Halloween Leads to Abortion!

[Burris]

Okay, so not really, but it's sooo close.

I have just discovered a new blog - and not merely new to me, but relatively new in every way: gentlejoyhomemaker.blogspot.com/2014/10/is-it-really-just-innocent-fun.html?spref=bl

And no fundamentalist blog is complete without the requisite, 'I don't care what other people think, or how much they persecute me - although I, being a woman, obviously hate argument - but I must warn the masses about Halloween' post.

When I first started reading the post I'm about to discuss, I didn't think it could be a contender against some of the batshit crazy material we often examine here. As I continued on, however...well, you be the "judge."

The post is 1634 words long, with 1359 of those words devoted to the preamble - a meandering protest about the growth of evil, ahead of the specific (and much shorter) complaint concerning the dangers of "celebrating" Halloween.

253 words are devoted to an apology of sorts, for her having put off a subject about which she had been prompted by God - creator of the universe and everything within - to write concerning the evil of Halloween:

For the past few weeks, I have felt the Lord pushing me.... pushing me to write a post about a difficult subject. I have put it off since I have been busy... and tired.... and there is so much to do.... and a part of me wanted to avoid this. You see, I am new to blogging and have been at it less than a year. My blogs have grown wonderfully well... I have been so blessed by comments from readers... and I am working to make my blogs grow even more. So, writing a post like this means that I may lose readers... I may upset people.... and I don't like to do that for a lot of reasons. After all, my blog name is Gentle Joy.

Those ellipses in the above quote are present in the original.

I would like to know which of GJH's readers would abandon a blog they enjoy merely because its author posted her strong opinion on a subject about which many in her circle or likely to agree - i.e., that a day allegedly devoted to all things frightening, softened for children by their getting to dress up and collect candy from door to door, is unsuitable to the sensibilities of fundamentalist Christians. Who - or, more accurately, who besides us - would crack wise about her decision to keep the kids home? Who would care?

And yet it's not her opinion of Halloween that catches my interest, but rather the author's beliefs that (a) she has been divinely appointed to deal with what she sees as a controversial topic, and (b) she's crossing uncharted ground.

Every Western fundie poster since the dawn of the internet has discussed the evils of Halloween, but GJH seems to feel quite alone in her convictions:

However, God continues to put a burden on my heart and I want to be obedient. I have prayed much about this and have studied and today, it is time to just get started.

Why does she expect so much blow-back? I honestly don't get it. Halloween is actually a fairly regional variation of what is more widely observed - if at all - as All Saints' Eve. (Where I grew up, Halloween and all that went with it weren't recognized.)

ASIDE: If I were to cast a vote for "most decedent and vile holiday," however, I'd choose December 25th; a commercial jungle where very few people are happy, and too many celebrants feel pressure to outdo each other in displays of extravagant excess. I hate it. I hate even going to market during the week leading up to the holiday.

As a Christian woman who wants to honor my Lord, I seek to follow scripture and to teach my children to do the same. I encourage them to follow Him and His ways. I teach them that God hates sin. I teach them that God holds us responsible for our actions and even the thoughts of our heart. Yes, He forgives, but He also expects obedience.... and there is a price for disobedience. All through scripture we see that sin is rebuked, not excused... and sin is dealt with very strongly.

I'm not convinced Halloween as it's observed in Canada or the US has any real theme - not even darkness, as some of the costumed characters are from "Care Bears" or "Star Wars" or something else innocuous. And it's certainly not treated by most people as an occasion for any kind of worship, not even that which might have been related to All Saints' Eve.

In our culture, the lines are blurred.... good is said to be bad and bad is said to be good.... people call these "gray" areas. I often hear such comments as "My convictions are just different from yours." Sometimes, this is used appropriately, but many times it is used to deflect justified criticism or rebuke.

And what about those who send their kids out in costume or who watch Scy Fy creature features on October 31st truly "justifies" the author's criticism of Halloween? She prayed and studied, and yet her complaint lacks source material.

Our culture says we can't "judge" and that we are supposed to keep our convictions to ourselves so that we don't offend others. The Bible is disrespected for the most part, so we are expected to keep it quiet and not be too strong in our convictions, since that may be "offensive" to others.

Here's a criticism common among the writers we review here - that "our culture" says people shouldn't be judgmental or offensive. That is demonstrably false - even, and sometimes especially, where far-right members of the dominant religion are concerned.

On one hand, this culture produces successful movies that are little more than a collection of dick jokes (such as The Hangover and Superbad and so many others).

On the other hand, this culture allows Westboro Baptist Church to protest at funerals. (WBC won on appeal in the US Supreme Court concerning whether the words on their funeral protest signs could constitute libel.)

Their most famous sign is probably the one that reads, "God Hates Fags," but they have others: "Prepare to Meet Thy God" - "Soldiers Die; God Laughs" - "Priests Rape Boys" and so on.

It doesn't get much more judgmental than when a church - a KJV-only Christian church - sends members to stand a thousand feet from a funeral carrying what some consider inflammatory signs, and yet their right to do so without fear of a libel suit was affirmed 8:1 by the SCOTUS. They're not in prison. They're not hidden away somewhere awaiting death or facing some other kind of persecution for their acidic cultural commentary. (If anything, church members are more poisonous to each other than the outside world is to any of them - a truth not confined to the WBC.)

This culture doesn't even frown on offensiveness: Offending people attracts attention and, often as not, attention attracts money.

"Our culture" can be condemned for avarice, but not for inoffensiveness.

What the blogger really means is that she doesn't get to be offensive without paying the price for her freedom - that is, she has to deal with what people are going to say in response to her own words. Her desire to forgo that price and escape criticism by invoking religion says more about her than about the culture she opposes.

She basically says as much:

God and Christians have become the target of jokes, ridicule, criticism, disrespect, and hatred. Many Christians try to "win" the lost by softening their own views, and by giving in a little on issues so as not to offend.

Eventually, "convictions" are not based much on the Bible, but on what is popular.. or what will be accepted... and all this does is to show the lost that there isn't really any strong conviction. Ground continues to be given... parts of the Bible are ignored... or explained away. The standard we are to keep and follow becomes vague with such treatment. Also many Christians rarely read their Bibles. They may listen to a pastor or speaker or they may watch a "Christian" movie and they absorb some Bible talk.... but there is no substitute for reading, studying, knowing and following God's Word.

Fundamentalist Christians control a chunk of the US government, however, and extract funding from the common purse for all kinds of nonsense - from abstinence-only "education" to Crisis Pregnancy Centres.

While no group is immune from jokes and ridicule, the largest portion is always going to be reserved for the people in power. It's a testament to how much this bizarre version of Christianity has affected the government that people are so aware of it in the first place.

The blogger may notice the relative lack of jokes about, say, Sikhs or Jains and misconstrue that as some kind of unspoken rule among comedians not to make fun of lesser-known or lesser-practiced religions. The truth is those groups form a minority, and are not politically powerful in the US. Popular comedians aren't going to waste time on obscure religious groups when they can instead make fun of the tradition that produced Michalle Bachmann, Kirk Cameron, George Bush Jr. (who left office with a 29% approval rating), and a wide assortment of other people who believe they should be permitted to impose their own beliefs on others because they have money, they have power, and they know best.

I am teaching my children that it is not my job to save people; nor is it theirs. Our job is to obey and to tell others of Christ and His Word ... it is up to God to save whom He will. We are to obey scripture whether we like it or not... whether it is popular or not.

TRANSLATION: "Assholes for Jesus!"

The terrible thing is that some people may become convinced they have become Christians when they follow some watered down version of "salvation".... and they remain condemned to a Christ-less eternity, yet are convinced they are "saved" because someone told them they are. We dare NOT do this.

No. The terrible thing is that you, GJH, believe in a god who would turn his back on true believers - those who did a lot for "the least of these," for example - merely because they followed teachings from the wrong one of the literally thousands of existing Christian branches and are thus condemned to an eternity of torment because the omnipotent creator decided not to come right out and warn them; and yet you at once believe this otherwise silent god did take time out of his busy schedule of superintending 100 billion galaxies merely to compel you to write a post condemning Halloween.

The hubris. The illogic. The illogical hubris!

I have hated the whole death look and obsession with death in our world... and it gets worse each year. I have been greatly saddened over seeing pictures of cute little girls and boys dressed up and painted to look like gruesome specters of death.... and I wonder why anyone would ever want their precious child to look so hideous. I have been horrified over desserts or "fun" treats being shared online - the recipes excitedly passed around and I wonder WHY anyone would be interested in treats that look like severed body parts..... especially Christians... and I feel ashamed of the shame being brought on the name of Christ by such activities among Christians.

The culture actually has an unhealthy aversion to the reality of death, embalming and dressing bodies to prevent and hide the decay that occurs when life has fled.

The "hideous" spectacles of green-faced witches and fake body-part cookies have as much to do with actual death as dressing up like a character from "My Little Pony" - as some kids do for Halloween - has with the actuality of being a horse.

For many years, babies have been savagely murdered on a regular basis here in our country and throughout the world. This is done to celebrate "choice" and "rights" and it is a child sacrifice in the worship of self.

What does this have to do with the season or anything else she is discussing here?

How many people have actually witnessed an abortion or even spoken frankly about it with the kids they send out to collect candy?

The only people out there showing abortion porn, in fact, are those who oppose the practice. They justify sticking shocking photos out there for toddlers to see by arguing...

The pictures of these murdered children are sometimes shown to draw attention to the horrible wrong being done and people who share these are strongly criticized as being "insensitive", yet the gruesomeness at this time of year is defended and the ongoing exposure to such hardens hearts more and more.

Right. Get back to me when they start making aborted-fetus cookies.

Years ago, the Romans cheered the violent deaths of Christians while they sat and watched with an endless thirst for blood and more violence.

Years ago? LOL! You mean nearly 2000 years ago, of course - so, centuries ago, eons ago, nearly two millennia ago.

Christians have been hated and have been "fair-game" for attacks for many years. Christians have been torn asunder, their bodies have been burned, they have been killed in vile ways.

Halloween is a thoroughly modern invention that was, until recently, confined to the West (and didn't really exist before that in its present form at all). Most of the people who participate in it are culturally Christian, and pretty much no one who sends their kids out for candy has participated in the wholesale slaughter of Christians in response to their religious beliefs.

The persecution of Christians and dressing kids up as stuff that doesn't exist are in no way related. At all. They have nothing to do with each other.

In other countries, Christians are tortured just for being Christians... and this year things have greatly escalated as evil marches onward in the name of what is defended as a "peaceful" religion, yet it is one that wields the sword and induces terror. Unspeakable atrocities are being carried out against our precious brothers and sisters in Christ. Blood is being shed.

I didn't know ISIS kids "do" Halloween. In fact, I didn't know it occurred in predominantly Muslim countries as all. Wow - I really do learn something every day.

In our world, video games are popular.. even ones that show violent deaths and ugliness and the desensitization of our people continues.

Spectacle has always been popular. The difference between the Roman arenas and video games is that games, no matter how gory, are not real. No one actually dies when a video game character is shot or stabbed.

Violence in schools or workplaces follows and it seems that some people have no conscience at all.

Prove it. Seriously.

Prove video game violence causes real violence.

Panic sets in as frightened people say that this has to stop... no more bullying... no more school violence, etc. People are only learning what they are being taught.... selfishness is rampant... others are seen as less important... God's Word is ignored when it contradicts personal wishes.

None of the sentences in this mess of a "paragraph" have much to do with one another. Maybe that's why the authors uses ellipses so often.

The decorations and treats and the activities are defended as being "all in fun". How can such "fun" be defended as "family friendly". I have been shocked at the abundance of things offered as party ideas... things that are in poor taste, at best... and things that are exceedingly gruesome. I wonder WHY such horrible "treats" can gain any kind of positive attention...

Which "things"? Which "treats"?

Instead of offering specifics and then allowing readers to decide for themselves whether or not they agree with her assessment of a specific product, the author prefers vague statements that are nonetheless certain in their disgust at "stuff" the author is too prim to actually describe.

Why should anyone take that seriously enough to defend their parenting choices to this woman?

Why would anyone allow their child to consume fake body parts as part of holiday "fun"(or even to SEE them)? Do they not know that evil people REALLY do this... with REAL body parts?

Yeah, probably - and that's one of the reasons they'll offer for not caring about obviously fake body parts: Because no real person is being hurt and nor do tasteless products cause persons to become violent and homicidal.

People are REALLY being dismembered, so why is that funny? Such hideous things should not even be spoken of... and I am using the most careful words I can to get my point across without glorifying the ugliness.

Why should such things not be spoken of? Do you think that by sanitizing your concerns and by censoring information that you're doing anyone any good at all?

People make fun of things that disturb them all the time. Mocking those things is one way to achieve mastery over a fear of them. GJH shouldn't be so quick to judge, since her self-censorship is simply another version of the comedy she derides in that both are defense mechanisms that serve the same purpose.

There is so much to appreciate about this time of year... fall leaves, changing of the seasons, beautiful colors, bountiful harvests, bonfires, family times and more. Yet, the thing that dominates this time of the year is a celebration of evil. Those who love evil, love this time of year... sin is more tolerated and they say that evil spirits are more active.

So people who send their kids out dressed as characters from an evil Disney film do not appreciate the visual splendour of autumn?

And WHO are the "they" that say evil spirits are more active?

As GJH is so quick to point out, real evil does exist.

She's correct as far as that goes: Real evil does exist.

Real monsters - all of them, human - really do prey on the innocent.

And yet she's afraid of a silly commercial opportunity because it deals with fake evil; because it gives people the opportunity to face their own fears in a controlled setting and make fun of the things that frighten them. That is what weighs heavily on this woman's heart.

There is a desire to scare people more and more... costumes are used, terrible displays are glorified and the dark side is prevalent.

...except that the real monsters look and dress like everyone else - unless they're in uniform. So, GJH, send me a picture of the next kid you see dressed as Stalin.

The costumes people wear are not an accurate depiction of monstrosity. They're commercialized and sanitized. GJH isn't really complaining about the sanitization of evil for public consumption, however, but about how the highly stylized depictions of usually non-existence creatures and characters is a way for people to express real evil:

The Bible says that bad company corrupts good morals... and such behavior is definitely "bad company". Even the so-called "innocent" things of halloween have definite bad connotations... you can look them up. The jack-o-lantern is a symbol of a soul lost for all eternity...

Wut? Citation needed.

Trick or Treat has had various uses in history... but it all seems to be a form of extortion.

The "trick" in trick-or-treat is a threat of extortion now? I'm sorry; I find this truly funny. Vandalism is illegal every day of the year, including October 31st. If kids egg your house for failing to give out candy - and I've never personally witnessed or known anyone who has witnessed vandalism against houses with their porch lights off - then alert the police and give them the most accurate description you can, because what they did is illegal.

Extortion is also illegal. If you don't want to participate in giving out candy, then don't do it, but to pretend to feel extorted is so over-the-top it's hard to take anything else about the argument seriously.

One source said the "trick or treat" idea is from a time when evil men went to homes demanding a "treat" and if it wasn't given... the "trick" they gave, was death.

WHICH source?

I want my children to learn to know and love God... to learn to follow His ways... and in Him is no darkness at all.

Well, there's no darkness in your god at all except that he tortures earnest believers for all eternity because they did not practice the correct form of Christianity - and though he has no time to correct them, he did make time to warn you about the dangers of a commercial invention.

Fuck - talk about trick-or-treat!

Whether it is politically correct or not, I want to honor God and follow Him.

POP QUIZ: Define "politically correct" - and this is a closed-book examination, since you've already used the term in a sentence and posted that sentence on your blog.

Being a light in a dark world means more than naming the name of Christ.

It apparently also means making big things out of little things even while people who claim to speak for you make littler things out of big ones - such as the alleged fundamentalist Christians who publicly defend the torture of "detainees" (who can't be called "prisoners" or then they'd have rights under the Geneva Convention). Meanwhile here is another fundamentalist, her heart burdened by the excess of darkness in the world - and her target, which she fears will bite back, is a made-up way to sell a tonne of candy and all the subsequent dental services.

I personally blame the American Dental Association for Halloween and all the related evil.

The light grows dim when evil is mixed with it..... and many are fooling themselves and need to search their hearts to see if they even know Christ as their Savior.

...because god has no compunction about either tricking them or remaining silent while they trick themselves into thinking they'll be "saved."

And yet, again, this god goes out of his way to deal with trivia like this. How can she or anyone trust a god that has those kinds of priorities?

May we learn to evaluate what we think and allow ...

Most parents already do that. They just don't agree with you.

I guess it's off to eternal torment for them!

May we make sure our salvation....

How? I mean, it's not like god will warn you when you're going wrong, what with all these other people he's warning about dressing their kids up and how that leads to abortion and school shootings and Islam...or something.

May there be a distinct difference between "Christian" and non Christian practices...

And yet there's currently little to no distinction between fundamentalist Christians and secular money-grabbers. There's the same greed, the same pride. They simply use different terms to reach the same earthly goals: Power, success, access, money.

That is the thing that should really scare GJH.

[Hane]

Why would anyone allow their child to consume fake body parts as part of holiday "fun"(or even to SEE them)? Do they not know that evil people REALLY do this... with REAL body parts?

Oh, no. For my church Halloween party, I dressed up as Zombie Julia Child and baked "ladyfinger" cookies*--MADE FROM REAL LADIES.

*Shortbread molded to look like fingers, with red-tinted almonds for nails. A friend with a bad nut allergy said, "None for me--I'll die!" and I responded, "Then HAVE ONE! Hahahahahaha..."

[FundieWatcher]

Just once I wish a fundie would have a conviction that is worth a hoot.

Like feeding the homeless. Or helping like the victims of landmines or something.

Not some stupid Halloween post.

[Handmaiden of Dog]

There is so much to appreciate about this time of year... fall leaves, changing of the seasons, beautiful colors, bountiful harvests, bonfires, family times and more. Yet, the thing that dominates this time of the year is a celebration of evil. Those who love evil, love this time of year... sin is more tolerated and they say that evil spirits are more active.

The thing that dominates autumn is the celebration of evil? Hoo boy that's a big statement. I, for one, don't celebrate Halloween because I'm too old to dress up and live too far in the boonies for tricks-r-treaters. I'd say it was more like football, back to school, and getting ready for Christmas. Now if you want to call football evil, I'd be right there with you. But it does make me chuckle when she proclaims that "evil spirits are more active." There is no evidence of this. Zip. Bupkis. She is a loony looking over her shoulder for ghostly goblins and crackling witches. I'd say that for a Christian she sure comes across as a fraidy cat creeped out by things that go bump in the night.

[Trynn]

Hallowed a celebrated(before my evil jerkwad parents took it away): 12.

Number of sexual partners I've had: 0

Number of abortions I have had: 0.

I think this woman's logic is waaaaaayyyyy off.

Eta: when I was fundy lite, my conviction WAS feeding the hungry.

[browncoatslytherin]

Right. Get back to me when they start making aborted-fetus cookies.

ask and ye shall receive: jillstanek.com/2010/07/pro-abort-bakes-bloody-fetus-cookies/

here is a link to the fetus cookie cutter (they're on sale right now!): stupid.com/fetus-cookie-cutter.html

[ILoveJellybeans]

ask and ye shall receive: jillstanek.com/2010/07/pro-abort-bakes-bloody-fetus-cookies/

here is a link to the fetus cookie cutter (they're on sale right now!): stupid.com/fetus-cookie-cutter.html

Abortion cookies? Wow, that is dark....but OMG a snack for the most tasteless Halloween party ever :D Awesome!