How are you celebrating Halloween? Or are you? Why or why not?

[Marathoner]

I avoid holidays --- all of them --- and see no worth in them whatsoever, save to fill the purses of greedy merchants eager to profit handsomely from the misfortune of others. As a child my distaste for holidays was firmly established by way of beatings and other forms of abuse when I refused to participate. 

I loathed "trick or treating" but was afforded no choice but to engage in it when I was a small child. When I was older I was given the opportunity to opt out which I seized gladly; even before I knew any better I despised it. 

Other holidays were similar. What did I want for Christmas? Nothing, I would say, but was forced to accept gifts anyway. I deduced that "Santa" was a lie at an early age. I had an aversion to the lights on my mother's tree... these frightened me on account of so many of them blinking and blazing. The worst part of that horrible holiday was the requirement of having my picture taken; I would be beaten until I complied with my mother's demands. 

"Peace on Earth and goodwill to all men," or so the songs which played in that house would proclaim, a stark contrast to the reality of my experiences growing up. It remains true to this day only now, I know better and am wise to the ways of this world under the dominion of Satan.

[Marathoner]

An interesting side note: my father despised holidays as well. We were the only ones in my family of flesh and blood who saw through them. 

[LadyKay]

38 minutes ago, Marathoner said:

An interesting side note: my father despised holidays as well. We were the only ones in my family of flesh and blood who saw through them. 

What about Thanksgiving? You got to love Thanksgiving!  

[Marathoner]

28 minutes ago, LadyKay said:

What about Thanksgiving? You got to love Thanksgiving!  

I give thanks to Christ each and every day in this life He gave to me. I live this life only for Him for He is kind as well as merciful, delivering me not only from death but also from myself and the hell I grew up in. God is good.    

[Starise]

Take any sin no matter what it is. Now  make a holiday out of it. It won't be the real sin. It'll only be people going around pretending to do it. Build fun activities for the kids around it. Pick any sin. If it isn't the occult what will it be? How about fornication? Oh wait they already do that. They are called Gay pride parades. Now there's a great thing to take the kids to. Lots of fun! The guys with the cut our pants engaged in all sorts of public activity. Great fun!

How about stealing? We won't actually steal. It'll be pretend just for fun. Only some people are engaging in the real activities same as the prior examples. So long as we aren't stealing we are ok to have fun pretending to steal.

One has to wonder if this was the mentality when Christians were thrown to the lions in  the Roman colosseum.

The Christians couldn't participate in any of the fun. They were the entertainment. How did the spectators reason out of that one? " Oh my uncle is the one who lets the lions out, we just watch". " Its all good clean fun, They are all crooks and deserve to die."

It's the same way people justify abortion. It's not my baby. Not my choice. That's up to them what they want to do. I always vote for whatever is going to help my pocketbook.

[JohnR7]

On 10/20/2020 at 4:11 AM, JTC said:

I don't think there's anything good about Halloween.

Halloween is a time to deal with death or just our fears in general. Thanksgiving celebrates the harvest that takes place this time of year. My theme this year is spiders. I have two very big spiders hanging from my tree outside. One year I did a zombie theme. This was the beginning of the drug epidemic that was turning people into zombies. Interesting my son somehow incorporated gas masks into that theme. 

My wife claims she does not like Halloween but often she is wearing scrubs to work with a halloween theme on them. Her excuse is that they were free and people gave them to her. Although she did change one day when I was joking with her about wearing them. 

For the Rabbi holidays are a religious theme and a opportunity for teaching.  I had a friend who was active in protesting halloween. He would go to the house of people that had a lot of decorations and protest harry potter with a big banner he would carry. 

[JohnR7]

1 hour ago, Starise said:

One has to wonder if this was the mentality when Christians were thrown to the lions in  the Roman colosseum.

That colosseum in part was built with the plunder from the Temple in Jerusalem. Arch of Titus is still there today. 

[other one]

7 hours ago, leah777 said:

I am not suggesting that make believe murders or rapes are taking place, although some of the photos I see of halloween gruesome staged bodies and people with blood all over them,or bits missing,  is horrible to look at.

I am making the connection between the desensitization to the devils practicises through the 'fun' aspects of what is, at its heart, a celebration of satan and his demons and the occult through the ideas about ghosts, the undead, regardless of what it has not morphed into, which is similar to the desensitisation of rape and murder through video games and movies etc.

I'm done trying to explain.

Butting into your conversation:::::       To me it's more than the desensitization of it, it was my experience from my young days that young kids are taught that witches and the occult for that matter do not really exist.  They are just a made up game for the holiday....    

[Starise]

6 hours ago, JohnR7 said:

Halloween is a time to deal with death or just our fears in general. Thanksgiving celebrates the harvest that takes place this time of year. My theme this year is spiders. I have two very big spiders hanging from my tree outside. One year I did a zombie theme. This was the beginning of the drug epidemic that was turning people into zombies. Interesting my son somehow incorporated gas masks into that theme. 

My wife claims she does not like Halloween but often she is wearing scrubs to work with a halloween theme on them. Her excuse is that they were free and people gave them to her. Although she did change one day when I was joking with her about wearing them. 

For the Rabbi holidays are a religious theme and a opportunity for teaching.  I had a friend who was active in protesting halloween. He would go to the house of people that had a lot of decorations and protest harry potter with a big banner he would carry. 

 

We live in the country and there's always lots of cool fall stuff around. My wife likes to put the corn stalks on our light post. There are several wagons local farmers sell pumpkins from, so my wife has several different ones lining our front porch. We both see them as fall decorations. Something for me to throw away in a few more weeks. If it weren't for her our house would look boring because I doubt I would be buying that stuff. Looks nice though.

Drive a few miles into more populated areas and there's no telling what you might see. I seen a coven of doll witches in a circle, a 10 foot skeleton. No lie this thing is 10ft. high. Looks real. The guy has it standing there in the front yard. Lots of those forced air ghosts and goblins.  I think most people who do it have no idea what some of it stands for. I can't fault anyone who is oblivious. The church I once attended has a "trunk or treat" for the kids which I think is a good thing because it's a counter celebration to Halloween without celebrating Halloween. The kids still get candy and maybe a Bible lesson. They get to dress up only without those evil themes. It's a great time for the community to get together since the church invites everyone to it. It's usually well attended. It's a semi rural suburban setting so these are country people basically. I don't think many parents feel comfortable letting their kids take things from strangers. When I was young someone was putting razor blades in apples and someone was poisoning candy. These are the people who are really celebrating the holiday. 

Christmas is clearly a holiday with strong pagan origins. If Jesus had suggested we celebrate His entry on earth I would be the first to do it. It is a time to decorate the house and put up a tree. I in no way associate it with anything necessarily evil as I do with Halloween. My intent with the tree is decoration only. I think it's positive to remember that Christ was born into the world, God coming in human form. Lots of different things tend to merge during December. People who work outside are backing off. Often people are on holiday for at least a week or two from their jobs. Churches are stepping up their music programs. The rest of it is just busy work. People take time off to rest and end up working themselves to death. If I didn't have grand kids I doubt I would give the holiday near as much attention. Kids love it. There are deep seated nefarious themes in the holiday too if we choose to see them. It's such an empty holiday for non Christians and some Christians who get all caught up in the gifts. It's a lot of work. A big build up in anticipation. A 5 minute high opening gifts and then it's time to clean everything up. I hate that entire process. Want something? You want me to get it for you? Here's some money ( if I have it). My wife wraps the gifts which takes hours. I help sometimes but would almost rather eat dirt.

 

[LadyKay]

13 hours ago, Starise said:

How about fornication?

I can just imagine the decorations for that holiday.