Thoughts on Helloween?

[Jenny A]

What are your thoughts on celebrating Halloween

Two generations ago is was a fun children's holiday and is now mostly masquerade holiday for adults.

( or the devil's birthday as folks at my church call it.)?

The folks at your church have the historical awareness of tree squirrels.   The holiday, like every other Christian holiday (think Easter eggs, bunny rabbits, Christmas trees, yule logs, etc.) has always been mixed with pagan celebrations.  

The name Halloween means the eve of All Hollows (Saints) Day.  All Saints Day, which not only the protestants, but also the Catholics appear to have forgotten was created because the Catholics had created so many days for saint this and saint that the needed to consolidate the holidays if anyone was ever going to get anything done. Christians in the middle ages traditional had feasts prior to large Christian holidays such as Christmas and Easter and the eve of All Hallows Days was no different in this regard. In particular may countries celebrated Halloween with prayers and vigils for the dead to aid them in their journey through purgatory.  Many places this celebration included people dressed in black robes tolling bells for the dead. Naturally, that was not a tradition that fitted with protestantism very well since most protestants don't believe in purgatory.  Souls journeying to heaven were redefined as evil spirits and the purpose of the procession became to bless things against ghosts, haints, spooks and various boggy men.   Christian and pagan superstitious fears fueled the idea that the night before All Saints Day would be a particularly advantageous time for ghosts, witches and the like. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloweenhttp://www.loc.gov/folklife/halloween.html

I am reminded of an old version of the Lutheran literagy which goes like this:

"From goolies, and ghosties,
And long-leggity beasties
And things that go bump in the night,
Oh lord deliver us."   (Try saying it out-loud, it's fun, if silly)

In North American the practice of playing tricks on people at Holloween eventually became mostly the more benign practice of trick-or-treating.  Since various media scares about poisoned Halloween candy (an urban legand)  the holiday has become less a children's dress-up and candy day and more an adult party day.

Isn't it sort of dangerous for children to be celebrating it?

No, not even sort of.  

It just seems like sort of a useless holiday IMO. It promotes gluttony and being a burden upon other people ( walking up like a homeless begger to people's homes demanding candy?! Really?)

How about community, and hospitality?   I like meeting my neighbors and their children at the door, thank you very much.

If that wasn't bad enough the holiday also encourages "tricks" such as tee-peeing peoples homes, lighting bags of dog shit on people steps and egging houses.

We dpon't see too much of that where we live.  Do your neighbors mess up your house?

It also encourages youngsters to dress up like demons and viscious monsters. Why would anyone encourage that?

Because it's fun.  Though you do realize that most of them dress as movie characters, and other things, right?

If you look at the history though, it makes sense that Halloween is such an awful holiday. Of all the main American holidays (Christmas, Valentines day, Christmas, Easter) Halloween is the only one with no Christian basis. BTW Thanksgiving does have a Christian basis, because it involved Christians giving thanks to the lord for the food they received from the natives.

Helloween on the other hand is purely a pagan holiday from before Jesus. It was invented by dumb savages who mostly spoke in babble rather than an intelligent language. It involved worshipping demons and shaking down people for treats. Samhain I believe it was called.
It really shows what a difference Christianity makes right?

See above description of the origins of Halloween, a pagan tradition kept alive by Christians in the form of All Hallow's Eve. And you do realize that as currently celebrated, it has nothing to do with devil worship right?

Finally, I'd look up the origins of St. Valentine's Day before you claim it for Christianity. http://www.history.com/topics/valentines...ntines-dayhttp://www.npr.org/2011/02/14/133693152/...ntines-day