Trick-or-Treat: Here's a candy and Gospel Tract!

[xReems]

The Waller family has a tradition in which they hand out gospel tracts and candy to trick or treaters. David decided to introduce this to his lovely wife, Priscilla, and was so impressed to see some children come back to their house to get more tracts! Ah, perfect way to convert all the nonbelievers :roll: . My favorite part of the blog was the following:

Then the other girl looked up and asked, “By the way, is it wrong to dress up like a demon?†We replied, “What do you think the Bible says?†The other girl quickly boasted, “Well I’m dressed up like a Greek goddess!†The other girl then replied, “I don’t think Jesus would like it very much when we dress like a demon.†What a blessing for us to be able to meet and share Christ’s love with many children last night.

Do these dumb fucks not realize that EVERYONE follows Christianity?! This whole post rubbed me the wrong way since they thought passing out candy with a tract would help spread Christianity to those who do not follow it. They could have just kept it to themselves, attended church, and not answer the door like other families who not celebrate Halloween but noooo, they had to shove their beliefs down innocent children's throats.

The more I read David's blog, the more annoyed I get by them.

davidlovespriscilla.com/2012/11/02/will-you-be-a-daniel/

[lexiloumarie]

Id like to point out there are plenty of Jewish, atheist, pagan, and possibly Muslim kids trick or treating.

I do agree though, its skeezy to do.

[emmiedahl]

One of my children had a somewhat "evil" costume for Halloween. Two of them, if you consider a flying cat evil. If someone asked them what Jesus thought, they would probably wonder aloud why they should care what a man who lived 2000 years ago thinks about their costume.

[ILoveJellybeans]

If I was a parent, I wouldnt be happy if someone gave my kid something like that instead of candy, Ive seen some of those tracts and some of them are seriously creepy stuff and would frighten a child a lot more than any costume they would see.

If you dont celebrate Halloween because you think its wrong, just dont answer the door for trick or treaters.

[Koala]

My kids each got one tract and a handful of KitKats with Bible verses and church info stapled to them. I was not impressed. Children should be off limits. You don't go around trying to influence someone's kid w/ your religious bullshit.

[AtroposHeart]

*shakes head

Trying to get them when there young. I wonder how they would react if a non-christian kid came to their door.

[famof4]

My guess would be that the parents who asked for one for them were already a Christian. My guess is the family that took them for class was Christian and the class was probably at a Christian school. The child would not have been able to pass them out at our public school.

Around Christmas, one child at my daughter's elementary school wanted to pass out myrrh. His parents brought some back from a trip to Israel, one for each child. The teacher required the children to ask permission from their parents before they could receive the gift.

[Mela99]

I'm pretty sure the bible doesn't mention Halloween there, David.

Wouldn't it be more 'biblical' for them to not participate at all?

[GeoBQn]

I never got a tract while trick-or-treating, but during the 4th of July parade there were churches that passed out tracts instead of throwing candy. I remember one church float that was a giant mirror with a sign that says, "Do you see yourself here?" I thought, "I must be a vampire, because NO."

[mkitten]

I would rather have a rock, a roll of toilet paper, or a toothbrush handed out. At least those things have a practical application.

[Sumeri]

We got an entire bag of Chick Tracts on Halloween! We stopped at the Chinese restaurant for dinner, and somebody had left them in the bathroom, like a whole stack of Halloween "gift" bags. Pumpkins and all! I brought them home for my teenage son and we had a blast snarking over them. Maybe not what the gift giver intended.

[Kaylee]

My son got a Chick tract in with some of his candy, in one of those little gift bags. I lol'ed and threw it away.

What really threw me this year were people handing out cards and political ads to parents with Trick or Treaters. That was a first ever.

[Closed Womb]

IF someone did ask for an additional tract, I would be willing to bet it was a "so and so needs to see this shit" event rather than a "thank you for saving my soul" event.

Although, a friend of mine swears her church converts many a soul with their "judgement house" haunted houses each year. But, I guess when you scare the ever loving shit out of people then claim a few magic beans words will save them from damnation, you're bound to have a few takers.

[snickerz]

I hope someone came back later to egg their house...

[BoomerLynn]

If I was a parent, I wouldnt be happy if someone gave my kid something like that instead of candy, Ive seen some of those tracts and some of them are seriously creepy stuff and would frighten a child a lot more than any costume they would see.

If you dont celebrate Halloween because you think its wrong, just dont answer the door for trick or treaters.

I found some in my kids' candy buckets last year and immediately threw them away before my kids saw them. They were the scary fire and brimstone kind. It pissed me off and I wish I knew which house they came from because I would have been there the next day giving them a piece of my mind. I find it annoying when I'm given that stuff but it infuriates me when grown adults think it is acceptable to scare my children into their religion.

ETA: I was scrolling through David and Priscilla's halloween dinner pics and when one of them kissing popped up my 4-year-old daughter yelled "Ewwwww!" :lol: She may get an extra piece of candy for that one!

[JesusFightClub]

One of my children had a somewhat "evil" costume for Halloween. Two of them, if you consider a flying cat evil. If someone asked them what Jesus thought, they would probably wonder aloud why they should care what a man who lived 2000 years ago thinks about their costume.

Actually, even cats can be evil! I knew a lady once who was very tormented by an "evil cat" while in the throes of mental ill-health. It would jump on her, lie on her, stare in her face and creep to and fro under the bedclothes. Of course, it didn't actually exist, but I have been more wary of cats since ;)

[Arete]

This really gets close to my beserk button. Children are children, and not witnessing opportunities. It is not hard to opt out of Halloween if you don't want to participate. Opt out. Keep your door shut, keep your mouth shut, and keep your nasty little tracts to yourself.

[doggie]

I a costumed child would have shown up at Jesus house he would have shit himself and hid like everyone else back then.

[Terrie]

[YPestis]

I've received a few tracts as a child and never thought much about them. If I had a kid who ended up with a few tracts, I probably won't get to upset unless there's something really creepy on it. I don't like people handing out tracts during Halloween as the holiday is not about prostylyzing and I'm sure some of those parents would be upset if their kids came back from an activity with tracts about Islam or Hindism. However, kids are usually bombarded with ads all the time so I'm sure most ignore it to focus on the candy they got for free!

[bbtlover]

Boy I am glad I live in one of the bluest states in the country. I've never seen a tract before, but if my kids got that while trick-or-treating I'm sure I would have just dropped on the porch as I walked away.

[emmiedahl]

I used to get them all the time in California, but only one or two in my new state.

I take them to snark on when no kids are around. I spent the night at a girlfriend's house when I was 10 or 11, and the father sat me down and gave me Chick tracts and discussed all the ways that demons are around us everywhere. I guess he felt it was important to "inform" someone's Jewish kid that they were going to hell. :/ It scared the shit out of me and I don't want my children encountering that.

[FeministShrew]

I used to get them all the time in California, but only one or two in my new state.

I take them to snark on when no kids are around. I spent the night at a girlfriend's house when I was 10 or 11, and the father sat me down and gave me Chick tracts and discussed all the ways that demons are around us everywhere. I guess he felt it was important to "inform" someone's Jewish kid that they were going to hell. :/ It scared the shit out of me and I don't want my children encountering that.

I used to get the same treatment from my Catholic best friend's mom. She never missed an opportunity to tell me, in the sweetest possible way, that I was headed straight to hell for being baptist & not Catholic.

[Lady_M]

My son got a Chick tract in with some of his candy, in one of those little gift bags. I lol'ed and threw it away.

What really threw me this year were people handing out cards and political ads to parents with Trick or Treaters. That was a first ever.

I remember getting some of those with candy when I was a child, and to be honest, I just usually dismissed it as something I couldn't eat and threw it out. I don't remember ever reading one - I was way too interested in counting how many of various candy bars I'd gotten and trading with friends.

If someone handed me or a child a political ad, though, I'd be pretty irritated. Or if it was one of those scary tracts about hellfire and demons, that would probably be upsetting.

[Katiebug]

Reading this makes me glad we live in southern New England where I've never encountered a religious tract in any setting, much less on Halloween. I think the local IFB churchgoers boycott Halloween entirely - they have a "harvest festival" in mid-October instead.