Top 10 reasons Christians shouldn't celebrate Halloween
I got this in an email that my mom sent me and I found it to be kinda interesting,
Many in our secular society believe Halloween is nothing more than a harmless festival that allows kids to collect candy. But is it? Its origins lie deeply rooted in the occult, and Christians should stay away. Here are ten reasons why.
1. October 31st has long been known as "The Festival of the Dead." The Celtic tribes and their priests the Druids celebrated this day as a marker for the change from life to death.
2. Halloween today is performed usually by adherents of witchcraft who use the night for their rituals. Witches celebrate Halloween as the "Feast of Samhain," the first feast of the witchcraft year. Being a festival of the dead, Halloween is a time when witches attempt to communicate with the dead through various forms of divination.
3. Christians should not be involved with occultic practice or divination. Note God's command against divination in Deuteronomy 18.
4. Occultists believe Halloween is a time of transition between life and death. Some occult practitioners practiced divination and believed you could learn the secrets of life and wisdom by lying on a grave and listening to the messages from the long-departed.
5. Occultists also taught that spirits and ghosts left the grave during this night and would seek out warmth in their previous homes. Villagers, fearful of the possibility of being visited by the ghosts of past occupants, would dress up in costumes to scare the spirits on their way. They would also leave food and other treats at their door to appease the spirits so they would not destroy their homes or crops but instead move on down the road. That is the real reason why kids dress up in costumes today and go door-to-door seeking treats.
6. Occultists also would try to scare away the spirits by carving a scary face into a pumpkin. This horrible visage would hopefully move the spirit on to another home or village and spare that home from destruction. Sometimes the villagers would light a candle and place it within the pumpkin and use it as a lantern (hence the name,
Jack-o-Lantern). This is the origin of carving pumpkins at Halloween.
7. In some witchcraft covens, the closing ritual includes eating an apple or engaging in fertility rites. In the Bible (Genesis 3), eating a piece of fruit brought sin and death into the world. In witchcraft, eating an apple is symbolic of bringing life. The practice of bobbing for apples brings together two pagan traditions: divination and the fertility ritual.
8. Schools are removing any religious significance from Christmas (often called winter break) and Easter (spring break). Isn't it ironic that most public schools still celebrate Halloween even though it has occultic origins?
9. Participating in Halloween gives sanction to a holiday that promotes witches, divination, haunted houses, and other occultic practices.
10. Christians should avoid Halloween and develop creative alternatives. Churches can hold a Fall Fun Festival and/or celebrate Reformation Day (also October 31). They should not endorse or promote Halloween.
(Personal Note)...We as believers in Jesus Christ need to be Redeeming the times, because these days are EVIL ....You can use this time for witnessing for Christ .....What a great opportunity to share the Gospel of Christ! ...You will have people coming to your door, literally!! .... Buy some Christian tracts and put them in with the candy ... You can bring Jesus Christ into people's homes, from all over the place ..... Pray this night .... Please, for Jesus sake, stand and pray on their behalf..... Don't put this off...Stand in the gap for them.....God will honor the prayers of His people.... We are the heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.... Let us stand in the dark hours and proclaim Jesus victorious Life and Light to all people...That there is a hope and a way out of darkness.... His name is Jesus...He is truly Lord of lords.... I pray the Lord bring convictions to each and everyone of you on this matter.... Seek His face.... He will always lead us to His truth.... Jesus said....
"I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, no man comes to the Father, but by Me".(John 14:6)....
If you believe this than stand as if you do.... I pray the Lord Jesus Christ richly bless you all... in Jesus love....
My own personal note: I never really thought about it that way, once I started high school I stopped celebrating Halloween not because I thought it was an evil festive celebration, but because it never really appealed to me when I grew up. Now that I have read this and understood what it really means I can definitely say that my opinion of Halloween is that its total crap and it really is hyped up more than it should be. I mean look at the world we live in today, some places including Garland are no longer safe to be going around door to door at night to ask for candy. If there is anyone who is going trick or treating tonight look out for yourselves and each other, because you never know whats out there in this big, bad world.