Doug Van Pelt

The Real EVIL of Halloween

Attention-getting headline, huh? I bet if you googled that phrase you could find lots of online articles about the evils of Halloween. When my wife and I first had children, I was prepared to train our family that we were a "peculiar people" that, like the Israelites in their BC days, did not participate in many of the cultural traditions of those around them. Lots of words have been written about the origins of the holiday of Halloween. One of the main points in this regard goes something like this: "The church in Rome took many of the pagan festivals and 'Christianized' them, changing the focus from the goddess Isis, for example, to the resurrection of Jesus; but Halloween is the only pagan festival that was not converted into a Christian holiday. It was left for the pagans. The evil was not redeemed." Some folks, of course, take the extreme and don't celebrate any holidays, noting their not-so-godly origins. Much of the anti-Halloween writing I've read insinuates that Christians participating in (or even not protesting the existence of) Halloween are condoning evil and letting it perpetuate, which is tantamount to participating in evil. This one is hard for me to buy. Even if trick or treating had quite sinister origins, re-enacting that tradition today surely does not empower demons or elevate Satan. How could it? So, without much wrestling (as in the opposition's argument was so weak), we've taken our kids trick or treating and had them dress up in silly costumes on Halloween each year.

The only argument or point that would seriously get my attention in this matter would be if it dishonored God. This is a consideration that might be vastly underrated and under-appreciated. Honoring God, though, is pretty important. If trick or treating was dishonoring Him, that would get my attention.

Silly observations:
I'm working from home today, which means the better part of four days for our three cats (they're not kittens anymore) to stay shut up in the office's laundry room. Instead of leaving them there from Thursday afternoon to Monday morning, I've taken them home with me to hang out in our backyard. Our dog, Biscuit, loves having cats around that will play with him. It's funny to watch them crouch down in the grass and wait for the fetching dog to come trotting by with a ball in his mouth, as they POUNCE on him and chase him. Our older cats that live here in the backyard (Mary and Martha) don't give Biscuit the time of day. He is enjoying this. The cats (Tiger, Spot, and Marvin) are very curious about Mary. Martha is holed up in her cathouse, not venturing out at all. Mary patiently sits in her bed or in our kids' playhouse, while one or all three of these cats surround her, sitting as close by as possible without getting swatted by their elder. It's funny to watch.

I am really enjoying the Texas Longhorns' football season. They are ranked #1 and, while that ranking doesn't mean as much now as it would after the last game, it's a great place to be. A lot of friends and I scratched our heads at the beginning of this season, not knowing how good the team would be. But their play has certainly earned them the top reputation in the nation. Their game tomorrow night in Lubbock, Texas will be a good one. While my Dallas Cowboys have taken a slide into poor play, it was exciting at the beginning of the year to hear about them in the media a lot and get lots of respect from analysts. Injuries have hurt them a lot, but they certainly have a chance to finish strong. My hope is that their defense turns it up and becomes a crazed, unstoppable force that dominates games and forces turnovers. Eli Manning, for instance, probably can't throw too accurately if he's on his back.

Congratulations to the city of Philadephia. You won the World Series with your Phillies. Now, take that joy and celebrate it. Just fold up your pro football team and appreciate the championship your baseball team brought you. I wish it was that easy to make the dreaded Eagles give up.

My wife is appearing in court today as the star witness in a custody case/hearing. That doesn't happen every day.

Posted by Doug Van Pelt at October 31, 2008 09:41 AM