Should Christian families celebrate Halloween? The case against

Kate Orson sees very real dangers in Halloween and urges Christian families not to participate

For an alternative view see here.

On the surface Halloween looks light and fun. Children dress up in cute costumes that are spooky in a cartoonish way. They collect sweets, play games, and enjoy each other’s company. Is it really that bad to join in the fun?

Halloween has dark origins. It has its roots in the Celtic festival of Samhain, which marks the end of summer, and the harvest season. Samhain was the druid god of death, and the Celts believed that on the 31st October the boundary between the living and the dead blurred and spirits could return to the earth. The origin of dressing up in costumes was because it was thought that if people dressed as ghosts and demons the spirits might mistake them for one of their own and would not harm them. During the festival animals and even humans were sacrificed to appease Samhain.

One of the problems I see with the festival is how it turns something God hates into a source of fun and laughter

In A.D. 1000, the church made November 1 All Souls’ Day, a day to honour the dead and so the evening before became All Hallow’s evening, abbreviated to ’Hallowe’en’. Despite this apparent ‘Christianisation’ of the holiday, I still think Christians should ……