Tough Love - Halloween and the Modern Church

A Call for Christian Separation

I. Why Christians MUST have NO PART with Halloween

A. Halloween is a holiday celebrating satanic worship. Specifically, the Druidic worship of Saman, the Lord of Death. The primary god of the Druids was Baal and included the practices of human sacrifice, cannibalism (cannibal is from Cahna-Bal "priest of Baal"), and making their children pass through the fire of Molech. Celebrating Halloween should be equated to approval and participation in the worship of Baal.

B. Throughout the Laws of Moses are several severe commands against the various practices of witchcraft, human sacrifices, and the worship of Baal and Molech, especially in Leviticus 19-20. Some unusual prohibitions (tattooing, drinking blood, seething a kid in his mother's milk) are aimed against participation in the traditions of heathen worshipers.

C. America's pilgrim forefathers banned the celebration of Halloween and it was not allowed in this country until 1845 with massive Irish immigration from the potato famine. Americans rejected this holiday for over 200 years but have now embraced it for over 150 years. We're going the wrong direction!

D. Current practitioners of the Druidic religion, not to mention witches, Wiccians, Satanists and other occultists still recognize Halloween as a high day, offer animal (and even human) sacrifices, and generally celebrate Halloween as their primary religious holiday. This is a large segment of the modern US population, and many Christians in our churches are former members of these groups.

E. Halloween encourages children to do all the things which they know are wrong - everything from pulling practical jokes and pranks, to pretending to be evil people and creatures. It teaches children that it's party-fun to be bad, and that it's ok if its Halloween (or if its a party, or if everyone's doing it)!

F. Halloween brings youth and adults into a whole different party - it is already comparable to Mardi Gras in sexuality and has always been a peak time of the year for murder and violent crimes. Several cities also now have to deal annually with the Halloween tradition of Devil's Night (Oct. 30^th) which is manifest by widespread arson.

G. The general population of the U.S. knows all about the things above. This makes it imperative to the Christian that they separate themselves from this holiday. It's not "all in fun" - it is anti-Christian, and people are watching to see if we'll condone it! Halloween actually provides an excellent, almost unique, opportunity for Christian parents to teach their children about the importance of Christian separation.

II. Is Your "Alternative" still a Halloween Party?

A. Does the church know that Halloween is being rejected, and is UNACCEPTABLE for members to participate in?

B. Is it Obvious to the Community that the church is rejecting the holiday, vs. just being church-politically correct and calling it something else?

1. Is it a celebration on Oct 31^st or the nearest preceding weekend? If so, you are celebrating ON Halloween.

2. Your Alternative must not involve costumes, candy give-aways, apple bobbing, pumpkin carving - all of which are based in Druid traditions. If so, then you are Christianizing Halloween.

3. Are you allowing visitors to come in costume? If so, you're condoning their celebration of Halloween as OK for them.

III. What should the church do for Halloween?

A. Educate the congregation. It's just mean or legalistic to take any actions against a holiday if people don't understand. The congregation should be brought to a full understanding of the problems of celebrating Halloween, and the importance of separating themselves for their testimony's sake.

B. The church should have no observance of the holiday if it is not on the night of regularly scheduled services. It should not be given any more significance than May Day, Winter Solace, or any other pagan traditions.

C. If the 31^st falls on a regularly scheduled service night, then the church should not have a party, give out candy, or allow costumes (as discussed in Part II above). Instead, have normal services.

D. If the church wants to have a Fall Festival, have it a few weeks later as part of Thanksgiving!

Still unsure? - What would Jesus do?

Or imagine getting Paul, Peter, James, or John to buy off on your plans for this Halloween!