My Comment On Halloween

Since the post is back in the archives and no one will see an update to the comments at this point and since I have blogging power and since I've been lurking around here instead of posting, I wanted to clarify my comment on Halloween.

At http://mod-blog.blogspot.com/2005/11/what-is-your-opinion-of-halloween.html I posted

As I was going to two different "harvest carnivals" and then back to a "reformation party" back at my place I was thinking about this "halloween alternative" that many have set up. Probably the thing that most made me think is the sign my church had put up. the words "free halloween" were on one line and much bigger than the word "alternative" on the next line.

I'm not entirely sure of my position on halloween at this point. I handed out candy last year. This year some friends brought candy, but no one showed up. My main concern is with the "halloween alternatives". Why are we doing these? If we are trying to take a pagan holiday and switch it to a Christian holiday (such as Christmas and Easter started out) then that's fine. That's not what I see though. Everything is exactly the same (costumes, candy, etc.) There's nothing to distinguish most harvest carnivals from a halloween party. At that point, we're being hypocritical and celebrating halloween while saying that we're not. Put another way, just changing the name and having the church celebrate it doesn't make it Christian. I think we need to be plugged into the world and engage culture, but not be so plugged in that everyone comes to the harvest carnival and it's just another halloween party.

This gives the opinion that I am against harvest carnivals in general. When I wrote this post, it was more of a reactionary statement. I think harvest carnivals and reformation day parties are fine if (1) The person hosting / planning the party is calling it a harvest carnival or reformation day party for some other reason than because they think Halloween is wicked or (2) The harvest carnival / reformation day party is so completely different that it won't be confused with Halloween. That is, the person hosting / planning is against Halloween and is making a statement by having an alternate activity that isn't just a change of name. Ultimately, a church that is hosting an event should be using this as an outreach by either proclaiming the gospel at the event or getting contact information so that they can follow up with those who came and try to get them to an event where the gospel will be preached.