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Quick Question re: Halloween

b.hopeful

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Because it's a fun American tradition....like Thanksgiving...no matter the roots. Same reason non-religious folks here celebrate Christmas and Easter....we've commercialized it to the point that the original meaning is hard to find.
 
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lucypevensie

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Because it's a fun American tradition....like Thanksgiving...no matter the roots. Same reason non-religious folks here celebrate Christmas and Easter....we've commercialized it to the point that the original meaning is hard to find.
Agree^^^

It is fun to dress up and collect candy with your family and friends. No one that I know who celebrates Halloween does so to worship Satan.
 
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moonkitty

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Why do so many Christian (generally in the USA) parents celebrate the whole Halloween thing?

I don't know, why do so many Christians who object to the pagan roots of Halloween do not object to the pagan roots of putting up Christmas trees and hiding brightly painted Easter Eggs?
 
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Rebekka

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Halloween has Christian roots. It comes from All Hallows Eve. The eve before All Hallows = All Saints, November 1st. Another important Catholic feast day is All Souls, November 2nd. On both days we remember the dead (well to catholics they're not really dead) - on All Saints the canonized saints and on All Souls the others, e.g. family members. That's when people visit their graves (not only on Nov 2, mind ;) ) and light candles and leave flowers and (in some countries) food etc.

Halloween is not "evil" or 100% pagan. (Not that I find pagan traditions evil - I love Christmas trees for example - but some do.)
 
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tiredwalker

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I don't know, why do so many Christians who object to the pagan roots of Halloween do not object to the pagan roots of putting up Christmas trees and hiding brightly painted Easter Eggs?

I don't get it either. I hardly think that dressing your kids up and letting them eat too much candy is celebrating satan or evil, same with cutting down a tree, dressing it up, and stashing presents under it. IMO too many people take it too seriously. It's supposed to be fun...and I for one am thankful for candy and a reason to dress up as something besides a stay at home mom.
 
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Scotty10

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Why do so many Christian (generally in the USA) parents celebrate the whole Halloween thing?

Because its fun. The kids get to dress up in costumes and go house to house and get candy. Its a fun child-oriented holiday. The people who are all stuffy and anti-Halloween, I just don't understand. The day is what you make of it....it has nothing to do with the devil, demons, etc. If that were the case, then I guess we should just stop celebrating Christmas, and putting up Christmas trees, since both have pagan origins.:preach:
 
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Tea

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If halloween has nothing to do with demons and devils etc, then why is that the chosen theme for this "celebration"? My bible says to stay away from all appearances of evil.Well as Jan and Hasassah said, there are those of us that don't keep Christmas either, prefering to keep the Holy days that God appointed.
 
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jgonz

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I don't know, why do so many Christians who object to the pagan roots of Halloween do not object to the pagan roots of putting up Christmas trees and hiding brightly painted Easter Eggs?
We don't do Christmas or Easter either, for the same reasons.

Halloween has Christian roots. It comes from All Hallows Eve. The eve before All Hallows = All Saints, November 1st. Another important Catholic feast day is All Souls, November 2nd. On both days we remember the dead (well to catholics they're not really dead) - on All Saints the canonized saints and on All Souls the others, e.g. family members. That's when people visit their graves (not only on Nov 2, mind ;) ) and light candles and leave flowers and (in some countries) food etc.
Those are Cathoic holidays and aren't in Scripture. Around here, Nov. 2nd is the Dia de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead) and it's actually just as creepy as Halloween (if not more-so because it's supposedly a "religious" holiday).
 
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seaisabella

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Those are Cathoic holidays and aren't in Scripture.

Catholic = Christian, in the sense all Christians celebrated these holidays for many hundreds of years. And since when do holidays have to be in the Bible to be celebrated? Should we not celebrate birthdays then? Halloween is about having fun, similar to a birthday, its about make believe and candy. The attraction of Halloween is no different then the attraction of watching a thriller, we all like to be a little bit scared in a harmless way.
 
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jgonz

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Halloween where I live is flat out satanic. Sacrifices are made in the desert, children disappear every year (probably taken over to Juarez, Mexico), and the authorities find dead black animal carcasses left here & there. So to _me_, Halloween is never just a "fun" holiday.

Birthdays (for us) are very low key, but they're not holidays anyway. We celebrate the Biblical holidays only, not the typical Christian ones. We do also do Thanksgiving and the 4th of July~ those being national holidays and not religious.
 
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jgonz

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Ok, I'm not going to get into any sort of debate. I'm sorry if what I said stepped on toes~ that was not my intention. Suffice it to say that Catholics have more holidays than protestant variety Christians, and the majority of them have little basis on Scripture (more on tradition). I think most Believers could agree with that.
 
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moonkitty

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We don't do Christmas or Easter either, for the same reasons.

Now I can respect that.

It's when people don't celebrate a holiday for it's pagan roots, and then tries to make others who do feel guilty--when they themselves celebrate other holidays with pagan roots--that is what I find annoying.
 
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Rebekka

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Ok, I'm not going to get into any sort of debate. I'm sorry if what I said stepped on toes~ that was not my intention. Suffice it to say that Catholics have more holidays than protestant variety Christians, and the majority of them have little basis on Scripture (more on tradition). I think most Believers could agree with that.
Well, scripture came from tradition. And our traditions don't clash with scripture, they are in harmony.

Yeah, you stepped on toes. You reject halloween for its pagan roots, and then when I bring up the fact that it has christian roots, you move the goalposts and say they're catholic and not based in scripture - as if that makes them non-christian.

You acknowledge the fact that Jesus was a jew, you value those roots, it would make sense to also acknowledge the catholic roots of all protestant denominations.
 
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