Cindy Cathcart was angry with God and on the brink of divorce and suicide on Oct. 30, 1998, when her nephew dragged her to “Hell House.” Without it, she says now, she’s not sure where she would have ended up.
Though raised Lutheran, she had repeatedly refused her sister’s invitations to come to church and had no desire for a relationship with God. All of that changed as she walked through Hell House.
Hell Houses are intended to literally scare the hell out of people. Participants walk through several “scenes” depicting the consequences of things like abortion, homosexuality and drunkenness.
“As I went from scene to scene … (God) just started working on my heart and showing me that it’s not him that caused this,” Cathcart said. “It was the lack of having God in my life.”
By the time she reached the heaven scene, Cathcart was on her knees, begging God for forgiveness and asking Jesus for salvation.
I’m not torn, I’m going to my small group as I do every Wednesday night 🙂
I saw one being advertised about 3 miles from my house. I truly don’t know what to think, I don’t approve, BUT, also feel that in whatever way God works on folks, is pretty much OK, as long as its not pagan, heretic, or cult.
There was a day when as a pentecostal preachers kid, I might have been smack dab in the middle of such activities, however, I seem to have grown out of it. Sometimes, I think of such folk as “baby-christians”, and of course, some of us elders are way to repressed.
Oh well,
Gloria
My family celebrated Halloween by going out and having a nice meal together. Our sons knew that Halloween glorified the other team and were glad to be with us. I think schools should be sued for promoting witchcraft.
Actually, dressing in costume for All Hallow’s Eve was meant to protect people from evil spirits.
I think the “Hell Houses” focus too much on Hell/punishment and not enough on the grace available through following Jesus. Jesus asked that people change their lives but He didn’t scare the, well, Hell out of them to accomplish it. He wants people to come to Him out of love and the desire to do better, not out of fear.
Halloween is a vestigial remnant of Celtic pagan culture. It celebrated the end of summer and it emphasized the pagan belief of spirits roaming about.
It is and was a pagan celebration. However, it has remained a nonreligious celebration at the end of summer for centuries.
It’s only a coincindence that it’s named for All Saints’ Day. :-/
All Hallow’s Even has nothing to do with pagan culture. It’s all about Jesus triumphing over hell and death. It’s a time to mock the fallen enemy by dressing in caracture costumes and saying ‘we do not fear you!’.
I’ll be in an interesting employment situation next Wednesday. Management has prescribed that we are all supposed to be in Halloween costumes to get into the spirit for the Halloween firm party.
I won’t be wearing a Halloween costume. I suspect there are some others who won’t be either. The reaction will be interesting, although since theoretically I’m a “boss” I don’t thing anything will be done, either to me or others. But I suspect I will get a lecture from the managing partner about not being a team player.
I’ve never had a problem with Halloween when it was a little kids’ holiday for fun, like something out of Charlie Brown. But it’s mutated into raucous risque parties for adults.
Actually, I have some of the same problems with Halloween that I do with the modern secular consumer-oriented Christmas, which my family also largely boycotts.
Christianity Today online has a nice article on the history of Samhain and All Hallow’s Eve [url=http://www.christianitytoday.com/history/newsletter/2001/oct26.html]here[/url].
Did you know that Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the Wittenburg Cathedral doors on October 31? To this day, Lutherans celebrate “Reformation Day” rather than Hallowe’en.
Jim the puritan, last year I dressed in a Star Trek Original Series science officer (blue long-sleeved t-shirt with star trek emblem sewn on) costume. This year, I’m going to have an open dress shirt with un-tied tie over a Superman T-shirt. I tried to get a co-worker to dress as Gilligan and I’d come as the Skipper, but no one took me up on it.
There is a book out that I want to read called: [u]the Magic Eightball Test: A Christian Defense of Hallowe’en[/u] by [url=http://excusemeghidorah.blogspot.com/]Lint Hatcher[/url]:
[blockquote]What happens when a pumpkin carving, trick or treating, late night monster movie watching monster fan becomes a Christian? Is Halloween now off-limits? Is the whole thing pagan, occult, satanic? Is a love for spooky things and Gothic detail just plain sick? Lint Hatcher, past editor of Wonder magazine and all-purpose pop culture maven, doesn’t take such questions lightly. In The Magic Eightball Test, Hatcher grits his teeth and runs full tilt through the anti-Halloween gauntlet – putting his mania for the monsteriffic to the test. The result? A spirited and thoroughly Christian defense of Halloween and All Things Spooky.[/blockquote]
Jim the Puritan –
I hate these things, too, but if pushed, I would dress like a favorite saint.
Actually, I spent most halloweens checking on my child molester parolees, to make sure they are in the house with the front lights off. But this year I am on vacation and plan to sit on my tailgate out front and give out candy to the hoards of kids, feigning fear at the little ones and laughing at the bigger ones. I bought the candy today. 🙂
The 31st is my husband’s birthday. When the kids were little we sometimes went to a harvest festival or All Saints’ Eve party at church. (One year they dressed as Aslan and Reepicheep, another year as Michael the Archangel and Daniel of the lion’s den fame.) As they got older we just “escaped” the house so we wouldn’t have to hand out candy (and tracts) and took Dad out for supper. So they’ve always known it primarily as Daddy’s birthday, and Halloween second.
Our parish is having a Trunk or Treat event Sunday night, but I’m tempted to visit the Lutheran Church next door to see what they make of Reformation Sunday. 😉
Hell houses: No one ever went broke underestimating the American intelligence. There is bad taste and American bad taste, the difference between a cheap croissante and a Twinkie. L
Reply to libraryjim (#7) who said
“All Hallow’s Even has nothing to do with pagan culture.”
Sorry to disagree Jim, but Halloween was a pre-existing pagan end-of-summer feast and it did involve attempts at communication with the netherworld of the departed.
In Gaelic it was called Samhain, [pronounced sahveen or saheen].
#154. Even if what you say is true, so what? Who should waste the time caring about its past. At the present, it have nothing to do with the past. It is now still atime for kids to go out and collect free candy, and increasingly a time for those who should be adults and aren’t to act like idiots, loud, tasteless, irresponsible, exhibitionistic, self-indulgent and all the rest, which we have come to expect from this generation of “adults.” LM
Anglican First
I said “ALL HALLOW’S EVEN”
NOT
Samhain. (Sah-wain)
I always find this Halloween argument interesting because basically all the major holidays of the Christian calendar have pagan roots if you look hard enough. Easter bunnies and the winter festivals, it’s basically all pagan. The catch is that it was easier for earlier evangelists to Christianize these festivals than to try to come in and get the locals to ban them entirely. I think that was a good method actually because they would have gained no local traction otherwise.
I personally do not have any real issue with Halloween when done in good fun. People say its Satanic or whatever. I think anything can be perverted if you try hard enough. I mean, look at Christmas. Christmas has become this secular gift buying orgy. I think that is more detrimental to the Christian message than Halloween ever will be.
I think there are some things we are just not supposed to mess with, even if it seems like good family fun.
Allan,
But this isn’t one of them. 🙂
Halloween is a satanic holiday, period. In fact, it is this time of the year that children and adults are kidnapped to be used in sacrifices occurring through the world. It is one of the occultist’s highest “holy†(or “unholyâ€) days. Why would Christians want to celebrate anything having to due with this holiday?
As for the Christian church calendar, most holy days are not based on pagan roots. However, pagan ideals were incorporated into the holidays during the dark ages. It was hard to get some of the former pagans to stop practicing their festivals, so some bishops allowed some syncretism to occur. St. Augustine of Canterbury is a prime example of this.
-Vincent
Vincent,
You are operating under the assumption that the urban myths surrounding All Hallows are correct, when in fact, they are not.
I suggest a little more research. 😉
“In fact, it is this time of the year that children and adults are kidnapped to be used in sacrifices occurring through the world.”
This sounds like an urban legend to me. I would like to documentation of this claim. Halloween is just a fun time for childen. I think that the trend towards turning it into a an adult “holiday” is sad. The charge by some Christians that Halloween is pagan holiday is in large part a reaction to the legal challenges to Christmas observances in public schools. The argument being that if Christmas is out based on 1st Amendment grounds, so should Halloween be banned.
When I was little, my mother (at the time very fundamentalist charismatic Assembly of God, she’s mellowed out in the last few years) wouldn’t let me dress up at school for Halloween but put a giant popcorn bowl covered with a green quilt patterned cloth on my back and made me attend a church party as a turtle. I think I was five. When I got older I wasn’t allowed to dress up like a witch or a ghost or anything “evil” but she’d let me go trick-or-treating with my sister.
I never really got the “Halloween is evil” attitude, I guess I just saw it as a great opportunity to get a ton of candy for free. This year, our parish is hosting a Trunk n Treat for the kids and since I live in an apartment it’s probably going to be my only chance to hand out candy (I love seeing little kids in their adorable costumes, they’re just so cute). So since I’m 7 months pregnant I’m planning on wearing a red velour sweatsuit (which will make a great Santa outfit come December, especially with my giant belly) and wearing a gold hat. I’ll put a label on my chest and be a jar of Prego. 😀
I have studied the occult for over five years and what I learned was central to my conversion. There have been numerous books, documentaries and news reports on the animal and human sacrifices that occur around Halloween and other “sacred†times of the year. You should contact a local police detective who will be honest with you. They will tell you about all the occult activity that is occurring in the community. Of course, the mainstream news media downplays the satanic aspects of crimes and labels it “satanic panic.â€
This is my main point: Christians should not be celebrating a holiday that gives glory to Satan and his minions.
Regardless of how “fun†and “innocent†dressing up might seem, it’s not. You are being actively indoctrinated into occult belief systems through participation in such activities.
Also, I’m not picking on Halloween. I think many of the practices around Christmas and Easter are occultic/pagan as well. In fact, we shouldn’t use the word “Easter.’ It’s the name of a pagan deity. The early church called the time of the Lord’s resurrection, Pascha. That was in keeping with the Jewish roots of the Christian church. The church has now incorporated pagan roots into the Christian church.
-Vincent
Vincent,
trust me, I’m a reference Librarian AND a Christian. If I believed Hallowe’en was a satanic holiday, there is no way I would advocate any one — let alone myself or my family — celebrating it.
But that is not the case. I do not believe it, and can find little proof for your position. It is primarily the hysterics of the over-zealous who find a ‘devil under every pew’, such as the clown-princes of fanatics, Jack Chick and John Ankerberg.
More level-headed scholars and historians disagree, as do I.
However, if you feel that you should not celebrate the holiday (or rather the Christian Holy Day of All Hallow’s Eve) then by all means DON’T. But also don’t tell me that as a Christian I shouldn’t either. My research tells me something different.
libraryjim — I must say that it’s hard to take serious an adult who has dressed up as a Star Trek character 😉
#24 Courageous Grace says:
Allow me to say that this is brilliant 🙂
Oh, the use of the word Easter has also been misconstrued over the years. It actually comes from the Anglo Saxon word for East, as in the Sun rising in the East = the Son rising from the dead. That’s also been well documented.
The misconception comes from the Venerable Bede, and he is really the only source for such a named diety, but modern authors have since picked this up and reported as fact as well.
A very well researched essay can be found [url=http://www.celtic-catholic-church.org/oak_tree/easter.html]here[/url] on this topic. with another one [url=http://www.wcg.org/lit/church/holidays/easter.htm]here[/url].
It’s amazing how much of legend we accept as fact until we start digging for the truth. 🙂
libraryjim:
I’ll take a look at the websites. Actually, I’m teaching a class on the origin of Advent/Christmas. If you some good links on Christmas, that would be welcomed.
Why would Christians celebrate a holiday that is a festival of evil? Let’s say that there were no human or animal sacrifices. The holiday is still a celebration of evil. As the Psalmist said:
But he who sins against me wrongs his own soul;
[b] All those who hate me love death.†[/b] (Prov 8:36)
-Vincent
That should be Solomon, not psalmist. I thought the verse was in the Psalms. My mistake.
-Vincent
I was talking with our Director of Religious Formation, who was drawing St. Francis. It turns out that after the All Saints Vigil Mass on Wednesday evening, the Christian Education program will have a party and play “Pin the Halo on the Saint”. Also, the kids can come to Mass in costume, but only if they aren’t “evil” – no ghosts, ghouls, or blood. 🙂
There goes the Easter Bunny….and…sniff..sniff..Santa.
I find Halloween to be an opportunity to stare fear and death in the face. Yes, our (meaning my family’s) Halloween celebrations look a lot like those of the world around us–as do our Christmas and Easter celebrations. The exception in all three cases is that we approach these celebrations as people of faith.
Every couple of years I hand out a Halloween tract I made about how Christ conquers our fears. When our trick-or-treating and traditional Halloween party is over, we end the evening with ‘A Service for All Hallows’ Eve’ from The Book of Occasional Services. We act out, in costume, the story of Saul and the Witch of Endor. The collect is the anti-occult “Almighty and everliving God, you have made all things in your wisdom and established the boundaries of life and death: Grant that we may obey your voice in this world, and in the world to come may enjoy that rest and peace which you have appointed for your people; through Jesus Christ who is Resurrection and Life, and who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.”
Other lessons include Ezekiel’s valley of dry bones and Eliphaz’s spooky vision of a ‘spirit’ (Job 4:12-21). The final lesson is the War in Heaven (Rev. 12), with the final collect reading, in part: “…Grant that Michael and all your angels may defend your people against Satan and every evil foe….”
We also sing the traditional Compline hymn ‘Te Lucis,’ with the traditional translation of the second verse: “O let no evil dreams be near/Nor phantoms of the night appear/Our ghostly enemy restrain/ Lest aught of sin our bodies stain.”
I believe that our approach follows the example of John Bunyan, C.S. Lewis, and J.R.R. Tolkien, which, I think, follows biblical precedent: “But wild animals will lie down there, and its houses will be full of howling creatures; there ostriches will live, and there goat-demons will dance” (Isaiah 13:21, NRSV), and 3414:”Demons shall meet with phantoms, and a goat-demon shall summon its own kind; indeed, there shall Lilith repose and find a resting place” (my translation). I don’t believe that Isaiah actually believed in a goat-demon (‘satyr’–KJV) or the vampiric Lilith (and I won’t get into why some translations erroneously go with ‘screech owl’ here), but the imagery was used to tell a greater story. I think Halloween can play a part in this story, too. At any rate, someone has to play the Devil in the Passion Play.
I just want my kids to get the point, and I think they do, and when they’re grown and gone, hopefully, neither Christmas, Easter, nor Halloween will be the same without the uniquely Christian elements.
Long post–thanks for your time.
WilliamS:
I love the passing out of tracts idea and the All Hallows Eve service you have created. However, I still do not see what is biblical about participating in Halloween. Also, when did Halloween have Christian elements. All Hallows Eve (Christian holy day) is one thing, Halloween (Satantic holy day) is another.
Do you open the service to people in the community? How many have come to know Jesus Christ?
I really like your idea!!! I may have to put something together myself.
-Vincent
We avoid the houses that give out tracts. dadgumit, we want CANDY. Plus, no offense to William, but most of the tracts bought at Christian Book Stores just perputate the myths and urban legends, with a scare message at the end. a) I don’t want to give credence to falsehoods, and b) that’s not how I want my kids to relate to God in Jesus through the Spirit — through fear instead of reverent love.
And Vincent, I’ve already said I disagree with your premise, so your argument in post #30 does not bear any weight.
libraryjim:
My homemade tract comes with candy, is decked with Halloween clipart and the prayer: ‘From ghoulies and ghosties, long-leggety beasties, and things that go bump in the night; Good Lord, deliver us,” scripture passages about how Christ conquers our fears, and asks the question: What frightens you? It’s not an anti-Halloween tract at all.
Vincent: We have had neighbors come, also some unchurched relatives. Last year, my priest and his daughter came. I have to agree with libraryjim’s take on the scholarship–I do not believe Halloween is inherently satanic. Satanists and ‘Wiccans’ also claim Feb. 2 (our Candlemas), August 1 (our old Lammas Day), and May Day (our commemoration of Sts. Philip and James) as holidays.
Halloween is a part of the overall drama: perhaps it’s a left-handed approach (and I am left handed, after all), but, along with the authors I mentioned in my previous post, I also endorse G.K. Chesterton’s belief that scary, supernatural stories have a long-standing place in the Christian tradition, and can and do point to the gospel. For me, Chesterton has a quote that says it all: “Greek heroes do not grin: but gargoyles do–because they are Christian” (Orthodoxy, p. 188).
William,
Then in that case, I would definately come to your house!
🙂
Romans 14:5 One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. 6The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. 7 For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. 8 For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. 9For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.
— English Standard Version
Of course, that said, we don’t necessarily hold All Hallow’s Eve as a holy day, or even a holiday, just a fun day. And we see nothing wrong with that, either.
Back to the original article — there is a good-size Assembly of God church here in our town that has put on a hell house every year since the early 1990s. This year it’s called “The City of Death.” Really, it’s just a play. Instead of the actors coming to you on a stage, you go to them. Call me stupid, but I’d rather take a group of teens to this than to a secular haunted house.
I sitll find it hard to believe that you all above spend so much time on a holiday of no spiritual consequence, regardless of its past. It is a time for trick or treating and collecting a bagful of candy. The costumes are simply costumes,. The masks are just masks. Thekids are just kids. The notion that this is Satanic is what used to be called a hoot. A bunch of kids knocking t a door while Mum and Dad wait in the car, a ton of tiny Snickers bars being passed out, and Satan is being worshipped? Is he really THAT into chocolate? Surely you all have more important things to do? LM
Ross,
Why, thank you very much. 😀 It was my third idea, actually. Hubby didn’t like the idea of a pregnant nun or going as a beauty pageant contestant with a sash that reads “Miss Conception”. The jar of Prego sauce is the most kid friendly, I guess 😉
[i]while Mum and Dad wait in the car[/i]
My neighborhood is filled with tons of (mostly) hispanic kids on halloween. It’s very touching how the older kids take charge of younger siblings. I always make them take some candy, although they generally don’t want to take it, thinking they are too old.
Larry,
Thank you! Very well said.
Larry quips:
[i]a ton of tiny Snickers bars being passed out, and Satan is being worshipped? Is he really THAT into chocolate? [/i]
The Celtic Christian rock group [url=http://www.ceilirain.com/weblog/index.php]Ceili Rain[/url] (Described as “BEATLES AND THE CHIEFTAINS HAVE A PARTY FOR GOD”) have a new album out, and one of the songs is called: If God was chocolate.
a [url=http://www.christianmusic.com/review85.htm]review[/url] states:
IF GOD WAS CHOCOLATE – Peppy and lively clever anthem with a full sound, filled with a lot of breezy, smooth inner musical voices coming together to support Halligan’s delightful visions of what it would be like: “If God was chocolate; everyone loves chocolate / Everyone would want Him, want Him all the time / You can almost taste it; every godly visit, a party for the spirit, body, soul and mind / If God was chocolate – chocolate”
hee hee.
My Sweet Lord 1
My Sweet Lord 2
Now that is wrong. And weird. And — did I say ‘wrong’?
either that or the ‘artist’ took the Ceili Rain song too seriously. 🙁