Why don't some christians like Halloween?

[cj69]

Some christians I know will not go to a party because it has a halloween theme, does anyone know what the origins of Halloween are?

[taichiperson]

What gets me is the way it's been taken over by American (USA) 'traditions' - i.e. trick or treat. Many pensioners dread Halloween for this reason. I'm glad we live in a rural area and don't have them come to our door. I was about to ask who could rmember 'Penny for the Guy' (which was just as unpleasant) but then remembered that was another thing altogether, albeit very close!

[spaced]

id like to know where Paulos got his info about christmas being a pagan festival. its a celebration of the birth of christ, wheres the paganism in that?????

[Whickerman]

Christmas is not the celebration of the birth of Christ, I'm afraid spaced.

Actually it's though Jesus was born in the Autumn. However, the sun god was born at the midwinter solstice, and this was a deeply ingrained belief in most cultures. As the Christian message moved from country to country, it was seen as easier to transpose the new religion onto the old. This isn't some new thing either - Cromwell banned the celebration as Pagan.
A link: http://de.essortment.com/christmaspagan_rece.h tm



As for Halloween -

[Whickerman]

Cont'd -

Halloween is, as pointed out, a derivation of the Celtic Pagan Samhain. (Here in Ireland, it's pronounced sow-en, sow being the flat 'o' like ow when you bang your skull getting into the car heading to work, but that's another story.). In fact, Samhain is the word still used for November in Irish.

As Pink Kitty has pointed out, this is one of the four major sabbats in the year, (of eight - 4 major and 4 minor). It's the time where the veil between the worlds is seen as being at its thinnest. Food and a candle (hence the jack-a-lantern) are left for wandering souls. In modern Pagan tradition, (Wicca, Druidry, Asatru, etc) the sun-god dies on that night and is reborn at the midwinter solstice.
It marks the beginning of Winter and the start of the new year.

It's a much celebrated holiday and is huge here in Ireland, and in fact we exported it to America with the thousands of emigrants. It's obviously changed since then, but us Pagans do like a good party so we welcome it as the major festival of all.

We in Ireland celebrate with parties and games. There's a national bank holiday too (on the nearest Monday in October). Traditional food is brack and beer. Also, we love the trick or treat thingy - it's not just a US thing, it never died out here.

Basically, as with all religious festivals, it's a time for reflection and celebration, and long may it be so. Oh, and as usual, everyone's welcome, regardless of faith or creed.

[Whickerman]

You know what ? I need to change my first answer (Up there^)

Of course you're right spaced, Christmas is of course the celebration of the birth of Jesus. I meant to phrase that differently to say that that celebration had been moved onto a much older one, but of course Christmas has only one meaning in the modern world. (Well, two, the other being Santa.)

[rogdog]

Many Christians believe that personifications of evil (or evil spirits) actually do exist and can have a destructive influence on people. They feel its inappropriate to be involved in something that appears to celebrate evil even if those involved see it as harmless fun.

[Whickerman]

That's fair enough. Bear in mind though that for people who celebrate their religious beliefs at this time the notion that it's evil is pretty offensive.

But I suppose it's a losing battle to try convince some people that religions other than Christianity are not Satanism (which is a Christian belief system, not a Pagan one).

As stated, everyone's welcome at our celebrations, so long as you're respectful of the fact that our beliefs are different.

[Octavius]

I was in church yesterday and there was a little girl (about 9 years old) wearing devil horns and an eye mask!! I thought it was quite funny and the priest gave her some wriggly worms after mass.