Let the war on Halloween begin *rolls eyes* *shakes head*

[Koala]

largefamiliesonpurpose.com/2012/09/happy-halloween.html

Never too early to thwart Satan and his evil plans! :head-desk:

[ThatSnark]

This was a good one! Mixed bag of comments, including some very reasonable responses which she shoots down with sanctimony and *smiles.*

Wouldn't shielding a child from the ebil Halloween holiday make him/her a tad bit curious? Surely they see the decorations when they're driving, shopping, etc?

One dear soul tried to explain the origin of Samhain, and she was shut up quickly with the *fact* that Erika's research was more sound. Riiiiight.

[ThatSnark]

Also, Erika's well-informed reply to "What about pagan origins of Christmas and Easter?" (which are well-founded; the Catholic evangelists simply took the local holiday and converted it to Jesus back in the day.) :

"I've researched Christmas and Easter for our family, too, and have not found the supposedly pagan origins to be accurate. If you look hard enough you can find what others claim to be pagan origins, but from my research those both have completely Christ-centered origins and we celebrate them as such."

Homeskool. Teach them YOUR truth, not THE truth.

[formergothardite]

The war on Halloween came early this year. Can we at least hold off the war on Christmas till after Thanksgiving? Is that too much to ask?

[ThatSnark]

The war on Halloween came early this year. Can we at least hold off the war on Christmas till after Thanksgiving? Is that too much to ask?

No!! Because I have to beat my Bible *smile* and tell you that Halloween is for SATAN WORSHIPPERS while Christmas has always been about the baby Jesus and nothing else ever.

Thanksgiving, eh? Wonder if we should ask if they celebrate the ebil Government holiday? :think:

[Minerva]

Also, Erika's well-informed reply to "What about pagan origins of Christmas and Easter?" (which are well-founded; the Catholic evangelists simply took the local holiday and converted it to Jesus back in the day.) :

"I've researched Christmas and Easter for our family, too, and have not found the supposedly pagan origins to be accurate. If you look hard enough you can find what others claim to be pagan origins, but from my research those both have completely Christ-centered origins and we celebrate them as such."

Homeskool. Teach them YOUR truth, not THE truth.

Translation: "I've looked this up. Trust me...'cause I ain't citing no sources."

Also, aren't large families always on purpose?

[patsymae]

Where I lived while my son was growing up the religious Jews wouldn't have anything to do with Halloween because they thought it was Christian, and and fundies wouldn't have anything to do with it because it was pagan.

Talk about a buzzkill.

[ADoyle90815]

Where I lived while my son was growing up the religious Jews wouldn't have anything to do with Halloween because they thought it was Christian, and and fundies wouldn't have anything to do with it because it was pagan.

Talk about a buss kill.

Another thing is that when Halloween falls on Sunday, Mormons will celebrate it the day before because to them, it's a violation of the Sabbath as a holy day. That's also the case when the 4th of July in the US falls on Sunday, as in Utah and other heavily Mormon areas, they have their big fireworks shows on the 3rd.

[Loveday]

I feel so sad for Erika's kids--they'll never have the joy of watching "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown." :cry:

[CelticGoddess]

In the comments, she says "they could pass out tracks instead of candy" Are they O gauge or HO?

I had to stop reading the comments. I am in the midst of a kidney stone storm and really bitchty. I LOVE Halloween. LOVE LOVE LOVE it. And we decorate our yard. I would dearly love to reply with the comment "I prayed for Gods direction and guidance and he told me you are a complete and total fucking idiot. With other nasty comments thrown in.

Dumbass.

I love Samhain!

[Fanraeth]

My fundie parents refused to celebrate Halloween. But they were at least somewhat consistent in their paganism-shunning since they also refused to have a Christmas tree or give us eggs for Easter. Now I love Halloween. You get to dress up and act weird in public and no one judges you. What's not to love?

[ThatSnark]

Ok. I've been home sick for two days and have had way too much time to ponder this.

According to Erika, there is NO benign way to "celebrate" Halloween. If the family were to put on costumes and go trick-or-treating, they are worshiping Satan. Even if they dressed as Bible characters and passed tracts (tracks) out to each house they visited, they are worshiping Satan.

So this means that an individual's intent is null and void? What about the Lutheran church I grew up in, that celebrated 10/31 as Reformation Day (it's the day that rebel Martin Luther nailed the 95 Theses to the Catholic Church and REALLY broke hell loose) --- we had a sort of harvest-y carnival in the church fellowship hall, wore costumes if we wanted, won candy at games, that sort of thing. Satan wasn't mentioned.

And I don't think Satan is mentioned during most family observations of Halloween. I've only ever noticed that it sort of pokes fun at the fact that we're all going to die one day, but not today, so let's have a good time while we're here to enjoy it. That ties in with a lot of cultural observations around this time of year; Latin America has Day of the Dead with the same slant-- remember the ones we lost and celebrate life.

I don't get why fundies have to pick out the most sinister intent and paint the entire holiday with that instead of what is the truth for most families who celebrate. It makes me angry that she's unwilling to see any shades of gray.

[browngrl]

I'm glad Erika and her army *smiles* are opting out of Halloween *wink*. It just means more candy for me! *sugar high cackling laughter*

[chaotic life]

I was not allowed to celebrate Halloween as a child. Yet, my father decided it would look bad to not pass out candy to other children, so we were forced to not touch the candy for others and otherwise pretend it was not happening.

All I ever learned was that my parents were inflexible and yet again I was not allowed to be normal. When I became a mother, I literally left the house and his the first two Halloweens because I couldn't decide what to do. The third year I decided screw it, I wasn't going to raise my kids with the same conflict about a holiday that is mostly a secular celebration of children and innocence. We've celebrated it every year since then and I have no regrets.

[polecat]

I was not allowed to celebrate Halloween as a child. Yet, my father decided it would look bad to not pass out candy to other children, so we were forced to not touch the candy for others and otherwise pretend it was not happening.

All I ever learned was that my parents were inflexible and yet again I was not allowed to be normal. When I became a mother, I literally left the house and his the first two Halloweens because I couldn't decide what to do. The third year I decided screw it, I wasn't going to raise my kids with the same conflict about a holiday that is mostly a secular celebration of children and innocence. We've celebrated it every year since then and I have no regrets.

My parents handed out tracts with the candy. No joke.

I was luckier than most, though, because they were ok with us going ToT when we were little. I think the big fundy push against Halloween had just begun when I reached my teens.

I love Halloween. We even have yard decorations. :D

Love Christmas even more. Our house usually looks like Santa projectile vomited all over it. It's awesome. Meanwhile, my fundie friend thinks that all holidays are of the debil. She's missing out. Her kids are missing out even more.

[crawfishgirl]

When my husband was young, he lived in a small neighborhood in a small town, and most people knew each other. For Halloween, some of the people in the neighborhood would decorate the inside of their houses as a haunted house, and invite the kids to walk through, and everyone had a great time. He has wonderful memories of Halloween. Since we live in a large city now, allowing kids inside the house is not an option, but we always decorate the outside of our house with skeletons, spider webs, tombstones, etc. We enjoy it, but have yet to worship Satan while doing so... :cray-cray:

[Burpies]

I can't stand the way she writes .*gag*

All of those *chuckle*s and *smile*s she inserts seem so misplaced and insincere that they actually turn my stomach.

From the comments:

That being said its unfortunate that a day to dress up as fairies and princesses has such a bad history. It's like yoga.

What's wrong with yoga?

[FreeJosie]

My fundie parents refused to celebrate Halloween. But they were at least somewhat consistent in their paganism-shunning since they also refused to have a Christmas tree or give us eggs for Easter. Now I love Halloween. You get to dress up and act weird in public and no one judges you. What's not to love?

I didn't celebrate Halloween until I was 8 because my parents attended a fundie church for a while and it wasn't allowed. Thankfully, they broke free of that. I love Halloween and have made sure that my son has a great time every year.

[anjulibai]

I can't stand the way she writes .*gag*

All of those *chuckle*s and *smile*s she inserts seem so misplaced and insincere that they actually turn my stomach.

From the comments:

What's wrong with yoga?

It's originally a Hindu practice, and thus pagan and Satanic.

A part of me would really like to ask what her resources are that she studied. She's also extremely insulting to Catholics in that article and her comments, but I suppose that shouldn't be surprising for an evangelical.

[flyawaystray]

I don't understand why people can't just let their kids dress up and have fun, if that's what they want, regardless of origins. I know Halloween is censored in m niece's school. It is called Who Day and only the teachers can dress up.

When I was a kid, I could go into elementary school dressed up and participate in a Halloween parade. Times have definitely changed.

[loulou]

I don't understand why people can't just let their kids dress up and have fun, if that's what they want, regardless of origins. I know Halloween is censored in m niece's school. It is called Who Day and only the teachers can dress up.

When I was a kid, I could go into elementary school dressed up and participate in a Halloween parade. Times have definitely changed.

Exactly. I used to love Halloween at school as a kid, even the teachers dressed up and we had a party. It was awesome.

My oldest son (23) was allowed to dress up as a book character for Halloween. They still got to have a party.

My 2 youngest (15 and 7) have never had a Halloween party at school. They teachers say they aren't allowed to acknowledge it.

Thankfully, we can still trick and treat in our town, weather permitting.

Celebrate Halloween or don't, but don't tell me I'm a bad mom and worship Satan because I'll be taking my daughter trick or treating on October 31!

Don't the Maxwells usually have some big anti-Halloween post? We should be expecting that soon . . .

[Koala]

I don't understand why people can't just let their kids dress up and have fun, if that's what they want, regardless of origins. I know Halloween is censored in m niece's school. It is called Who Day and only the teachers can dress up.

When I was a kid, I could go into elementary school dressed up and participate in a Halloween parade. Times have definitely changed.

We did the Halloween parade at my Lutheran preschool/kindergarten when I was little. Kids and teachers dressed up. :D And now we have just the teachers dressing up...something backwards about that *shakes head*

[danvillebelle]

Just a personal anecdote from the other side....

Our kids grew up not celebrating Halloween. Neither my husband nor I ever liked it growing up, and it just didn't feel right for us to do it with our children, so we didn't. They had plenty of fun when they were little with other celebrations in our church (lots of Orthodox saints' days, big harvest festival on a friend's farm, lots of fun traditions at Nativity and Pascha), and we've always encouraged lots of imaginary play and dress-up at home. They are all teens now, and they don't feel they missed out on anything.

The Baptist church we are currently attending does a Trunk or Treat for the community, and they are more than welcome to dress up and go to that if they like; we allow them to make their own choices now when it comes to things like that and their own spiritual journeys.

I would never DREAM of condemning or telling someone else not to celebrate Halloween or you are bad because you do, etc. That is Beeswax, Not Mine, Inc.

My cousin loves Halloween and goes all out. He is a lifelong Star Wars fanatic and he has a complete, very authentic looking Darth Vader costume that he wears every year. :D

ETA: the way that woman writes *cringe* makes me want to gag *puke*. :ew:

[Black Aliss]

The war on Halloween came early this year. Can we at least hold off the war on Christmas till after Thanksgiving? Is that too much to ask?

Jesus would not have gone trick or treating, nor would he have bobbed for apples. *smirk* That's really all you need to know. *giggle*

[dolcecigno]

It's originally a Hindu practice, and thus pagan and Satanic.

A part of me would really like to ask what her resources are that she studied. She's also extremely insulting to Catholics in that article and her comments, but I suppose that shouldn't be surprising for an evangelical.

I noticed this, too. And I have to say that even though I have not been a practicing Catholic since I was confirmed as a teenager, I did take offense to her declaration of being ignorant of how Catholics "worship" the savior Jesus Christ. I thought it was very condescending. While I will never go back to the Catholic Church for many reasons, most Catholics I know wouldn't even be considered fundie lite, but are mainstream, normal people who happen to honor a Christian faith. Also, not many people realize this, but what we now call "the big bang theory" is based upon the work of a Belgian physicist, who was also a Catholic priest. At least the Catholic Church has made valuable intellectual contributions to science, not to forget Mendel's work in genetics... And most Catholics and priests that I know accept evolution as fact. I am not a fan of this blogger's haughty attitude, considering she believes pagan is akin to devil worship and most likely, that woman came from man's rib cage :angry-banghead: