COMMENTARY: When did Halloween become politically-incorrect for Christians?

c. 1997 Religion News Service (Dale Hanson Bourke is publisher of Religion News Service and has been known to pilfer candy from her children’s trick-or-treat bags.) UNDATED _ A goofy-looking ghost banner flies over our porch. Some silly pumpkins grin from our front windows. There’s nothing scary or sinister about our Halloween decorations. Still, I […]

c. 1997 Religion News Service

(Dale Hanson Bourke is publisher of Religion News Service and has been known to pilfer candy from her children’s trick-or-treat bags.)

UNDATED _ A goofy-looking ghost banner flies over our porch. Some silly pumpkins grin from our front windows. There’s nothing scary or sinister about our Halloween decorations. Still, I think maybe I should take them down before the church group convenes at our home later this week.


Halloween, it seems, has become politically-incorrect in some church circles.

I’m not exactly sure when it all happened or where the lines are drawn. But I have noticed some folks at our church are pushing a party that does not include costumes and has a harvest festival theme. And my local Christian bookstore prominently displays a book in the window entitled,”Halloween _ A Satanic Celebration.” Maybe I’m missing something, but I’ve always thought of pumpkin day as a fun time for kids and another excuse to eat too much candy. Perhaps my chocoholism has blinded me to some deeper terror.

I’m not the only one confused by this seemingly sudden demonization, so to speak, of Halloween.

My friend Gail is participating in an alternative celebration at her church where the children dress up as biblical characters.”Lots of sheets and sandals,”she explains to me when I try to figure out how one constructs such costumes.”Ghosts and witches are more fun,”she adds wistfully.

Debbie, another friend, is defiantly sending her children forth to gather candy and wear whatever they want.”Isn’t this getting a little ridiculous?”she asks rhetorically.”We’re not supposed to decorate with Santa or the Easter bunny because that’s `unChristian’. I think my kids should have a little fun and the adults should stop reading too much in to it.” I confess our family is divided. My teenage son is a little old for trick-or-treating, so plans to attend a church party.

My younger son wants to wear”something really gross”and get”bags and bags”of candy. I can’t blame him. I had the same goals when I was 10.

Even though my conservative parents kept us from movies and dances, I never noticed any tendency to hold back on Halloween. Gory, scary and hideous were the desired effects of our costumes. And the worst we ever imagined about the holiday was the pain of scrubbing off all the makeup so we could go to school the next day.

Yes, I know there are people who call themselves witches and practice satanic rituals. And I am astounded by news accounts of teenagers who seem so easily drawn into cults. But I have a hard time understanding what the fantasy we call Halloween has to do with such horrors.


I don’t really think my children can be enticed into satanism by dressing up like skeletons. I am concerned, however, that Christians can seem like a humorless bunch of nay-sayers who are intent on spoiling everyone’s fun.

A post office in suburban Cincinnati had to remove a witch decoration after they received a complaint that it was a”religious symbol”and presumably offended someone. I assume this is in retaliation for the times nativities have been forbidden in public places because they represent a sacred theme.

But the fact is, Halloween is not a religious holiday in this country. It has been claimed by decoration companies and costume manufacturers as a day when kids dress up like action figures and houses are adorned in orange.

No one pays homage to satanism as part of the public celebration, and I understand those who identify themselves as real-life witches are mostly offended by the pointed-hatted, wart-ridden characters we associate with October 31.

So if you want to leave your lights off and go undecorated, I support your right to boycott Halloween. But an all out attack on the holiday seems to me to be a misguided attempt to add spiritual meaning to a truly secular _ and mostly harmless _ holiday.

DEA END BOURKE

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