Christians have different perspectives on whether to celebrate Halloween. Between children trick or treating for candy and people dressing up as ghosts, monsters and skeletons, the question is raised whether Halloween promotes good or evil.
“I don’t have anything against it,” said Amber Moore, a junior. “But I don’t enjoy it either. So I don’t celebrate.”
Though Moore confesses that she is not a big holiday person, Aliya Kuykendall, a freshman social advocacy major, believes that she can’t celebrate Halloween in a positive way because it promotes darkness and fear.
“The most important thing is to redeem the holiday,” Kuykendall said. “God is good and pure. Anything you do for God is redeeming.”
Tim Smith, who graduated from JBU in 2005 with a psychology degree, also believes that Christians should not celebrate Halloween because it is not as innocent as it looks.
“[Halloween] has real pagan roots or demonic roots,” said Smith. “There are real evil spirits here on earth. I don’t think we should participate.”
Tonight kids accompanied by their parents will go from door to door, collecting candy from anyone who gives it out.
Other children, however, will attend a Fall Festival. Sponsored by a church or other organization, the Fall Festival presents parents with an alternative way to trick or treating by providing games and hay rides.
“Halloween desensitizes children to dark and evil things,” Kuykendall said. “To make Halloween look like it is fun and innocent is wrong.”
Lindsay Dodson, however, believes that celebrating Halloween has given her the best memories from her childhood. She also said that because Halloween invokes joy, nothing is wrong with Christians celebrating the holiday.
“Halloween took something of fear and darkness and made it fun,” Dodson said. “We should be sensitive to evil but not fearful or shaking in our boots because of it.”
Walking down the aisles of Walmart, customers see decorations of ghosts, vampires and monstrous creatures. Some companies change their candy wrapper designs to orange and black and even plaster grotesque figures on them.
As culture promotes Halloween, Christians still debate whether to participate.
“We have Christ; there is nothing to be afraid of,” Dodson said. “As Christians, we have nothing to fear.”
Kuykendall said Christians redeem pagan holidays by making sure it is all about Jesus.
“The way the world celebrates it is not glorifying to God,” said Kuykendall. “My family gives out comic book tracks that spread God’s love and message with candy.”
Though people exchange opinions on whether to celebrate Halloween, Dodson, Kuykendall and Smith agree that what makes Halloween attractive is that people like to have fun and have a good time.