Does Halloween give you a headache, or is it your favorite time of the year? What's it all about, really? Find out here... It's important to know the straight scoop, especiallly if you have kids.
Update: Before anybody assumes I'm some Puritanical killjoy; I am NOT crying for folks to keep the kids home piously watching "Veggie Tale" (gag) while their friends go trick-or-treating. I am not saying going to a costume party is tantamount to selling your soul to the Horned One. I'm just saying we need to be educated, know our history, and be prepared to discuss what a real witch or ghost really is. I think we need to take care of the message we send to our unsaved friends and neighbors, that's all.
Oh, please, please, please don't perpetuate this stuff -- it's an embarrassment to Christianity, and almost completely false.
ReplyDeleteRead this taunt instead.
Don't perpetuate what?
ReplyDeleteAh, I looked at your "taunt". Firstly, I'm not sure I agree with the spirit (pun intended) of imparting wisdom in the form of a taunt. Isn't that what short people in sandboxes do? Secondly, I have no intention of basing any of my serious personal views on history, theology, or anything else on the routines of a stand-up comic, which Mike Warnke was. Is? To tell the truth, I haven't thought about Mr. W in a good many years.
ReplyDeleteEr, 'twas me, Phillip, that posted the comment. I didn't want to create a blogger account, and forgot to sign my name. Sorry about the confusion.
ReplyDeleteThe point of the "taunt," as he called it, was to make the very serious and accurate point that Mike Warnke single-handedly created the idea that Halloween is a night dedicated to evil to be avoided by Christians, an idea that survived his eventual debunking.
It's a shame, since October 31 could be celebrated in so many ways by Christian, not least of all because it was the day that Martin Luther nailed his these to the church door in Wittenburg.
Me, I'm going to church dressed in a costume, we've got happy pumpkin lights and carved pumpkins on our porch, and my wife is staying home from church that night so the kids don't have to rush through trick-or-treating. Bless God!
P.S. 'Twas only after posting the above comment that I found out you quit the BHT last week. Had I known, I honestly wouldn't have posted the comment. I'm sorry that direct questions about Libertarianism upset you so much. I'll quit pestering you now, but I wanted to let you know who 'Anonymous' was.
-Phillip Winn
Hey, Phillip! No worries. I'll say again: I do not reside within the Evangelical Ghetto, and Mike Warnke (haven't heard one of his routines for 20 years) is not my source of information. I DO have fun on October 31! For one thing, it's my sister's birthday, for another, any excuse to dress up and have fun is ok by me. I also DO think that we need to be ready to "give to every man an answer" (to plagiarize a phrase out of context) when the "man" happens to be little Audry who says she wants to dress like a witch on Halloween. Don't you think we, as responsible Christians, ought to set her down at that point and talk about what a witch IS, and why we mightn't want to impersonate one (and I don't mean because we might offend a real witch with the costume store's fantasy version of witchiness)?
ReplyDeleteHave fun at your Church parties. Take handy wipes for the caramel apple goo.
Re. the BHT: No sweat. The questions about Libertarianism didn't upset me. The constant rehashing of arguments apparently just for the sake of yammering, and the moderator's personality, just ran me out of patience. You guys are really a great crowd, honestly! It's a great site, but I just don't fit in very well there. When people agree to disagree that's one thing, but there are a few folks on that board who seem to take delight in whacking others over the head when a wave will suffice.
Anyway, thanks for the comment(s)!
Okay: Samhain is a pagan festival, Halloween is the Christian version of it and- although it has been commercially corrupted in much the same way as Christmas and Easter, All Hallows Eve has got nothing to do with Satanism. Neither does the Wiccan religion. I'm a Christian, and I think that is the only true path. But, as I mentioned in response to you previously, there are many starting places for the spiritual journey and- up to a certain, very important point- they pose many of the same questions and answers as Christianity. To be able to positively engage people and encourage them to join the Christian fellowship, it is probably a good idea to be well informed about both the history of your own faith and their's.
ReplyDelete