I would love to hear your thoughts but please be nice even if you disagree with me.

This post is about why we don't celebrate Halloween.

I want to begin by saying I realize that this can tend to be a bit of a touchy subject to some and this is not a post putting you down if you do choose to celebrate. I am not judging or condemning anyone, this is what is good for our family and the decision we have made for us.

When I was a child Halloween was one of the two days a year that we got a large amount of candy in our house (Easter being the other). We would usually at last minute dress up in some cheap or homemade costume (believe me none of them were fancy or store bought) and my dad would load my brothers and me and sometimes a few cousins in the back of his truck and he would drive up the road only stopping at the houses of people we knew (we lived out in the country and knew most of our neighbors so there were a lot of stops) and we would get our bags filled with candy. We would always take time to stop at an older couples house that my family was friends with where they would not only give us candy but would serve us hot chocolate as well to help warm us up from the cold. Yes, I went trick or treating as a child and yes, I turned out alright. However, our world around us has changed drastically since I was a child where we knew most all of our neighbors and our family knew their family before them for generations back. It was a time of fun in the community. Growing up in a primarily non-Christian home we thought nothing more of Halloween than a day to dress up and get candy.

 

When my children were 3 and 5 years old I decided that I would take them for their first ever "Trick or Treating" experience. This was the year my oldest had started kindergarten and of course there was a lot of hype in the classroom around this time of year as to what everyone was going to dress up as. Before "real" school we had never been faced with this and honestly my boys didn't really even know what people did on Halloween. Anyway, I dressed them up as cowboys because we had all the stuff in our toy box and closet to make this happen and off we went. We made only a few stops at some family members homes that live close to us and they ended up with a huge amount of loot.

 

The next year when Fall arrived and Halloween was drawing near I had a strong conviction in my heart that we were not supposed to be a part of what the world was doing on that day.

 

I knew that Halloween had evil origins but really didn't know much about them. What I knew was that the Holy Spirit was leading me and my kids away from this day of celebrating like the world. I took my thoughts and convictions to my husband and after our conversation we decided together that this was what was the best for our family.

I am not going to write about the origins of Halloween in this post and depending on what you are reading they vary slightly. I do encourage you to look up the origins of Halloween for yourself so that you can make the best informed decision for your family. I will say that in my research of this day, I find nothing Christian about it. Halloween is a sacred day to people who follow Wicca or Witchcraft (worship Satan).

The Bible says that we, as Christians have been called out of darkness and that we should not participate in evil practices.

1 Peter 2:9-10

But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light. “Once you had no identity as a people; now you are God’s people. Once you received no mercy; now you have received God’s mercy.”

 

 

Colossians 1:13

For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son,

Deuteronomy 18:9-11

“When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, be very careful not to imitate the detestable customs of the nations living there. For example, never sacrifice your son or daughter as a burnt offering. And do not let your people practice fortune-telling, or use sorcery, or interpret omens, or engage in witchcraft, or cast spells, or function as mediums or psychics, or call forth the spirits of the dead.

1 Thessalonians 5:22

Abstain from every form of evil.

So, as you can see from the scriptures above the reason we do not celebrate is pretty simple. However, not celebrating Halloween in the traditional way that the world does has been a hard road for us at times. I have felt alone and isolated because of what we believe. I have had to explain myself to teachers and staff at school many times as to why we do not allow our children to participate in school Halloween parties, dress up days, etc.. We have had to explain to our children's friends and parents of friends why our children can not go to the haunted house with the rest of their friends. One thing we didn't say was that is was against our religion because in our house we try to focus more on a relationship with Jesus than having religion. I explain that we are Christians and celebrating Halloween does not glorify Jesus and that it's origins are evil. One of the reasons that my youngest son will tell people is "that we don't celebrate the devil's birthday" LOL He knows that it is not the devils birthday but for him as a child that was an easy way to explain it. When writing this post I asked my kids for the reason we don't celebrate and I was very pleased with the answers they had to give. They talked about how it was an evil holiday and had nothing to do with Jesus just to name a couple. Sometimes this is understood by others and sometimes they think we are "just silly for not letting our kids participate in a harmless holiday".

 

I have been known to dread the entire month of October because of one single day at the end of the month. I have even found myself saying how I hate this entire time of year. God is working on me with that because hating this time of year is the wrong attitude to have. After all, this day like every other day belongs to the Lord.

Psalm 118:24

This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.

Ok, so if we are not going to take our kids trick or treating or celebrate in the way the rest of the world is what are some things that we as Christians can do instead?

• Participate in Church sponsored activities. This was always a favorite for my boys when they were younger. Fall Festivals, Trunk or Treats, etc.. are all fabulous alternatives and you can use it as a witnessing tool by inviting school friends or family that do not know Jesus as their personal Savior.

• Find a friend or family member that also uses alternative ways to celebrate this time of year and plan something with them and their kids. God is so good. For over 2 years I felt pretty much alone in my conviction about this until one day at my boys public school I was introduced to an awesome woman that loves the Lord like I do and we have since became great friends. Upon getting to know her I found out that she also believes the way I do and in her home they do not celebrate Halloween either. So I encourage you to pray and ask God to send you someone to be a support to you. God had mercy on me and gave me someone because I wasn't smart enough to pray and ask him for help in this area. :(

• Decorate for "Fall" and not Halloween. We decorate with scarecrows, pumpkins, gourds, sunflowers, etc... but not with jack-o-lanterns, ghosts, witches, and black cats (unless you count my real black cat). This also makes it easier on me because I can decorate from mid September all the way through Thanksgiving with basically the same decorations. All I have to add is a few Turkeys and Pilgrims at Thanksgiving and we are good to go.

• Allow your children to carve a pumpkin using the pumpkin prayer and lesson for Christians by Liz Curtis Higgs. I will post this next week.

• Find something in your area like a pumpkin festival, apple festival or corn maze to participate in.

• Hand out Candy on Trick or Treat night. We live out in the country and do not get any "trick or treaters" but if you live in an area with lots of children going from door to do use this as a witness for Jesus. Along with your candy, hand out tracks or an invitation to visit your church. A friend of mine wraps her candy with new labels and the label is the track that invites them to church and to know Jesus.

Remember we are supposed to be lights shining in the darkness.

Matthew 5:14-16
Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.

Instead of letting this day or month get you down or make you want to hide, use it as an opportunity to tell your friends, neighbors and family about Jesus. We ALWAYS have a reason to celebrate Him. 

 

What we shouldn't do as Christians is to hide away in our houses with our doors locked and our lights off and pretend like this day isn't happening.

Mark 16:15 Jesus says “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone.

He didn't say hide when you disagree with what others are doing on this day. :)

John 15:19
If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

We live in the world but as Christians we are not of the world so therefore we should not act like the world. I believe that every Christian should pray and seek God about what is the right thing to do concerning Halloween for their family. If you are not convicted in the same way I am, that is fine. I have many Christian friends and family members that do participate in Halloween and I love them dearly. I respect them and their decision and do not cast judgement on them.

Like I said at the beginning of this series of posts - This is a decision we have made for our family.

Thanks for reading and sticking with me for this long post.

What about you? Do you celebrate Halloween in the traditional way? If not, what are some alternative things you do?