Some Seasonal Thoughts

In general I didn't use to have a great deal of difficulty with Halloween - at least not the way it was celebrated as I was growing up (ah the bliss of the ignorance and innocence of youth). I had no real clue that it had anything to do with the occult and it was all about dressing up as a hobo or clown or princess and getting candy. As I grew older it was about hanging out with my friends and pulling a few pranks.

Even as I had kids of my own we would welcome our neighbours to our door on All Hallows Eve and chat a while. We found it was a great way to connect with the people on our street. But what has happened more and more in the past few years is the rise of very violent Halloween themes (slasher, axe murderer style) and very occult/witchcraft/demonic elements. The costumes have begun to reflect those themes and frankly at the time, they scared the snot out of my toddlers. We stopped letting them answer the door.

The glorification of the blood and gore motifs, the "undead" style masks and the overt occult elements (spells, hauntings, curses, witchcraft) is what I find wrong with current Halloween celebrations, movies and TV programs. Halloween has become very politically correct in the schools in my area. The Christianity that makes sense of it all and is an antidote to the evil of the world, is not. That's the really scary thing about this season.

Addendum: For example, this morning my wife saw a frightfully inappropriate decoration at a house in our neighbourhood. It was the figure of what looked like a 10 or 11 year boy hanging from the basketball net on the driveway by a noose around its neck. Yes it was a dummy but it was dressed in children's clothing and it was deeply disturbing. What kind of message does that send to the children coming to their house for Halloween? What does it say to the children who live in that house? Please be praying for the children of the land!!!