Is Halloween A Celebration of Evil?
Jack O Lantern
The other day while I was compiling a list of Halloween activities in Edmond, I recalled the time I was in the middle of the debate about letting children observe this annual holiday.
There are strong opinions about the origin and celebration of Halloween and whether it left children susceptible to evil.
One side saw Halloween as an innocent time where children dressed in costumes and canvassed the neighborhoods for candy. At the same time, they saw Halloween as a time for scaring each other with ghostly tales and horror movies.
On the other side of the coin, some see the origin and commemoration of Halloween as a secular festival steeped in spiritual wickedness. Allowing children to participate in Halloween is akin to letting them “play on the devil’s turf.”
The city of Edmond offers wholesome, family-friendly events in October such as Storybook Forest and Fall Family Festival. At the same time Edmond churches and organizations put on fall parties and celebrations with some of the trimmings of Halloween but without the emphasis on the gory details.
Both sides of the issue can produce mounds of evidence to back up their belief about Halloween.
So what is your opinion? Is allowing children to participate in Halloween activities bad for the soul or is it merely good-natured fun?
