Halloween a dilemma for many in faith community

[SecularMotion]

LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — Heather Salemink of Lafayette has celebrated Halloween since childhood. She can recall dressing in costume and her dad decorating the house.

So even as a Christian, she never questioned whether her children would celebrate the holiday, too.

"Kids need opportunities to imagine themselves in different worlds," said Salemink, 34. "It's really kind of fun to watch them explore different parts of the world through their imagination. In Christianity, there is so much that requires belief in things that you can't see."

But not all religious groups approach Halloween with such ease and excitement. Controversy still surrounds the holiday, which has origins in ancient Celtic spiritualism.

http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Halloween-a-dilemma-for-many-in-faith-community-3993118.php#ixzz2AnmkEA00

[teenagebambam]

1. Hey Christians, heads up:

EVERY HOLIDAY IN THE CHURCH YEAR is rooted in ancient pagan traditions.

[Angry Dragon]

3. +1,336

[Politicalboi]

2. Oh Please

One night so threatens some religious groups. I'm sick and tired about hearing about a "miracle" baby that IMO never existed. Besides, in their own twisted way, their "Jesus" is really a zombie.

[cbayer]

4. Although I recall Halloween parties at my church as a kid, I don't remember

there ever being a religious connection at all.

We just saw it as a fun holiday, a chance to dress up and free candy.

I know some churches do these *haunted house* things - some youth groups just to raise money, others to impart some kind of message about Satan and hell.

[2pooped2pop]

5. yeah, so does their saviour's birthday

but using that pagan date doesn't seem to bother the hypocrites.

Controversy still surrounds the holiday, which has origins in ancient Celtic spiritualism.

[struggle4progress]

6. Use of November 1, as All Saints Day, can be traced to the eighth century church in Rome:

it is extremely unlikely that the Roman church would have picked the date based on pagan Celtic custom

Dates of any traditional calendar-based Celtic celebrations would, in any case, not be clearly fixed in the solar Julian calendar, since the ancient Celtic calendar seems be have been lunar-solar, with an extra month added twice every five years to avoid excessive drift, so a date as precise as October 31 or November 1 cannot have any relevance to any Celtic tradition

There's no doubt, of course, that Halloween has folkish roots, just as Mardi Gras does

[cbayer]

7. I never realized how huge a holiday November 1 was until I was in France on

that date in 2004.

We had planned to visit some places, but EVERYTHING was closed. The only other comparable day there is Christmas.

Between that and the *re-election* of W during the same week, it was quite an interesting trip.

[okasha]

9. It coincides with Samhain, one of the cross-quarter feasts,

and the beginning of the Celtic new year. We pagans have absolutely no trouble with it, other than finding the stereotpical representation of witches offensive.

[Festivito]

11. The date was picked to discredit the Reformation.

By placing All Saints Day on November 1st, All Hallows Eve occurring the day before would be on Reformation Day, thereby imbuing the reformation movement with negativity of evils and hopefully, for the Pope, keeping the cash cow of indulgence sales up.

[pokerfan]

12. more from wikipedia

Halloween is also thought to have been influenced by the Christian holy days of All Saints' Day (also known as All Hallows, Hallowmas or Hallowtide) on November 1 and All Souls' Day on November 2. They were a time for honoring the saints and praying for the recently departed who had yet to reach Heaven. All Saints was introduced in the year 609, but was originally celebrated on May 13. In 835, it was switched to November 1 (the same date as Samhain) at the behest of Pope Gregory IV.[29] Some have suggested this was due to Celtic influence, while others suggest it was a Germanic idea.[29]

[mike_c]

8. gee, which superstituous claptrap takes priority...?

[TlalocW]

10. Until the beginning of this year

I had been in Tulsa for over a decade. Churches don't have Halloween Parties there - they have Trunk or Treat, Harvest Parties, Fall Festivals, etc.

I had a teenager from a church that was canvassing the neighborhood approach me while I was in my garage, wanting to give me a pamphlet for their upcoming Harvest Party. I looked through it while he was talking. When he was done, I asked, "Why don't you call it Halloween?" He misheard me and proudly replied, "That's right, sir. We would never call it Halloween." I said, "No... why DON'T you call it Halloween? You're having candy, games, costumes, a bonfire, and hayrides. That's a Halloween Party. It's not an evil word. It means All Hallows Eve. Put a restriction of no scary/evil costumes (that was a stipulation they had if you were going to attend), but there's no reason to not call it Halloween." Kid just really wanted to leave after that.

My niece is worse. She calls it a holiday of evil. Won't let her kids trick-or-treat or do anything on it.

TlalocW

[Nay]

13. It should be noted that in 1950's and 1960's America, there was NO religious condemnation of

Halloween EXCEPT by a couple of sects (Adventists and such, and they were considered weird by everyone else), and everybody was out and about in all sorts of costumes. I'm 61 and have seen a disturbing change over the years which reflects, IMHO, the insinuation of the religious right's doctrine into EVERY FACET of life in this country, even stuff that's none of their damned business. If the RR likes it, you better kowtow! (the war on Christmas!) If the RR doesn't like it, you better stop doing it! (Halloween)

It's insidious, evil, and autocratic.

[2ndAmForComputers]

15. That's the very definition of totalitarianism.

[E_Pluribus_Unitarian]

14. Not a problem for some of us...

[Marrah_G]

16. The Halloween they are celebrating has nothing to do with Samhain