Helloween

So it's Halloween, a day that many evangelical Christians distrust as being a celebration of evil. Just like reading Harry Potter, celebrating Halloween is liable to have you worshipping Satan and joining a coven in no time at all. I lifted the following from The Ghost of Halloween, which is pretty much par for the course as far as these things go: Halloween is considered by many well-meaning church folks to be just another "harmless" activity. Children from the church are found in the crowds of excited "trick or treaters." People of all ages revel in the terrifying ghost stories, join in silly costume parties, or scare themselves witless by watching movies in which murder and mayhem are the main themes. It is all thought to be good entertainment. Yet, as the following article points out, there is a much darker side to the Halloween observance. Halloween has its roots in demon inspired paganism, it lifts up Satan, and serves as a vehicle through which evil practices are exhibited. Perhaps it is an indicator of our times that even Christian people and their leaders do not take Satan seriously. So-called "enlightened" people ignore the reality of the spirit-world, and assign all evil manifestations to workings of over-active imaginations. Yet the world which Halloween depicts is all too real. The articles go on to point out that Halloween is rooted in paganism and the occult (just like Christmas!), that it glorifies Satan and witchcraft (sort of like how C.S. Lewis' upcoming The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe film is chock full of magic) and that it has the appearance of evil (better toss the Boo Berry cereal while you're at it). All this is silly. Is Halloween rooted in paganism and general evilmongering? Absolutely. Does it really matter? Probably not. At the end of the day, Halloween, like Christmas and Easter, is a celebration of greed and capitalism. That will probably do more to harm your child's soul than dressing up as a witch and collecting candy from the neighbours.