Why I Hate Halloween!

Five Reasons Why I Hate Halloween and Zombies

I will probably get into trouble with this post because some of you out there are ardent Halloween fans.

I know you think of it as a fun holiday, cute decorations and fun activities for the kiddos. I know if done right, it is a harmless family fun activity with lots of pumpkins, candy, parties, caramel apples and dressing up in cool costumes. Why, even our beloved Charlie Brown characters go to the pumpkin patch to await the arrival of the Great Pumpkin! Yet is there something else here we’re not seeing? Let’s take a closer look.

    This is why I HATE Halloween:

    1. Scratch the surface and do a little research and you will find that the origins of Halloween are rooted in the occult.

  It is Satan’s holiday, his night of nights to fill the world with his demons and cause havoc, fear    and trouble.

Take the origin of the Jack O’ Lantern.

People have been making jack-o’-lanterns at Halloween for centuries. The practice originated from an Irish myth about a man nicknamed “Stingy Jack.” According to the story, Stingy Jack invited the Devil to have a drink with him. True to his name, Stingy Jack didn’t want to pay for his drink, so he convinced the Devil to turn himself into a coin that Jack could use to buy their drinks.

Once the Devil did so, Jack decided to keep the money and put it into his pocket next to a silver cross, which prevented the Devil from changing back into his original form. Jack eventually freed the Devil, under the condition that he would not bother Jack for one year and that, should Jack die, he would not claim his soul. The next year, Jack again tricked the Devil into climbing into a tree to pick a piece of fruit. While he was up in the tree, Jack carved a sign of the cross into the tree’s bark so that the Devil could not come down until the Devil promised Jack not to bother him for ten more years.

 

Soon after, Jack died. As the legend goes, God would not allow such an unsavory figure into heaven. The Devil, upset by the trick Jack had played on him and keeping his word not to claim his soul, would not allow Jack into hell. He sent Jack off into the dark night with only a burning coal to light his way. Jack put the coal into a carved-out turnip and has been roaming the Earth with ever since. The Irish began to refer to this ghostly figure as “Jack of the Lantern,” and then, simply “Jack O’Lantern.”

 You might think this is a cute legend of the Irish.

Yet is this something we want to celebrate and teach our children?  How many false doctrines can you find in the above story? The Bible says in the last days there will be many “doctrines of demons” that people will believe. As a Christian, we have to be very careful what we practice, and more importantly, what we teach our children.

2. Demons and evil spirits are real. We are told to “resist the devil” in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and claim His shed blood on the Cross to cover our lives.

 

In working with the native people in Canada, Dan and I came face to face with the awful,  destructive power and hatred of the evil spirits at work in our world today. From that time to this,  we have tried to purge our lives of anything that hinted of the occult, including Halloween  decorations and celebrations.

 

Let’s take a look at the origin of Halloween.

The name “Halloween” comes from the All Saints Day celebration of the early Christian church, a day set aside for the solemn remembrance of the martyrs. All Hallows Eve, the evening before All Saints Day, began the time of remembrance. “All Hallows Eve” was eventually contracted to “Hallow-e’en,” which became “Halloween.”

The Celtic people of Europe and Britain were pagan Druids whose major celebrations were marked by the seasons. At the end of the year in northern Europe, people made preparations to ensure winter survival by harvesting the crops and culling the herds, slaughtering animals that wouldn’t make it. Life slowed down as winter brought darkness, fallow ground, and death.

The imagery of death, symbolized by skeletons, skulls, and the color black, remains prominent in today’s Halloween celebrations.

The pagan Samhain festival celebrated the final harvest for three days—October 31 to November 2. The Celts believed the curtain dividing the living and the dead lifted during Samhain to allow the spirits of the dead to walk among the living—ghosts haunting the earth. Some embraced the season of haunting by engaging in occult practices such as divination and communication with the dead.

People back then believed the spirits of their ancestors were earthbound until they received a proper sendoff with treats—possessions, wealth, food, and drink.

Spirits who were not suitably “treated” would “trick” those who had neglected them. The fear of haunting only multiplied if that spirit had been offended during its natural lifetime. And so, in time, young people would dress up in costumes (assumed in the beginning to ward off the evil spirits) and go house to house, demanding treats. If they were not given what they wanted, they would pull a mean prank on the householder.

Can we find anything good or redeeming in this holiday from the above description? I don’t think so.

3. We are told in the Scriptures to resist the devil, to fight against the devil, and to stand our ground when he attacks.

There is nowhere in Scripture where we are told to join with the evil practices of a fallen world system, which includes the celebration of evil embodied in Halloween. “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking  someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith.” I Pet. 5:8-9

     4. Children are greatly influenced during this time by the evil that is  rampant.

     School teachers tell of the misbehavior of the children in their classrooms the day after  Halloween. This may, indeed, be due to a high sugar intake into their diet. Yet I believe it  is  in part due to the fact that parents have allowed their children to be open to evil spirits  and  these spirits have then invaded their lives.

 Children are especially receptive to the spiritual realities in our world.

We must teach them the truth without fear and tell them about the reality of evil in our world. Teach them to resist the devil with you. This may be one of the best lessons you impart to your children.

5. We are told in Scripture to be holy and separate from sin and evil in the world around us. We must live in the world, but not be a part of the world.

There are many evil, demonic doctrines (teachings), practices, and things in our world that we must shun. One of these is the rising interest and fascination with the evil, fictional characters of zombies.

I have seen stickers on cars and signs around town warning about the coming Zombie Apocalypse.

They say there is an army of zombies coming and we should organize to defeat them. The idea for zombies originated in the Haitian religion of voodoo. In this religion, it is thought that through the working of witchcraft and the powers of the priests and priestesses, a person can be raised to life after they have died. Yet the life they live is sub-human. It is a brainless, half-dead state, soulless and without a will or conscience, the slaves of the voodoo priests and priestesses who have brought that person to “life.”

 The craze about zombies begins and ends with the occult.

Like vampires, they are evil and will kill and maim others to destroy life. We are told that these non-human monsters are going to form armies at the will of their masters and will take over our cities and our country. To repel such an army, many people are arming themselves.

We now have a whole sub-culture of people in the United States who take this very seriously, and we have people who making a lot of money on this craze.

We have zombie games, rock star singing groups, movies and costumes. Children will be wearing zombie outfits for Halloween this year. They are taught that zombies are cute and funny and that there is something attractive about a dead person who walks around with blood on its face, oozing out its insides, which has no brain, no moral will, and no conscience.

Why would anyone want to believe in such things? They are evil fictional creatures, given over to killing without compunctions. This doctrine of zombies is one of darkness, fear, and death. It comes straight from the pit of hell, and it is a doctrine of demons.

This is so far from anything in the Bible that I hardly know where to begin to refute it. We are taught in the Bible that once a person dies, their soul is separated from their body and goes straight to either heaven or hell. Forever. There are no second chances, no recalls, no one in a half-dead, half-alive state. The body is dead and buried and cannot be brought back to life. Only God can resurrect life, which was demonstrated when He raised Christ from the dead.

  Christ was raised to a life that was more vibrantly alive with a perfect body, mind and soul than when He    died.

This is our hope as Christians. We are taught in the Bible that when we die, our spirit goes to    heaven, and  one day our body will be resurrected. Our new bodies will be without sin, without pain, without  death or  dying. We will have a body that is free from all the limitations of our earthly bodies – we will be  more alive in  our minds, souls and bodies that we were when we died.

Yet there ARE the walking dead among us!

  Who are these people? The Apostle Paul writes in Ephesians 3:1,2: “And you were dead in your trespasses  and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the  power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.”

Before a person comes to believe in Christ for the forgiveness of their sins, he is DEAD to God, DEAD in sin, DEAD and separated from eternal life. People without Christ are walking dead. They look alive – they talk, laugh, eat, walk, work and socialize. Yet inside they are dead.

Unlike zombies, they have a choice.

They can choose to stay in their dead condition, or they can choose to find forgiveness of their sins from Jesus Christ who died on the cross to save them. Unlike zombies, they are accountable to God for their choice. And unlike zombies, they must live forever with the choice they make in this world, and once they die, they have lost the chance to choose God.

 I don’t know about you, but I would rather believe in a risen, vibrant, all-powerful Lord, the Lord Jesus  Christ, than in zombies.

I would rather dwell in the land of the living where there is life, love, joy and  heaven in my future than to think about dead things and horrors beyond imagination. I would rather  give my life to serve Jesus, even if it means persecution because of my faith, than worship a dead god  who can only lead me to darkness, pain, and death.

Jesus frees us from sin. He conquered death and He is coming again! This is the message I want to  convey to a world given over to sin and death. In my generation, in my time, to the people in my world.

This Halloween, I will answer the door to children who come and give them a treat, but I’m also going to be praying for the salvation of those who are caught in a world of fear, darkness and death.

 Christ Jesus gives LIFE! He gives HOPE! He gives PEACE!

“That in the ages to come, He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” Eph. 3:7

Are you going to join me in my prayers?

 Write and let me know what you think about this article.