"Anton LaVey, the founder of the Church of Satan, said: 'I am glad that Christian parents let their children worship the devil at least one night out of the year. Welcome to Halloween.'"
Wow! What an indictment from not a Christian, but a chief atheist. In saying all this, I has a parent have allowed my daughter to participate in the parts of Halloween, though I as a parent have never been comfortable with it's spooky aspects. I don't mind dressing up, make believing or getting candy, or even doing things to startle each other. I love a good thrill. But I do wish that Christian could come up with an alternative holiday.
Most of us know that Jesus was not born on December 25, but early Christians chose to celebrate Christmas on that day, even with some of the same traditions like burning a (yule) log, to offer a Christian alternative that celebrates the things of God to counteract the pagan festivities of that exact day.
The really crazy thing is that almost no Christian in this country celebrates All Saints Day on November 1. The crazier thing is that the idea of Halloween (which literally means "All Saints Day") originally came from early Christian's own fears and superstitions. They felt they needed to dress incognito to hid form the evil spirits on that night. Nowadays most people just see it as good fun, but I assure you that those into witchcraft and Satanism, or those who reside in Lillydale (for my Chautauqua friends) take it very seriously.
Couldn't we as Christian.... shouldn't we as Christians come up with an alternative? Rather than bowing to the "Black Sabbath," celebrating darkness on the two most demonic day of the year (along with "Black Sabbath," or Good Friday to Christians), celebrating darkness on the most demonic day of the year in this culture, why couldn't we choose to find ways to celebrate and remember God on this day? We could still have costumes and candy and fun.
The bargain shopper in me is all for scrapping Halloween (which literally means "All Hallows Eve.") and resurrecting the value of All Saints Day. I say this because on November 1 all of the candy goes on sale. Let's read Hebrews 11, the "Faith Hall of Fame," and eat some chocolate to celebrate the heroes of the faith, those who boldly stood in God's name against the forces of evil, rather than hiding, cowering or running from them.
When we think about it, we would lose nothing positive by renaming and refocusing ourselves on this day. A very large percentage of costumes are superheroes or historical figures, and All Saints Day is all about remembering history and hero's. And the last time I checked, Satan has never created or owned candy, so we can bring that tradition right along with us.
I am not judging anyone who has let there kid put on a ghost costume. Full disclosure here: I once dressed up as Beetlejuice (a really disgusting dead guy) for Halloween. I am just think that maybe we as the community of faith can do better than this.
God has not given us a spirit of fear, so why celebrate it! Why focus on the very things that God has given us the power and authority to stand against and defeat? I personally think it would be more of a thrill to dress up and eat candy as a celebration of God's victory.
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