My views and principles about participating in a holiday that promotes mostly wickedness and evil changed and just didn't sit right in my heart. And it still doesn't. It doesn't really matter to me how it's packaged in fun and games. At the center of it fear and evil is promoted and I keep close guard on that in every other way. Why would I open myself to it on this one supposedly innocent holiday?
In modern times there seems to be a new obsession with any other worldly which only exacerbates the evil side of the day. I realize this is not the most popular view even among Christians these days. That's okay. I've never won any of those popularity contest anyway. And I don't condemn you if you decide to celebrate it. I wish I understood why but I don't condemn.
To minimize the acknowledgement of the day, rather than join in, we either went to church festivals or once our kiddos were older we took them out to eat so we could stick together and concentrate on family.
The evil characters have gotten much worse since my kiddos were growing up. The billboards, the advertisements on TV, the overly exaggerated gory displays in the local stores are really very annoying an often offensive.
Adults seem to have hijacked the day, too. As if they wait for Halloween to have their own ridiculous bashes and lewd parades. I say to them if they like to dress up in costumes they don't need an excuse like Halloween that taints the day even further. Have a masquerade party any other time of year. It's really okay to have your own party without using your kids as an excuse.
I LOVE this time of year and all the 'good' changes it DOES celebrate like the weather (still waiting on that one here in Florida), the colors represented with this season, sweaters and scarves, visions of harvest and Thanksgiving is right around the corner.
Getting past Halloween and all the reminders of it everywhere is something I look forward to.
