Mark's Blog

Halloween was never a big deal as a boy—always just some costume thrown together from what we had—nothing outrageous, certainly not frightening.

Our own children lived a totally different story. Halloween grew more important somehow between the 50s and the 80s. I remember some pretty elaborate attempts at costumes—Charlie Chaplin’s tramp, Pumpkin princess, Pippi Longstocking, and the most memorable of all Tumnus the Fawn from Chronicles of Narnia.

Sherrylee stuck pointy ears on 8-year-old Philip’s ears, Spanish moss on his bare chest for fawn-like hair, and brownish panty hose for fawn-legs and sent him to school for the Halloween costume parade. Before 10am, we had received a call from his school reporting that his costume had fallen completely apart—and off– and he needed some clothes–quickly! Any psychological issues our children have may stem from Halloween!

I had a great conversation yesterday with a mother who hates Halloween, not just for the pressure of creating the perfect costume for each child every year, but partly for spiritual reasons—and I think there is something here to think about too!

• Although there will always be those who find similar pagan traditions for every holiday, the Halloween tradition here in the U.S. grows out of Christian roots—as does the anti-Halloween tradition.  The Puritans opposed Halloween because it was Roman Catholic. The Irish/Scotch immigrants—mostly Catholics—brought the tradition with them to America during the 19^th century waves of immigration.
• Halloween has completely lost any religious overtones because All Saints Day (November 1) is no longer a holiday and only barely a religious day for only the more catholic churches.
• Witches, ghosts, and goblins have been disneyfied into cute little magical creatures for our children. They are not represented as nor perceived to be representatives of Satan nor empowered by him.  In fact, they are often even champions of good (Little Witch, Casper, etc.).
• People that were certainly at one time religious symbols can be transformed over time into purely seasonal characters—like Santa Claus. In the 19^th century, Americans blended St. Nicolaus (a real person) and Father Christmas (a myth) into Santa Claus and nobody really thinks of him as a religious representative at all.

Having defended  ghosts, Santa Claus, and little witches a little bit, I want to make something very clear:  anything that appears to be satanic, occultist, or spiritually evil should be fiercely avoided.  Satan is real, and if angels are real, then demons are as well.

I take very seriously the words from Jude 8-10: 

⁸ In the very same way, on the strength of their dreams these ungodly people pollute their own bodies, reject authority and heap abuse on celestial beings. ⁹ But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not himself dare to condemn him for slander but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” ¹⁰ Yet these people slander whatever they do not understand, and the very things they do understand by instinct—as irrational animals do—will destroy them.

I do not go to movies about Satan; I do not read books about Satan or demons—not for entertainment. I do not believe Satan should be or will be trivialized.  “⁸ Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8)

Halloween has become one of the biggest party nights of the year, not just for children as you may think, but for the young adult crowd. The 24/7 Wall Street Morning Newsletter (10/29/2012) reported that over 10 billion dollars will be spent on Halloween in 2012. Much evil will be disguised as Halloween fun again this year.

Tonight we will go trick-or-treating with our grandkids, and they will be dressed as Star Wars heroes and other imaginary characters.  I’m confident that it is wholesome fun for them—but we all need to be alert—watching out that we are not deceived.

Many of you will have your own parties, so I offer you the same suggestion: have fun, but watch out. Don’t be deceived by the father of lies.

Have a happy hallowed evening!