There is a lot of confusion out there about Halloween and there is no shortage of opinions. Some see it as a harmless evening of fun, some see it as a dark event that separates us from the light of God and others see it as an excuse to dabble in and promote evil in our world. Most children, like those at Plain View Elementary see it as harmless fun (article). Adults see it as an opportunity to act on our latent desires for mild foolishness without the penalty of social rejection that would typically be applied. For most people Halloween is popular because everyone loves a good time, and I believe the enormity of the group of would be fun seekers is too tempting for those who would "cash in". Consider this, according to an CNN.com article, Halloween is one of the biggest spending draws of the entire year and is therefore not likely to disappear anytime soon. But retailers are not alone in their plans to cash in. Those who wish to show evil in a less negative light use Halloween to lure in some of the unsuspecting and that causes a real Halloween fright for the Christians who try to protect the unsuspecting from those who lurk under the veil of short lived acceptance that comes with Halloween. What we end up with is two small ends of the spectrum fighting against one another for access to those in the middle majority who are just having a good time.
So what is right? Obviously, those who seek the dark evil of this world, at Halloween or at any other time, are treading a path separate from God and that is contrary to the life a Christian should live. But should Christians avoid any and all aspects of Halloween? Are church sponsored "alternative" events that use the opportunity to share the gospel the way to go or are churches just giving in to the world?
I found a lot of good information on the subject at The History Channel.com and at Wikipedia. Basically, Halloween began as a pagan celebration of Samhain (pronounced sow-in), in Ireland two to three thousand years ago. There was an effort by the Catholic Church in the seventy century to overtake the pagan day by introducing All Saints Day to coincide with Samhain. The day before All Saints Day became known as All-hallows Eve which we know as Halloween. The effort never really was successful, because people tended to keep the pagan elements and just added them to the Christian elements. So basically, Halloween is a failed effort to establish a Christian "alternative" to the pagan celebrations. We are still trying to to that today.
Some churches ignore Halloween, some go with the alternative activity approach and some fight against it entirely. I believe as the Bible says, that it is wrong to pursue the dark evil of this world, however I do not feel it is wrong to use the opportunity of Halloween to point toward the Light. If it takes handing out some candy while dressed like a clown walking an invisible dog to get that opportunity, then I say go for it. I do not argue against any well meaning Christan brother or sister who disagrees (article) with that stance, because I see their point as well. Ultimately, I hope it is the mission of all Christians to bring as many as possible into the Light.
Happy All-hallows Eve and "Trunk-OR-Treat"!
