SERIOUS THINKERS REASON: Is Halloween as innocent as is commonly thought? Why I Don’t Celebrate Halloween! (Dont forget to read related scriptures below) Neighbors are busy preparing for Halloween—in some countries, a popular annual holiday with strong spiritistic overtones. Witches and ghosts, pumpkins and bonfires, trick or treat. The outward trappings of Halloween are easy to identify. But what lies behind this celebrations? The newspaper USA Today, quoting a professed witch: Christians dont realize it, but theyre celebrating our holiday with us... We like it. The Bible warns against the practice of spiritism. (Deuteronomy 18:10-12) While it is true that the vast majority of those who celebrate Halloween would claim to spurn Satanic practices, we should, nevertheless, be aware that historically this holiday has close connections with the occult. (Deuteronomy 18:10-12) There should not be found in you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, anyone who employs divination, a practicer of magic or anyone who looks for omens or a sorcerer, 11 or one who binds others with a spell or anyone who consults a spirit medium or a professional foreteller of events or anyone who inquires of the dead. 12 For everybody doing these things is something detestable to Jehovah, and on account of these detestable things Jehovah your God is driving them away from before you. (Look up for your selves) Thus, it can serve as a door leading to spiritism, especially for impressionable youths. Pagan rites and traditions tainted by spiritism simply have no place in Christian worship; they are far from harmless. As I look outside my window, I see that all my neighbors’ lawns are decorated with tombstones and skeletons and that jack-o’-lanterns light their windows. Parents are making adjustments to their children’s costumes; children are dreaming about how much candy they’ll get tomorrow. In the ancient world, it was believed that on the festival of Samhain, the veil between the human and the supernatural worlds was parted and spirits, both good and evil, roamed the earth. The souls of the dead were thought to return to their homes, and families would put out food and drink for their ghostly visitors in hopes of appeasing them and warding off misfortune. Today when children dressed as ghosts or witches go from house to house demanding a Halloween treat or threatening a mischievous trick, they unwittingly perpetuate the ancient rituals of Samhain. My family is different. Our lawn isn’t decorated, and our windows aren’t lit up. People ask me why I don’t celebrate Halloween. Basically, Jehovah’s Witnesses don’t celebrate it because of its origins. I find the principles offensive that the devil, wicked spirits, and witches represent, and I don’t want to be associated with them. It’s good to think about the choices we make and our reasons for making them and to make choices based on principle rather than on what is popular. Halloween time makes me think about the reason I choose not to do certain things. Each person has to answer for himself whether the origins of a custom matter. I think that the origins do matter. I am proud to be different and to stand by what I believe in.
Posted on: Tue, 29 Oct 2013 12:22:06 +0000
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