Anybody not celebrate Halloween?
Moms View Message Board: General Discussion: Archive October 2007:
Anybody not celebrate Halloween?
I am always interested in why people do not celebrate it. We do, I love it. I loved it as a kid, and love it as an adult. Although I do not dress up, I get such a kick of the kids dressing up, the Halloween parties and trick or treating.
There are a lot of people in my church that do not celebrate Halloween, but we do. I guess I do not understand either. Growing up, it was just a fun activity where the kids got together and got dressed up and got free candy. We'd start out at sunset and not get back until late and we'd have a grocery bag full of candy. It was fun!
All of a sudden, within the last ten years or so, it became, for some reason, un-Christianlike to celebrate Halloween. Some people can't believe we let the kids go trick-or-treating. They act like we're worshipping the devil or something. I assure you we are not. Trust me, my kids are only in it for the candy. They are not sacrificing animals or drawing pentagrams on themselves.
I know Halloween has pagan roots, but I don't see anything wrong with trick-or-treating. JMHO
I think it is a fun time where the kids get to show off their costumes and look at the decorations, some scary some just plain cute and get candy and treats, I don't know why people have to ruin stuff for children, take christmas for example, that's getting out of hand with the having to say Happy Holidays in stores and what not as not to "offend people", I think it's crazy. It's a fun thing for kids to be able to go trick or treating and we don't worship satan in my house either.
Sandy, the church that my oldest DS and DD, and my granddaughter, Madison go to teaches that/feels that way - it's considered to be *of the devil*, and they have a festival a week or so before Halloween in lieu of trick or treating. Now Madison isn't allowed to trick or treat, etc. I always loved Halloween. I feel thankful and fortunate that I had the chance to take her to a party and trick or treating 3 years ago when she was almost 4 - it's the only chance I'll get now. I even bought her costume for her that year. I will treasure that - at the time, I naturally assumed I'd have many more opportunities to trick or treat with her.
That said, this church has been a wonderful, stabilizing influence for both my older kids, and they and Madison are very involved with it, so I'm not knocking it, in any way.
I've never understood it either. Halloween was such a ball when I was growing up, and it has/will be for Natalie as well. I don't see anything devilish about it unless you CHOOSE to do something devilish. Public and private schools here do NOT celebrate Halloween at all and I think the kids are really missing out. When I was growing up, you could wear you costume to school and parade around to all the classes. It was such a FUN, FUN day! Getting to see what everyone was wearing. It's to me, again, yet another way that a few people have ruined something fun for everyone.
Here it isn't called a Halloween party, but fall festival. The kids get to wear costumes and they parade around the neighborhood by school. they get a treat bag. We've actually ahd quite a few events pop up locally the last couple years, like haunted trolly rides downtown and things. I wasn't allowed to trick or treat because my mom feared razor blades in apples and such and said trick or treating was illegal. The great pumpkin came to my house and left a bag of candy. I love trick or treating with my kids since I wasn't allowed! I can't get enough! I also don't understand. Kids are just having fun. To each their own I guess, as long as they aren't trying to force others into not offering such activities.
The kids here still get to have a Halloween "snack" which usually turns out more like a party. However, no masks or costumes are allowed due to safety reasons. My son's teacher is allowing them to make different hats representing different words to wear that day. Ashton is making a hat representing "fanatic" because he is crazy about Pokemon.
Everyone has their opinion on Halloween, and that's okay with me. But what bothers me is when those kids tell my kids that they are celebrating the "devil's birthday" and have them upset. My little girl's close friend has been given a "holier than thou" attitude by her parents, and now she makes my daughter feel like she isn't a good person. She told her Christians aren't supposed to celebrate Halloween because it is the devil's birthday. If parents choose not to let their children participate, fine, but they need to teach them not to judge other children because of their beliefs. I have taught mine not to make those who don't trick or treat feel bad. Seems like that is the more Christian attitude to me.
Ditto Adena!!!!!
YES, Adena!!! The kids who spout off about the evil the trick or treaters are committing are the same kids who tell them Santa isn't real and neither is the Easter Bunny. As for the latter two, Christian or not, if your kids know the truth TELL THEM TO KEEP IT TO THEMSELVES!! It boggles my mind how many kids aren't taught this. (I know there are just plain rotten kids out there who want to hurt other kids, and there are also kids out there so proud of 'being in the know' that they want to feel superior by telling them the truth, but I'm mostly referring to those Christians who choose to leave the secular elements out of the religious holidays but then don't tell their kids that other families do both elements and to KEEP QUIET!!)
Our school has a Fall Carnival and no Halloween party. Our church does the same. For *me*, I like the kids to attend these carnivals as they still come home with bags of loot...and I know they are safe and the treats were given by trustworthy people.
I do take my youngest to trick or treat but it is at my husbands offices. They have a huge office and all the departments decorate and dress up. The kids walk up and down the rows going through CandyLand, etc...and getting their bags filled with candy. Some of the teams are so creative!!! In the cafeteria area they host many games and take the kids pictures with cute backgrounds. AGAIN, I know my children are safe here. We DO trick or treat in *our* neghborhood and a very ritzy neighboring neighborhood. Many vendors live in that neighborhood and they give out AWESOME treats. lol So, we don't *really* door to door trick or treat much. But we sure do attend a lot of functions where the kids have fun and end up with wayyyy too much loot.
Halloween is not my favorite holiday...
My son's teacher is allowing them to make different hats representing different words to wear that day. Ashton is making a hat representing "fanatic" because he is crazy about Pokemon
What a great idea!
When my kids were little we used to trick or treat at the mall.
Halloween is the best holiday at our kids school. It is a public school.
On Halloween day, the kids all wear their costumes to school. They have an all school *parade* that most of the parents show up to watch. Afterwards, they all go back to their classes for a party.
The Saturday before Halloween, we have our Halloween Festival. There's a haunted house, games, pony rides...the kids just love it.
I am glad Halloween hasn't been taken out of our school yet. I am sure it's just a matter of time before someone puts up a stink about it.
Our whole town goes Halloween crazy! There is a parade down Main Street. The town donates candy to the families on a certain series of blocks because these are the big trick or treat blocks. People decorate like crazy!
It is wondeful!
As far as it being "pagan" - my response is usually - so is Christmas and Easter - both came from pagan holidays - we just celebrate something Christian on those days now, but they were celebrated as pagan festivals from ancient times.
Anyway, we have a blast!
Ame
It's amazing how much things change over the course of a lifetime.
When I was a child, we lived in what was, at the time, a small country town in N. GA. Some of my absolute BEST memories of my childhood were of the Halloween festivities at the elementary school where we went.
Every Halloween, each classroom did a theme thing, the room mothers from PTA were in charge of it. It was like trick or treating at school. LOL That was one thing my mom was always involved in to the max. I remember she had this dress form she used to make clothes for herself (Dad bought it for her because, even after 3 kids, my mom had this incredible tiny waist and she had trouble buying off-the-rack clothes that fit. Go figure! LOL). Each year she dressed the dress form up like a witch, complete with a head and witch hat, and it had these glowing green eyes, which were actually dime-store *jewels*, and it was holding a paddle, stirring a cauldron, which was filled with candy. She used to let us help make this stuff/put it together.
In the cafeteria, there was a cake walk, that was something my dad LOVED for some reason, and I remember him bringing home several cakes/pies every year. ROFL
There was a hay ride too, and a costume contest.
It was so much fun, all kids went in their costumes, from room to room, everyone's parents were there, it was totally safe, but in those days - I'm *really* dating myself here, it was in the 60's - trick or treating was safe anyway.
Then, no one protested celebrating Halloween, it was innocent and simple - it was something that you did for the kids every year. The world has changed so much since then - people have changed, sickos figured out that they could harm people or instill fear by poisoning candy or putting razor blades in it. Why, I'll never understand. Religion was never a part of it, but now, it's thought of as worshipping the devil.
=========SIGH======== I guess that's just the way it is..........but my fear is that between the particular religious groups and the nut cases out there, the simple, HARMLESS things that were filled with so much magic and imagination and fantasy, that brought kids so much joy years ago, are one by one being taken away from them, and it sort of makes me feel sad for the kids today.
My sons teacher (1st grade) actually sent out an email to the class parents, asking if anyone will be offended if she reads Halloween stories to the kids. Or does Halloween crafts with them. lol My first thought was...*you have got to be kidding*. I appreciate the communication, but kind of find it sad that it's at the point where she has to ask first.
We do not even have a Christmas party at our school anymore...it's called a *Winter Party*...The Christmas programs can no longer include christian songs.
When I was a little girl, we lived in Baltimore and belonged to a big old church. My first memory of Halloween was that the church actually turned itself into a haunted house. Very neat and fun and safe.
I have also had other children tell my DD that it was wrong to go trick or treating a few years ago. I hated it that she was made to feel like a bad person just because she goes trick or treating. *rolling eyes*
We do Halloween in a non-scary fashion  My kids always have costumes, though nothing scary. Most of our decorations are more of a fall theme rather than a scary theme. We have a cute little ghost and some witches that say "Welcome" on them. They look like cartoon people, not scary people.
We do go trick or treating.
Halloween is my least favorite holiday, but the kids enjoy it.
Well, I remember Halloween for the candy when I was growing up. But the whole event just holds bad memories for me so I think that's why I don't like it much. I haven't really celebrated it, but now that I have kids, I'm trying to take a different view.
We've started by passing out candy for the past two years, and they had fun with that. They got to open the door (I'd check for scary costumes first because they are still pretty young) and give out the candy. Of course, they had leftovers for a couple of weeks. We also carved a pumpkin that day and did little activities with it, the seeds, etc.
This year, dh wants our 4 year old to be able to dress up and go out. We are explaining it as being one night of pretend, and showing our neighbors what we are pretending to be. I'm still trying to shelter them a bit from the scary stuff until they get older.
I'm not teaching my kids that Halloween is bad, or unChristian just because I don't personally like it.
I've only learned of two groups of people so far that don't do Halloween. One is the Jehovah's Witnesses, and one is the Russian community. I really don't know why, it's just something I was told a few years ago at the school where I worked, so we couldn't do Halloween in our classes. Can anyone enlighten me?
Halloween is actually All Hallows Eve. I did a bit of googling, and yes, the traditions do come from the pagan religious and, in our heritage, primarily from the druidic/celtic traditions. But, a Pope moved All Saints Day from some time in May to November 1, and made the day/evening before All Hallows (holy) Eve, a day/time to remember the dead - saints and not saints.
I went to Missouri Synod Lutheran Schools for 11 years, and for some reason the schools I attended and the churches associated with them commemorated Martin Luther's birthday on October 31 (it is actually November 10), so I had very little Halloween for most of elementary school. But we did the Jack-O-Lantern, my mom decorated, and she would take us out trick or treating earlier in the day, before we had to be at church for the commemorative service.
I am inclined to think that one of the reasons more people now associate Halloween with devils, etc., is at least partly because some religious groups make such a fuss about it - imo.
As for those parents whose children attempt to make other children feel like sinners or bad people when celebrating Halloween, it's a shame the parents aren't teaching their children Christian charity and kindness.
When I was a kid I loved Halloween, too. It was fun. I went TOTing with my aunts and my grandma when I was little. I liked the song "Monster Mash" and when I was in 8th grade I didn't go TOTing and we only got a few TOTers (we lived in the country) but I decorated the front porch with cardboard figures of the Halloween characters like the Mummy and Frankenstein and I even had my own Halloween party and set up a scary thing in the basement.
But I am older now and I am not fond of Halloween anymore. There is a haunted maze in my town called The Haunt and it's a big hit with the kids and young adults. From the pictures I have seen, the scenes are pretty realistic and scary.
I also see all the scary movies are on TV and in the theater. They are remaking some of the classics like Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
I just don't get the thrill of getting my wits scared out of me. And some of the kids that go to that haunted maze are younger than my son.
And it is kind of weird when I go to the store and they already have Christmas stuff out and it's on the shelf right next to the Halloween stuff.
I wonder if there is more emphasis put on fear and gore nowadays as a response to the Christian right and their emphasis, as Ginny mentioned. Or is it just that I am older and more observant?
And I get that the Christmas season has some pagan roots, too. Christ wasn't born under a decorated tree, for example.
Sorry if I am rambling- just a few random thoughts.
Our fire dept. has an open house where they serve donuts and cider and open up the fire trucks for the kids to climb around in. My son didn't want to go TOTing last year- he wanted to stay home and pass out candy.
We have any number of scary haunted house things, that people can go to. I'm not interested. Those things really do scare me and it's just not fun. My kids never wanted to go, either, which was a relief to me! LOL!
I don't mind the whole pumpkin/Jack-o-Lantern thing, though and have pumpkins on my planter in front of my house. Emily and I got pumpkins yesterday, to carve for Halloween.
We live on a short section of street and don't get many trick-or-treaters, since there's really just my house and my neighbor's house. He doesn't participate, so it's really just me. I wish we did, though!
Oh Dawn, I LOVE haunted houses! There are several around here every year, these groups/organizations put a lot of time and thought and planning into organizing their haunted houses. A couple of them donate their proceeds to charity; one is for a school. I LOVE scary stuff.
Jehovah's Witness don't celebrate anything. Not Christmas or even birthdays. My friend is a teacher in a public school and she had a little girl in her class whose family was Jehovah's witness. She had to send the little girl to the library or office every time there was a birthday in class and a parent brought in cupcakes.
I know nothing about the Russian community.
Halloween is probably one of my favorite holidays mainly because of the excitement of picking a costume and how into Brendan gets. We have always went to the Fall Carnival in a neighboring town but last year and again this year we will go to our church.
I am room mom of his 1st grade class and I have gotten permission to take "treats" up to his class and we're going to read "It's the great pumpkin Charlie Brown". BUT his teacher has to send home a note getting permission for the kids to participate, I don't think we'll have a problem though.
I can remember wearing costumes to school and going to the mall to trick or treat, sad it's not like that anymore.
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