The Trouble with Halloween – by Greg Albrecht
Q: In your opinion, is it wrong to dress up in costumes, have a party or give out candy to trick-or-treaters?
A:Some Christians see nothing wrong with Halloween as a time for families to take children, who love to dress up in costumes, into their immediate neighborhood, and, with careful supervision, receive goodies and treats as they go from house to house. Some of these parents avoid witch and ghost costumes for their children in favor of cowboys, action heroes, angels, clowns or Disney characters—because they don’t want to glorify or encourage the grotesque or occult.
Other Christians participate in Halloween by handing out not only candy when youngsters come to their door, but Scripture cards and biblically-based greeting cards to those costumed trick-or-treaters. I think this activity is of little benefit—its primary “good” may be making the people who hand out Scripture cards feel good about themselves. But that’s just me.
As with virtually any other celebration, in my opinion parents should try to capitalize on the theme and emphasis of the occasion to teach—not to give an hour-long, sit-down sermon, but to gently and naturally discuss the subjects that arise when Halloween occurs.
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