Trick or treating is a very universal activity, and many people participate. One question that often comes up is, should Christians participate in Halloween? Some Christians believe that fellow believers should not participate in Halloween festivities at all. They believe that participating in Halloween is equivalent to supporting what can be considered an evil or demonic holiday. Other Christians believe that they can participate as long as everything they do is to glorify the kingdom of God and not the devil. Though it's understandable where some Christians came up with the conclusion that it is not okay to celebrate Halloween, due to the origin of the holiday. Most people do not entirely agree. Some people estimate Halloween to have
First is the history of Halloween all according to a 2017 article from LiveScience by Benjamin Radford. Around 2,000 years ago in the United Kingdom Ireland, and the northern part of France the people called the Celts started this holiday. They called it Samhain back then instead of Halloween. November 1st marked their new year which resulted in them celebrating on October 31st. The New Year brought wintertime which to them meant death. On the night before winter which was October 31st, they believe that the spirits of the Dead came back. They wore costumes, put on bonfires, burned crops and sacrificed animals. When the Romans
Halloween is an annual holiday celebrated on the 31st of October across the globe. The holiday originated ancient Celtic. Celts lived 2000 years ago in the areas which are now Ireland, Northern France, and the United Kingdom. They had a similar celebration called Samhain. Samhain was celebrated on the 1st of November rather than the 31st of October. Throughout the centuries Halloween traditions have changed drastically. To see what a difference Halloween is now to back in time we must examine what traditions and celebrations were done, secondly how we celebrate the famously known holiday and finally what people have against the celebrations and traditions to this day.
Halloween is the day of getting a whole bunch of candy from neighborhoods, church, friends, and family. Although many people love to celebrate this holiday, it’s about to come to an end for ages sixteen and older. Many people agree that they should ban Haloween for ages sixteen and older, and there should be a curfew at 8:30pm for all trick or treaters. There are many controversies going on with the ban restricting teens; therefore, the ban has not been passed.Local governments should not ban trick or treating because teens will try and get their way.
With the increase in reinterpretations of death and Halloween symbols, two fundamental things occurred, the mass commodification of Halloween and a decontextualization of the symbols of death. In 1978 the premiere of Halloween, directed by John Carpenter, directly placed the holiday itself in relation to horror and gruesome death, more so than the introduction of gothic horror ever did (Rogers 110; Khapaeva 58). The introduction of explicit horror, according to Rogers, created. “a coded language that enables authors and invites their audiences to explore their fears, hidden desires, and anxieties” (110). This established a creative space in which fantasy and dissociation could be merged creating a popularization of death without actually dealing with the reality of death itself. It created a space where the narrative of horror and death could be controlled and regulated, through established archetypes. This directly contrasted the collective psyche of the 1970s and 80s in the United States, which was dealing with the ramifications of the AIDS epidemic (the worst epidemic since Polio), and an increase in social, religious, and political conservatism (Khapaeva 78). Through horror movies and Halloween, social anxieties could be dealt with in an a-political and creative way, while still maintaining the sanitized separation of hospital and culture.
There is an obvious difference of opinion between two members of the Saint Elizabeth Catholic Church as it relates to whether as Christian we should celebrate Halloween. Couple A argues that is not up to Christianity to dictate what they should and should not celebrate, and uses Romans 14:5 to support their argument. Romans 14:5 reads, “In the same way, some think one day it is more holy than another day, while others think every day is alike. Each person should have a personal conviction about this matter” (Romans 14:5, New International Version). It is, therefore, their belief that they are within their rights to celebrate Halloween, as long as a family they are not dishonoring God.
“Trick or Treating was a start by the Celtics dressing up at the end of the year as evil spirits as a celebration. They believed that at the beginning of each year the dead and the living would overlap, demons would roam the world so dressing up was a defense mechanism.” Trick or Treating had a pause during world war 2 and started back up in the 1920s and 1930s. Many people don’t know the actual meaning today, they think of it as a time to dress up with friends and see who is the scariest or funniest for laughs and fun. As said in (Smithsonianmag, 2014) “the British were not a great fan of Halloween, in 2006 a survey found that half of British homeowners turn off their lights and pretend to not be home on
Trick-or-treating is fun. Make it a family event so that you can keep a close eye on your little goblins and ghouls. It is important for parents to take a pro-active role in helping their children have a fun and safe Halloween experience.
“In 1921, Minnesota became the first state to celebrate Halloween.[...] One by one, other states began to celebrate Halloween until it had spread nationwide.” said Kristen W. while putting up the argument that Halloween should not be celebrating because of the dangers that could lie beneath it. The argument in this article is that Halloween was started with the thought of kids being able to get some candy and dress up for fun, maybe even get a little scared, but as the world population grows so does crime rates which are supposedly worst on the night of October 31st. Kristen goes on to say “This year an estimated 23,000 children will have their candy scanned at a local hospital before they are allowed to eat it. If parents are worried, why
Halloween is one of the most celebrated holidays in the world. It has a different meaning other than being scary. It's celebrated in many countries, and in different ways. It's also not an American started holiday.
It’s hard to believe, but Halloween is just days away. Here are some tips to ensure that your kids stay safe while creating some memories that they’ll have for life:
Though there are some who argue that Halloween is a cultural holiday with no religious significance.Also there are plenty of Christians and Jewswho don't celebrate Halloweenbecause it has ties to the pagan religion.As it turns out, the issue of whetheror not to celebrate Halloween is onethat many Muslims think about.
Halloween is usually celebrated with parties, trick or treating, and watching horror movies. For the children, they dress up in fancy costumes and go from house to house saying, “Trick or treat!”. The parents watch horror movies, and as for the teenagers they go to parties.
Over the years Halloween has drastically changed for me as far as how I celebrate it. My mother raised my brothers, sister and I as Jehovah’s Witness, so growing up we really did not get to participate in any sort of activities that involved the concept of Halloween. In school, we would be removed from the classroom and put into a separate classroom to read or to do homework, because the whole class was doing some sort of activity or creating Halloween deportations to take home. So probably throughout all of elementary school, this was how it was celebrated in my family. As we got older, my older brother married and had a baby; well his wife celebrated all the holidays and did what was “normal” for the holidays. So as we were surrounded by her and her family we slowly started to do go trick or treating with my niece and helping her pick out a costume. So we kind of started to do what was normal, we wanted to fit in. I remember that all the kids in elementary school would ask why I was put into a separate classroom. More towards the time I got to high school and graduated, we really started to participate more and actually dress up. My mother never really got offended. But she would ask why we would dress up? I think as I got older I just changed my mind set and just did what I wanted to do. Even up to know I do not have a
Halloween is celebrated in many different ways.One way is by dressing up in costumes.A second way is telling stories ghost,witches,and haunted houses,and just all the creepy stuff.The third way is carving pumpkins.And the fourth way is by going house to house or store to store,saying trick or
Borrowing from Irish and English traditions, Americans began to dress up in costumes and go house to house asking for food or money. Over time this tradition turned in to today modern “trick or treating”. In the late 1800s, America turned Halloween into a holiday more about community and neighborly get-togethers than about ghosts, and witchcraft. As the centuries changed Halloween parties for both children and adults became the most common way to celebrate the day. Parties focused on games, foods of the season and festive costumes. Parents were encouraged by newspapers and community leaders to take anything “frightening” or “grotesque” out of Halloween celebrations. Because of these efforts, Halloween lost most of its superstitious and religious overtones by the beginning of the twentieth century (Kammen).