Halloween... do you participate in it?

[snoozer]

My wife is 100% against halloween, long story short, her mother is a religious wacko and instilled in the that halloween is evil. My wife doesn't buy into much of what her mother says, but she does believe halloween is more about death and evil spirits

I would say I am a pretty average religious person, parents are actively involved with church, went to catholic school my whole life, attend occasionally nowawdays. I look at halloween more of an social event rather than from a religious aspect

This has never been an issue, my wife always worked on halloween, so other people could have it off to take their kids out. We now have a 9 month old son and this discussion came up this weekend. I want to dress him up, but she doesn't want him to participate in the day at all.

She is really against it, I want him to participate, but the only reason I want him to participate is because socially, I think it will be better for him. I can already see the problems he will have to deal with (school outing, being teased by other kids, not being able to participate in community events).

I have tried to compromise the best way I thought. I said we should dress him up, but we can stay away from the ghosts, goblins, witchcraft, etc... stick to things (since he is little) like elmo, tiger, sports player. This way, he can participate in the events, but we also stay away from the religious aspects. As he gets older and understands things, we can explain to him both sides of the 'holiday' and let him make his own choice.

I am curious to see if anyone is in the same spot as me, and if so, how you handle it.

 

[Penguinfan]

My wife is also a religious "wacko" and our kids, now 6 and 7 have never participated in Halloween. I don't think it is horrible if your kids do, but realize what it stands for and what your wife believes.

Especially at 9 months old this should be an easy one to give in on if I were you.

Our kids don't miss it at all, they stay home from school on Halloween party day and we do other things with them when it's trick or treat time in the neighnorhood.

 

[Franky Wright]

My little guy is three, and he loves Halloween. When he was nine mos. he was a tiger also. I still have the picture of him and I in my office, love that one, and so does he as he makes a big deal of it whenever he sees it . The candy thing I am always concerned about, with all the wacko's out there:com: , so I check it all over pretty well. I think your idea of No witch/evil stuff should be fine to suffice your wife.
But let these kids have some fun for **** sake:shrug: There is too much PC crap going on that doesn't let kids be kids anymore...........
Just my two cents.

Franky

P.S. If your in BTJ neighborhood, I would pass:scared

 

[DBLMUTZ]

snoozer for me the last paragraph says it all,Also today the way to go for me would be a party at home,If you have older kids you can forget this Idea you'll see:142smilie their out and having fun,So you'll hope,9 Months,9years,This day is for the kids,Though we know what some of the freaks might be doing,Shouldnt spoil your day,As he gets older what do you plan on telling him,Are you guys gonna hide in the dark with the porch light out:mj07: Get out the pressure washer,In :com: coming eggs,GL in ur choice


Halloween is an annual celebration, but just what is it actually a celebration of? And how did this peculiar custom originate? Is it, as some claim, a kind of demon worship? Or is it just a harmless vestige of some ancient pagan ritual?

The word itself, "Halloween," actually has its origins in the Catholic Church. It comes from a contracted corruption of All Hallows Eve. November 1, "All Hollows Day" (or "All Saints Day"), is a Catholic day of observance in honor of saints. But, in the 5th century BC, in Celtic Ireland, summer officially ended on October 31. The holiday was called Samhain (sow-en), the Celtic New year.

One story says that, on that day, the disembodied spirits of all those who had died throughout the preceding year would come back in search of living bodies to possess for the next year. It was believed to be their only hope for the afterlife. The Celts believed all laws of space and time were suspended during this time, allowing the spirit world to intermingle with the living.

Naturally, the still-living did not want to be possessed. So on the night of October 31, villagers would extinguish the fires in their homes, to make them cold and undesirable. They would then dress up in all manner of ghoulish costumes and noisily paraded around the neighborhood, being as destructive as possible in order to frighten away spirits looking for bodies to possess.

Probably a better explanation of why the Celts extinguished their fires was not to discourage spirit possession, but so that all the Celtic tribes could relight their fires from a common source, the Druidic fire that was kept burning in the Middle of Ireland, at Usinach.

Some accounts tell of how the Celts would burn someone at the stake who was thought to have already been possessed, as sort of a lesson to the spirits. Other accounts of Celtic history debunk these stories as myth.

The Romans adopted the Celtic practices as their own. But in the first century AD, Samhain was assimilated into celebrations of some of the other Roman traditions that took place in October, such as their day to honor Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. The symbol of Pomona is the apple, which might explain the origin of our modern tradition of bobbing for apples on Halloween.

The thrust of the practices also changed over time to become more ritualized. As belief in spirit possession waned, the practice of dressing up like hobgoblins, ghosts, and witches took on a more ceremonial role.

The custom of Halloween was brought to America in the 1840's by Irish immigrants fleeing their country's potato famine. At that time, the favorite pranks in New England included tipping over outhouses and unhinging fence gates.

The custom of trick-or-treating is thought to have originated not with the Irish Celts, but with a ninth-century European custom called souling. On November 2, All Souls Day, early Christians would walk from village to village begging for "soul cakes," made out of square pieces of bread with currants. The more soul cakes the beggars would receive, the more prayers they would promise to say on behalf of the dead relatives of the donors. At the time, it was believed that the dead remained in limbo for a time after death, and that prayer, even by strangers, could expedite a soul's passage to heaven.

The Jack-o-lantern custom probably comes from Irish folklore. As the tale is told, a man named Jack, who was notorious as a drunkard and trickster, tricked Satan into climbing a tree. Jack then carved an image of a cross in the tree's trunk, trapping the devil up the tree. Jack made a deal with the devil that, if he would never tempt him again, he would promise to let him down the tree.

According to the folk tale, after Jack died, he was denied entrance to Heaven because of his evil ways, but he was also denied access to Hell because he had tricked the devil. Instead, the devil gave him a single ember to light his way through the frigid darkness. The ember was placed inside a hollowed-out turnip to keep it glowing longer.

The Irish used turnips as their "Jack's lanterns" originally. But when the immigrants came to America, they found that pumpkins were far more plentiful than turnips. So the Jack-O-Lantern in America was a hollowed-out pumpkin, lit with an ember.

So, although some cults may have adopted Halloween as their favorite "holiday," the day itself did not grow out of evil practices. It grew out of the rituals of Celts celebrating a new year, and out of Medieval prayer rituals of Europeans. And today, even many churches have Halloween parties or pumpkin carving events for the kids. After all, the day itself is only as evil as one cares to make it.

 

[snoozer]

penguinfan... I agree that since he is young, it may not be worth the fight, but that sets the precedence that he is not going to participate at all.

dblmutz... it is odd, my wife agrees that halloween was not really started as 'satan' holiday, but more of a different type of religious celebration (by the celts). What she says is that is has grown into a 'witchcraft' type holiday and even though that is not the intent of the day, that is how it is viewed in today's society.

The argument I am using is that if she wants to be a 'good christian' so should not hide from the day, she should use it as a learning tool. If she explains to our son the history and the really meaning behind the day, he may go tell other people.. and so on. If she explains to him that in todays society halloween is for evil people and we don't participate, this will only fuel the fire. By pretending the holiday doesn't exist, she is not doing anything to help change the perception

 

[dawgball]

At my Catholic School growing up, we participated in Halloween, but we were in no way allowed to associate ghosts, witches, etc. in our "artwork".

Halloween doesn't excite me much, but I think it is important to actively participate with your kids. It's just an excuse for me to dress up with my son and go out. My son is only 2 1/2, so he is done after about 5 houses. The allure of the candy waiting to be eaten is too strong. This also keeps us from worrying about strangers and him eating too much candy.

Last year, we were Curious George, and the man in the yellow hat (my favorite books when I was little). The movie coming out kind of ruined its originality.

This year, he is a Germ Cop (my wife is a little bit of a germaphobe), and I am going to be his chain gang.

A couple of the other dads and I in the negihborhood have discussed dressing up as the Wiggles. One of the guys here is a DEAD-ON ringer for Murray Wiggle. (btw, I would be Athony).

Did this thread just take a detour?

 

[3 Seconds]

I am with your wife. I hate Halloween.

 

[The Sponge]

Maybe u need to get your wives out of church instead of the kids out of Halloween. I think religion has caused a lot more harm in this world then Halloween has.

 

[SixFive]

my mom used to bribe us with candy if we wouldn't go trick or treating, but she didn't prevent us from going if we wanted to. I remember handing out candy to others, and when I got to be a teenager, I always went and took my little brother. We were never allowed to dress as a devil, monster, ghost, etc. Nothing evil like dawgball mentioned.

I take my kids now, and other than them not being tough, I enjoy it. By being not tough, when my brother and I would go, we would run through the neighborhoods, go home and drop off the loot, then hit the streets again. My kids get a little hot or tired, then it's, "Daddy, are we almost done?" :shrug:

BTW, I always hate to see the same year babies in the strollers or on their mom's hip with their trick or treat bag I mean, it's not like they are going to eat that candy. They're usually dressed like a pumpkin and crying. Don't see how that's fair to them, and you know they'll never remember going.

 

[snoozer]

yeah, if you can't say 'trick or treat' you don't get candy.

 

[2muchchalk]

Maybe u need to get your wives out of church instead of the kids out of Halloween. I think religion has caused a lot more harm in this world then Halloween has.

agree

 

[bjfinste]

I've honestly never, ever even heard of there being religious reasons not to have fun on Halloween (or even restrictions on what to dress up as from a relgiious prespective), nor has it ever been presented to me as anything other than a fun holiday about dressing up in costumes and getting candy.

How common is this? I went to church and Sunday school regularly until I was 17, and don't ever recall that being brought up.

 

[1%er]

Maybe u need to get your wives out of church instead of the kids out of Halloween. I think religion has caused a lot more harm in this world then Halloween has.

agree

Forget that just get your wife into one of these and play your own version of Trick or Treat!!