It's the Most Uncomfortable Time of the Year

"Halloween’s another big holiday—Satanic holiday. Nobody’s bothered by that for some reason. You know, “fun for the kiddies”. (laughter) I mean, when I was going to “church” they always told me Satan’s the most evil one, the one you have to watch out for. “Watch out for Satan!” Then, once a year, the whole country goes, “Hey, let’s party with this guy.” (big laughs) It’s ridiculous. (laughter)"

-Drew Carrey from White House Correspondents Dinner Speech

October has become an awkward month for me. Admittedly, it never really ranked that high on my list of favorite months. My mom was ranking months the other day, and I think if I had to do that it might look like this:


December
-November-
July-
March

Those are based mostly on holiday/birthdays. December is a time for Christmas and family. November is my birthday month. July is our anniversary month and usually my longest Oklahoma vacation of the year, and March is Juliet’s birthday month.

As a child, October held the wonder of Halloween. As a child, I had no indication that celebrating such a holiday could have negative connotations. In the United States, it is basically a holiday for kids to get candy, sort that candy, trade that candy, and eat it. We dress up as our favorite cartoon characters and run around the neighborhood.

As a teenager, those prone to mischief use the holiday for less innocent minded activities, but still give no real thought to the inherent anti-religious sentiment of the holiday.

In college, girls use it as an excuse to dress in outfits not usually appropriate for public use. As a college guy, whatever costume gets those girls to notice (humorous, outrageous, etc...) is usually chosen in hopes of getting closer to those girls. An inherent problem here (and I never went out on Halloween in college except to Walmart once I think), is that guys who struggle with lustful thoughts, pornography, etc...can perceive otherwise modest women as complete objects on that night. Granted, the modest women likely aren’t dressing up like that anyway---but I’m sure it’s possible.

As an adult, usually we wait until having kids and then send them out to start the cycle again. It is probably the holiday you can most set your watch by as far as early promotion. Pumpkins and scarecrows and black cats and witch decorations pop up well before summer’s end.

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When I met Juliet, she had never celebrated Halloween. Her reasons were legitimate, but totally alien to a U.S. born guy who saw it as a candy holiday. As a kid, our parents don’t teach us of the implied anti-Christian attitude that permeates this time of year. The witch and wizard costumes promote a decidedly anti-Christian worldview, yet most kids (and even Christian adults) never give it a second thought.

In many ways our society has become so saturated with these types of traditions, that to question it seems ridiculous. This blog may finally be the one that sends me into debate territory because so many people (Christian included) see nothing wrong with the holiday.

I’ve noticed in the years of attending church, that many churches even use October 31st to hold some holiday haunted house or carnival. Whether scaring teens into not having abortions, or just dressing as ghosts for fun, we are sending a mixed message to the world.

I struggle this time of year because I know Juliet is right. She is 100% correct from a Christian standpoint. I was just so accustomed to the traditions, I never realized what kind of message we were really promoting.

Kids in witch costumes, teens causing mischief, college girls gone wild--is there any decency in the holiday?

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I was told that I need to stop “denying” Christianity when it comes to these practices with which we are so accustomed. When confronted with celebrating or not celebrating the answer should be decidedly against the holiday for Christians. We need not substitute our own versions. We need to cut the cord and move on.

The whole Christmas controversy about Christians adopting pagan holidays bugged me until I realized how much we as Christians have adopted these worldly holidays. I believe early Christians were simply looking for a way to celebrate Christ on a day that much of the world was worshipping pagan gods or whatever--so the Christmas thing I can understand.

Halloween is just too close to celebration of the world. We don’t separate it enough. We know a fall carnival with costumes is Halloween in disguise. At least the Easter Bunny can be shown to have nothing to do with Christians’ celebration of the resurrection--though the world likes to use that against us too.

I can’t tell other Christians how to celebrate or not celebrate traditions that at face value seem harmless. I will suggest though, that maybe it’s time we really take a step back and see how our witness might be damaged by these types of activities. With all the liberal Christianity around these days, I’m sure it is impossible to get even all the Christians on board. Maybe using October 31st to completely distance ourselves from costumes and candies is the first step.

I don’t see anything inherently wrong with dressing up as cartoon character, but why on that night? Do people not realize there is a huge anti-Christian sentiment among certain groups? Curses are said against us, and rites performed to hurt us on those nights. Satan truly gets control on October 31st.
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Juliet was uncomfortable at work the other day being asked to hang Halloween decorations as busy work. I was uncomfortable last year when we were told we could dress up for a costume contest. I resisted the urge to decorate/participate and no one cared. I think that’s the point. A simple, “I’m sorry, I don’t celebrate Halloween,” should suffice in most places. Certainly workplaces cannot force celebration of it, just as they can’t force Christmas to be acknowledged (unfortunately).

If we break down our perceived meanings of holidays, it’s sad that Christians know what Christmas should be about and ignore it readily. Halloween is blatantly obvious as a darker holiday and we embrace it with open arms and stomachs.

I heard a story last weekend of people burying the statue of some random Catholic saint (they have them for everything these days), and cringed a bit. I did not stand up against it though, and perhaps I should have. We can’t rely on magical remedies and idols to give us what we want. We trust in Jesus, not the patron saint of hamburgers or house-hunters or whatever.

Juliet and I will continue not celebrating Halloween. It’s still uncomfortable for me because I have fond childhood memories of trading candy with Andy. I know; however, that it’s time to start distancing myself from those worldly things that damage my witness. Perhaps I have others I’m not aware of yet. I will hopefully be guided towards eliminating those too.

We don’t have to go up on a hill and hide out waiting for the Rapture, but we should walk in Christ, not in the world’s values. It will probably never be comfortable. And maybe that’s why October, for me, is the most uncomfortable time of the year.