Larry Cotrell Posted October 3, 2016 Report Share Posted October 3, 2016 First of all, the title was sarcastic to emphasize the point. I was wondering what you all think of celebrating Halloween. Growing up, my parents never let me trick-or-treat. They said that Halloween was rooted in paganism and we shouldn't celebrate it. Because of this, I've never been fond of Halloween. I don't think any less of those who do celebrate it by any means, but I've always chosen not to celebrate it. Here's an article on the roots of Jack-O-Lanterns, Trick-or-Treating and more: http://www1.cbn.com/the-pagan-roots-of-halloween I was curious how many people out there celebrate it and how many choose not to. What do you all think? NeuroTypical 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
estradling75 Posted October 3, 2016 Report Share Posted October 3, 2016 Titus 1:15 Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled. unixknight, NeuroTypical, Backroads and 3 others 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MormonGator Posted October 3, 2016 Report Share Posted October 3, 2016 4 minutes ago, estradling75 said: Titus 1:15 Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled. One of my favorites bro. One of my favorites. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iggy Posted October 3, 2016 Report Share Posted October 3, 2016 As a child growing up in a non-LDS home, halloween was a day to dress up, have chili, cornbread and lettuce wedges for dinner, then go around two blocks up, one block over and two blocks down knocking on doors and getting treats. My favorites were the cookies, rice krispies squares and chocolate bars. Then we finished the evening at one of the neighbors playing games, bobbing for apples, making popcorn balls, candied apples and racing to see who could peel an orange the fastest with out destroying the orange. Then when I was in Jr & Sr High, halloween was at the LDS church. We wore costumes that were theme related. The one where I won was the Germs theme. I was Mononucleosis. Later my nieces and nephews went to church to gather treats out in the parking lots of their Stake buildings. Trunk & Treat. What fun to witness that. Then inside there were booths for them to play at. I have always thought that halloween was a night to celebrate the harvest, that is how it was taught to me. That is how it came across in my teens at church. Sunday21 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 3, 2016 Report Share Posted October 3, 2016 (edited) If evil can hijack good symbols for evil purposes, then why can't we hijack evil symbols and just have some fun? And the way the Celts celebrated it wasn't all that evil anyway. They were just misguided. The way we celebrate it today is based on the Christianization (which some scholars say was the real origin anyway) of the holiday which has been the tradition for many hundreds of years. Edited October 3, 2016 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeuroTypical Posted October 3, 2016 Report Share Posted October 3, 2016 (edited) Mormons span the range of responses. I was visiting a ward family near the end of October - they lived in an apartment. They had a big banner going down the length of the door, explaining that they didn't celebrate Halloween, and don't knock on their door, and here are a bunch of scriptures about why Halloween is evil, and why people who participate in it are in danger of eternal hellfire. My current ward has always had a Halloween chili cookoff/trunk-or-treat. A new Bishop put a stop to the process one year, but it came back next year after a mob of good righteous mommies and other saints threatened to burn the church down if he tried that jargle again. For me and my house, well, I spent one October working at the Institute of Terror, working as the evil wizard in the maze. I was dating the poor whitefaced maze victim girl. Ended up marrying her. One of our mods basically spends the whole year posting about how Halloween is cool, and only 275 days away, etc. Edited October 3, 2016 by NeuroTypical Sunday21 and dahlia 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Cotrell Posted October 3, 2016 Author Report Share Posted October 3, 2016 34 minutes ago, NeuroTypical said: My current ward has always had a Halloween chili cookoff/trunk-or-treat. A new Bishop put a stop to the process one year, but it came back next year after a mob of good righteous mommies and other saints threatened to burn the church down if he tried that jargle again. I would be up for a chili cook off any time of the year. I might put on black slacks, a white button-down shirt, and a tie to sneak into your ward disguised as a Mormon. ...Then I would get there, be overdressed, and stick out like a sore thumb. I guess I'll just stay home and enjoy some canned chili from Costco. unixknight, zil, Sunday21 and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unixknight Posted October 3, 2016 Report Share Posted October 3, 2016 I think for most people, we're aware of the Pagan origins but Halloween has become a pretty secular, cultural event. Sure, some pagans out there probably still view it as part of their religion but that doesn't mean I have to. I mean, heck... Christmas coincides with the Pagan Yule festival and Easter is right around their Spring stuff. (Not by coincidence) There's plenty of room to share NeuroTypical and Sunday21 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerome1232 Posted October 4, 2016 Report Share Posted October 4, 2016 Most wards have a trunk or treat activity where we do fun themes in the trunks or backs of our cars and have the kids trick or treat to the cars. My family doesn't get huge into it but we do dress up and go trick or treating around our neighborhood. It's a ton of fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ironhold Posted October 4, 2016 Report Share Posted October 4, 2016 I have to work on Halloween this year, so it's a moot point for me this time around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mirkwood Posted October 4, 2016 Report Share Posted October 4, 2016 ...and then there is mirkwood.... NeuroTypical, Backroads and classylady 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 4, 2016 Report Share Posted October 4, 2016 (edited) 7 hours ago, mirkwood said: ...and then there is mirkwood.... Yes... there's that... Speaking of which... It's October. So... --EDIT-- Nevermind. I just caught the other thread. Edited October 4, 2016 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeuroTypical Posted October 4, 2016 Report Share Posted October 4, 2016 14 hours ago, Larry Cotrell said: I would be up for a chili cook off any time of the year. I might put on black slacks, a white button-down shirt, and a tie to sneak into your ward disguised as a Mormon. ...Then I would get there, be overdressed, and stick out like a sore thumb. I guess I'll just stay home and enjoy some canned chili from Costco. Larry, if you're ever in Colorado for Halloween, you are absolutely welcome to come to our chili cookoff. You can even wear a button that says "follower of Joe Smith and his gold bible", and I'll vouch for you as my uncle Brother Eldeess. (Get it? Eldeess? El Dee Ess? LDS?) The people who appreciate it the most, can hear the real story. Everyone else will just have to guess. Remember, just on Halloween. zil 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Cotrell Posted October 4, 2016 Author Report Share Posted October 4, 2016 1 hour ago, NeuroTypical said: Larry, if you're ever in Colorado for Halloween, you are absolutely welcome to come to our chili cookoff. You can even wear a button that says "follower of Joe Smith and his gold bible", and I'll vouch for you as my uncle Brother Eldeess. (Get it? Eldeess? El Dee Ess? LDS?) The people who appreciate it the most, can hear the real story. Everyone else will just have to guess. Remember, just on Halloween. Thanks, I'll remember that if I'm ever in Colorado for Halloween. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anatess2 Posted October 4, 2016 Report Share Posted October 4, 2016 (edited) 18 hours ago, Larry Cotrell said: First of all, the title was sarcastic to emphasize the point. I was wondering what you all think of celebrating Halloween. Growing up, my parents never let me trick-or-treat. They said that Halloween was rooted in paganism and we shouldn't celebrate it. Because of this, I've never been fond of Halloween. I don't think any less of those who do celebrate it by any means, but I've always chosen not to celebrate it. Here's an article on the roots of Jack-O-Lanterns, Trick-or-Treating and more: http://www1.cbn.com/the-pagan-roots-of-halloween I was curious how many people out there celebrate it and how many choose not to. What do you all think? Like many other Christian Holy Days, certain days were chosen to replace pagan/cultural festivals/celebrations of the day by the early Christian Church. So that, when the Apostles convert a pagan area to Christianity and that pagan people used to hold a week-long feast of the winter solstice, the Christian converts use the opportunity to celebrate a Christian event instead (such as the birth of Christ) instead of the winter solstice. Pagans and Jews also have common festivals for the same time to make use of the combined opportunities of a feast for multi-cultured people. There is completely nothing wrong with using an existing pagan festival to celebrate a Christian event instead for the converts. Refusing to celebrate Christmas because it once was a pagan feast of the winter solstice denies the transformative power of conversion. Halloween in Christendom, though, is not one of these. November 1 was set apart by Pope Gregory (I think) as the feast of all the saints moving it from the last day of Passover in May where it used to be. This was done to spread the Christian Holy Days throughout the liturgical calendar. November 1 was chosen because of the Roman connection to the feast of the departed in October 31 which is also chosen by the Romans with the influence from the Celts as mentioned in your link. Although, Pope Gregory never said such, I think the connection of the Saints having died first may have influenced the Pope's choice of feast day. November 2, feast of all souls, was added to celebrate all the Christian souls who have passed regardless of whether they attained sainthood. So that, on November 1 and 2, the Catholic tradition has been to visit the graves of the dead to celebrate the 2 feasts. Graveyards, of course, tend to invite ghost stories and the like... The pagan terminology of Hallows and such got merged with the Christian feasts mainly for the commercialization and secularization of such traditions. My family has our own cemetery. So, these feasts are as lively and spirited as Christmas except we're shooting fireworks off my grandpa and grandma's mausoleum rooftops and we leave a plate of food on the tombs for our dear departed to symbolically eat. We usually pop our tents and sleep at the graveyard on both days where some adult never fail to try to scare the little kids... jerk. Hah hah. So, as a Christian, you can join with the Christian feasts of All Saints and All Soul's Day as you don your Dracula costume or you can just go don your Dracula costume to finagle candy out of the neighbors. It's up to you. Or you can choose not to celebrate it at all. But to use "rooted in paganism" as a reason is... like I said before... rejecting the power of conversion. I'm still trying to convince my husband to get my Harley Quinn's boots... Edited October 4, 2016 by anatess2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Backroads Posted October 4, 2016 Report Share Posted October 4, 2016 Halloween is the greatest of all holidays. unixknight and mirkwood 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mirkwood Posted October 5, 2016 Report Share Posted October 5, 2016 5 hours ago, Backroads said: Halloween is the greatest of all holidays. Backroads 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ironhold Posted October 5, 2016 Report Share Posted October 5, 2016 If you have a good ad-block program, here's the link to a response I did to a popular anti-Halloween tract. Hard to believe how long ago I did it, too. (If people don't have ad-blockers going, let me know and I'll just post the transcript. The site's bad for click-jacking, but "free" is all I can afford for hosting right now.) http://ironhold.deviantart.com/art/Response-to-Chick-3-67673538 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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