With Halloween shortly approaching, and hearing Christian protesters constantly shouting at me as I walk to class, I think that it is important to know not everything thing you do will send you straight to Hell. Oct. 31 is the holiday that a lot of kids and even some adults, look forward to. Whether it be because of the free candy or because you get to dress up as something that you are not. Either way, Halloween is a night than some get excited about, but others fear.
Many people amongst the Christian community feel that it is associated with Lucifer and may know it as the ‘Devil’s Holiday.’ What may seem to be taboo to dress up as a ghost, ghoul, or other horrific characters, does not always mean that you have to associate Halloween with the Devil.
I attend church as much as I possibly can, read the Bible, and consider myself a Godly woman. I also try to do something on Halloween even if it means just watching scary movies or just eating a bunch of candy if I have nothing else to do. When I have children, I will allow them to participate in the festivities and not to see it as a negative thing, but instead something that is fun. Unfortunately for some, Halloween has become a part of the American tradition.
According to History.com, Halloween originated from All Hallows Eve which was the eve of the Western Christian feast. On the night of Oct. 3, Celts, who were a group of people inhabiting much of Europe and Asia Minor in pre-Roman times, celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth.
According to Isaiah 14:12, the New King James Version, ”How you are fallen from heaven O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations! Lucifer, also known as the Devil, was once an angel in Heaven who was eventually cast out of Heaven by God. Although some people may dress as Satan for Halloween, I do not see how it relates to the original meaning of Halloween.
As a believer of God and a participant in the Halloween holiday, I was once not able to go trick or treating. Although it had nothing to do with religion, I had still always celebrated it by watching scary movies with my mother and sister. However, now that I am older, I see Halloween as a chance to dress up and also see how much I can grow into not being as scared as I once was. I look forward now to all of Halloween’s parties, costumes, haunted houses, and candy, and think that it is sad that some people do not get to participate in these events, but instead have to sit in a dark house on Halloween night so that kids do not ring your doorbell to ask for candy.
Then there are those other reasons why people do not celebrate Halloween. You may have concerned parents that are protective of you with all of the crazy people in the world that seem to make others lives miserable because they have nothing better to do, or whose parents do not want you to have a mouth full of cavities, which is why I did not go trick- or- treating when I was younger. These reasons seem to be more logical ways rather than having kids suffer and watch other kids having a fun Halloween night.
- Over 2,000 years ago- Halloween descended from a Celtic festival.
- 609 AD- The Christian holiday of All Saints Day began on May 13.
- 800 AD – The Christian feast is changed to Nov 1.
- 1556- Allhallowtide, the three days from the eve of All Saints Day to All Souls Day, is an accepted term and almost obligatory holiday in Europe.
- 1700s- Costumed people celebrating Samhain went door to door, singing songs in exchange for food.
- 1800s- An influx of Irish and Scottish immigrants come to the U.S., bringing with them their Halloween costumes.
- 1900s- Halloween is a mainstream holiday in America and the 1930s mark the first mass-produced costumes appearing in shops.
- 2000s-Countless websites spring up to sell popular costumes. Reinventions of the grotesque costumes remain, though the acts to ward off the dead have become a thing of tales in today’s Halloween celebrations.
