Is Halloween A Satanic Holiday?

 

One of my personal favorite television shows of all time is Mike Judge's animated sitcom King of the Hill, which aired on the FOX network from 1997 to 2009. During its near thirteen year run on TV, I can't say that there was ever a bad episode in my opinion but perhaps one of my favorites is a Halloween installment from one of the earlier seasons. During this episode, the main character, Hank Hill, battles against an over the top ultra-conservative Christian by the name of Junie Harper. Harper's main objective is to convince the townspeople that Halloween is an evil, satanic holiday for devil worshipers and witches. Hank, on the other hand, is doing everything in his power to redeem the holiday and defend its innocence. Inevitably, Hank wins over his son Bobby and the episode ends with a warm father-son moment as they march off into the night to go get candy. 

The King of the Hill episode Hilloween first aired on FOX on October 26, 1997

Hilloween, as the episode is appropriately titled, is full of both funny and heartwarming moments; but while it's certainly a fun and entertaining show to watch, it also illustrates a very real debate that happens every year amongst Christians. Each year in October, as the jack-o-lanterns start to rear their ugly heads, Christians from all different denominations, backgrounds and viewpoints come out of the woodwork to share their opinions on Halloween. You've got one camp of Christians who will say that a Christian should completely abstain from the holiday and never have anything to do with it, while another camp on the opposite end of the spectrum will suggest that there's nothing wrong with it and it's all just good fun. 

As I typically do on issues like this, I find myself somewhere in the middle. I can't exactly get on board with the "no Halloween ever" crowd but I also can't get on board with the loose idea of let's just do whatever we want. I like nuance and I like to be analytical; and frankly I think that's so important for us to do as Christians, lest we find ourselves on the radical end of one of these debates. Now, don't get me wrong, I believe there's certainly a time and a place for us to be radical as Christians. Following Jesus is countercultural and so there will always be times when taking a radical stance on something is warranted by scripture and the will of God. Sometimes, though, it seems that we want to be radical just for the sake of being radical, rather than for the sake of God's Word; and that's quite unfortunate. 

The Origins of Halloween

One of the arguments you'll hear from the "never Halloween" crowd is the origins argument. Many Christians will argue that Halloween is rooted in pagan tradition and that alone should be enough to make Christians stay away from it. Now, to be fair, some will push back by saying that the holiday is actually rooted in a lot of Christian tradition. To be honest, people will be going back and forth on this argument like a game of Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots until the day Jesus comes back; but I don't think this is necessarily the debate we should be having. Why? Because it doesn't really matter in my opinion. 

Now, before you start praying for my soul because I don't believe the origins of Halloween matter, just hear me out. There are plenty of traditions we practice in our culture today that are widely accepted, even by Christians, without question. Many of these traditions were rooted in paganism, yet Christians are not suggesting that we abolish them or abstain from them. Take wedding rings for example. Did you know that placing your wedding ring particularly on the "ring finger" is a pagan tradition? I don't think you'll hear many Christians suggesting that you're dabbling in the demonic by putting your wedding ring on your ring finger. The same goes for the days of the week. The names we use for the days of the week are based on pagan gods; yet you never hear a Christian saying that we're practicing another religion by saying the words Sunday and Friday. 

I think we can all agree that there are plenty of practices that could potentially be rooted in something bad, but that can still be redeemed. Just because a practice or tradition is rooted in paganism doesn't mean that we're necessarily worshiping a pagan god by practicing it today. Motives, intentions and the heart behind things can change over time, to the point where something can become completely innocent and harmless. So why can't we look at Halloween in this same light? Personally, I don't care as much about what they were doing centuries ago and why they were doing it. I care more about what we're doing today and why we're doing it. When it comes to judging Halloween from a biblical and moral standpoint, I want to say "what are we doing today, what's the heart behind it and does it oppose anything in scripture?" If we set our preconceived notions aside and do that, I think we can come to some rational conclusions about this controversial holiday. 

Trick-Or-Treating

So if we're going to analyze Halloween based on the here and now as opposed to age old tradition, we have to look at what's being practiced today. What are some of the things you think of when you think of Halloween in a modern cultural context? Personally, one of the first things that comes to my mind is trick-or-treating. When I think of Halloween, I think of the memories of being a kid, dressing up in a costume and going around to different houses, schools and churches to get candy. Honestly, a huge part of Halloween today is about the kids and about trick-or-treating. So what do we think about that? When we think of what's happening when we're taking our kids trick-or-treating, can we honestly say that anything evil or demonic or immoral is happening here? 

Laying the costume discussion aside for now, (we'll get to that in a moment) let's just say for the sake of discussion that your son is dressed up like Captain America or Batman and your daughter is dressed up like Wonder Woman or a Disney princess. They dress up in these costumes and they go around getting Kit-Kats and Reese's Cups - because we all know those are the two superior candies. Personally, I can't think of a single passage of scripture that I could use in its proper context to suggest that there's anything wrong with this. It's wholesome, it's fun, it allows kids to make memories with their friends and family and it doesn't go against anything God says in his Word. 

Costumes

I already know what some of you are thinking. "But wait! What if they're dressing up like witches and demons and zombies??" This is where I would urge us as Christians to use wisdom and discernment. Wisdom, in particular, is something that is highly regarded in scripture. God sees wisdom as being extremely important and we should too. In 1 Kings Chapter 3, the Lord comes to Solomon in a dream and tells him to essentially ask for anything he wants. Solomon asks for wisdom and the Lord is thrilled with this. Solomon could have asked for anything! He could have asked for worldly treasures, wealth or a number of other things. Instead, he asked for something noble like wisdom. God was delighted to grant this request for Solomon, and he's happy to do the same for us today. James 1:5 ESV says: 

"If any of you lacks wisdom let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him."

If we ask for wisdom, God will give us wisdom. And if we use that wisdom, it will go a long way in the Halloween costume issue. Is it wise for me, as a Christian, to dress my child up like the devil? Is it wise for me, as a Christian to dress my child up as a witch or as something that glorifies the dead, glorifies the demonic, or glorifies witchcraft and sorcery? Again, we're not even asking the question "is it sinful?" We're simply asking, "is it wise?" If we seek wisdom and actually use it, that makes God very happy. Proverbs 3:13-15 ESV says this: 

"Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding, for the gain from her is better than gain from silver and her profit better than gold. She is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her." 

Now, something else we have to look at when it comes to the costume debate is the adult costumes. We've pretty much stuck to the kids thus far, but adult costume parties have become very popular as well. Again, let's use wisdom when it comes to picking out a costume. Is it wise for a Christian to dress up like something demonic or with the appearance of evil? I'd suggest using the same discernment here as we do with the kids' costumes. But there's another, perhaps touchier, area we get into when we're discussing the adult costumes, and that's the sexual side of things. 

Let's be honest. Adult Halloween costumes have become very sexualized. You've got the sexy cat outfits, the sexy maid outfits, the sexy this that and the other thing. Frankly, I think there's probably a "sexy" version of just about every costume out there now. And for some reason, people tend to use Halloween as an excuse to dress provocatively. For many, it's the one night of the year when they can dress down and show some things off without being 'judged.' As Christians, however, we have to take the issue of sexual immorality very seriously. The bible talks about sexual immorality in a way that it doesn't talk about any other sin. We are supposed to FLEE from sexual immorality. 1 Corinthians 6:18 says: 

"Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body."

Sexual immorality is something that God takes very seriously and it's something that we, as Christians who want to honor God and his Word, should take very seriously as well. We also have to remember that sexual immorality is so much more than just having sex outside of the confines of marriage. It can encompass a number of things, including dressing in a provocative manner which draws attention to our bodies and causes others to stumble. 

Partying

There's another area that we have to discuss when it comes to Halloween and that's the partying. Just going to a party or a get together is obviously not something we have to avoid as Christians. Churches have gatherings all the time where people get together, play games and just have a good time. There's nothing wrong with this. But we all know that the term "partying" in our modern cultural context tends to have a little different meaning. When people say they're going out partying, it often means some questionable substances will be consumed. This is something that, as Christians, we can not be a part of.

When it comes to getting drunk and getting high, the bible is very clear. We are not to take part in it at all. There are no exceptions, no ifs ands or buts; it's very clear. We are not to be doing that sort of things as Christians. So we can't use Halloween, or any other holiday for that matter, as an excuse to do something we wouldn't normally do. 1 Peter 5:8 tells us to be sober minded. It doesn't say to be sober minded most of the time, to be sober minded on every day of the year except Halloween, to be sober minded except on holiday or to be sober minded but it's okay to get wasted every now and then. The bible simply says that, as Christians, we are to be sober minded. All the time. 

When it comes to alcohol in particular, the bible is very clear and there are tons of verses we could reference which warn of the dangers of getting drunk. Ephesians 5:18 ESV says this: 

"And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit."

Again, there's no excuse for someone who claims to be a follower of Christ to be involved with things the bible explicitly speaks against, just because it's a certain day of the year or because everyone else in our friend group is doing it. Scripture is very clear on these matters and we can't ignore what the Word of God says out of convenience for our flesh.

The Darker Side

There's one more area that I'd like to get into with regards to Halloween and it's probably the most important; the darker side of the holiday. While we can be reasonable and say that not everything we do on Halloween is inherently bad or evil, we would be foolish to ignore the fact that there are some very real evil and demonic practices that take place on this holiday. Halloween is often used an excuse to get involved in witchcraft, ghost hunting, contacting the dead and other things the bible clearly warns against. Many would say that a Ouija board is just a game or that tarot cards and fortune tellers are just for fun. This is not true and it's especially unwise for us as Christians to take this stance. Ephesians 6:12 ESV tells us about the very real spiritual battle we're fighting every day:

"For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places."

The spiritual world is very real. Often, as Christians, we want to embrace the positive aspects of the spiritual world. We love to talk about the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. We love to talk about Jesus and his miracles. We love to talk about the supernatural power of God. But we often want to ignore the bad side. We often don't want to talk about the devil, demons and forces of evil. Unfortunately, however, these things are just as real as the good things. God is very real but so is the devil. And we would be foolish to think that being involved in dark arts, witchcraft and calling up the dead is harmless fun. It's not and the bible clearly says so. Look at what God warned the Israelites about in Deuteronomy 18:9-12 ESV:

"When you come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord. And because of these abominations the Lord your god is driving them out before you." 

Conclusion 

So what's the conclusion? Is Halloween something we should be involved in as Christians? Should we participate or should we just abstain from the holiday altogether? Well, personally I can't say that we have a biblical or moral basis to abstain from the entire holiday. I don't see anything wrong with taking your kids trick-or-treating, going to a fall festival where you're bobbing for apples and carving pumpkins, or even going to a costume party as an adult. Obviously, we should use wisdom and discernment and seek the Lord in everything that we do, whether it's on October 31st or any other day of the year; and there are certain things that we should clearly not be a part of, according to scripture. When it comes to the gray areas though, I say "you do you." 

The bible tells us that if something is not done in faith, it's sin for us. So if you have a question or a conviction in your spirit about taking your kids trick-or-treating or going to a fall festival, then by all means avoid it. But let's also remember Romans Chapter 14. In this passage of scripture, the apostle Paul is dealing with some division amongst Christians regarding the Sabbath and eating certain meats. Paul basically says, 'look, we're not under the law anymore so do what you want. But don't force your convictions on others if you've got them and if you don't have them, don't be a jerk or a stumbling block to your brother in Christ.' Grace, understanding and wisdom all go a long way; and I think that if we use those things and, most importantly, God's Word, as our guide when it comes to Halloween or anything else in life, we'll be just fine.