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Christian Halloween Strawmen Arguments and Whataboutisms

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You can pretend it is not beloved but you are only deceiving yourself. Yes there may be a childlike innocence to it when your kids are in first grade but what we teach them then is foundational for when they are making decisions in high school and beyond. If you treat Halloween like the world does then you will raise children who feel the same. Make no mistake about it. This is what the fourth key verse today warns against -- becoming conformed to the way this world thinks. If you think that Halloween is the perfect, good and acceptable will of God then I am afraid your mind has not been renewed. You are still thinking as the world does. How can I make this fit into my beliefs? How can I minimize the evilness? How can I leverage other more acceptable holidays to play whataboutism games? No matter what, when you strip away the excuses you are left with the high holy day of Satanism and Christians dabbling in it. Please, do not try the "that isn't what it means to me" subterfuge. We do not get to make that call.

"It's clear that within the faith community, Halloween has two polarizing factions, two distinct viewpoints on the issue of Christians celebrating this obviously pagan holiday for themselves. Like Republicans and Democrats both claiming to love Christ, these two groups rarely agree on anything or anyone anyway. Halloween is just an example of the ongoing dichotomy in the body of Christ. Rifts of opinion that began with the Pharisees and Sadducees are still happening in our day, and we know how much Jesus resented those guys, so let's keep things in some perspective as we process the options on the table:

1. Halloween is a holiday to be avoided due to its dark influences and pagan origins. No trick-or-treating, it's a satanic celebration that the church and Christians should avoid at all costs.

2. Halloween is OK. After all, it's no different than Christmas or Easter in that they too have pagan origins in their history but are observed by most Christians for the redeemed value and purpose intertwined within those holidays. Trick-or-treating is allowed and permissible provided you educate your kids on what you as a family believe." -- Brad Mathias

Right off the bat we see the primary bunny trail people like to chase down and that is the pagan origin of Halloween. I have argued such angles in the past but the more I read the bible the less I need that argument. Evil is evil regardless of where something came from. I do not need nor care about the pagan roots argument. Yes it is true that Halloween comes from purely pagan roots but so does everything else in this country. The larger problem for using this argument is it leads directly to the primary whataboutism argument, as Mathias displays here.

Hey, but what about Christmas and Easter!

Well we weren't talking about them but what about them? I agree that all three are part of Americana but one of these is not like the other beloved. One of these three is worshipped by people who worship the devil. I may personally feel nauseated by the notion of hunting for colored eggs on the day my Savior overcame the grave but there is simply no comparison to Halloween, which has nothing redeemable about it. I do not think the church should be in the business of promoting any of these three by the way, but personally, Halloween is one that Christians as a whole should simply abstain from. The argument made here is quite frankly, silly. The Pharisees and Sadducees did not offer a different opinion beloved. They represented false teaching! Those who sided with them were not merely differing with us -- they were wrong with God! The difference could not be starker. One of these groups of people claimed to love God but refused to do as He commanded! The other obeyed. Mathias continues:

"I respect both positions on this and recognize that many families have chosen to avoid or skip Halloween out of concern for the position of point No. 1. I'm not providing this article to push one agenda over another, only to inform and educate everyone on the subject at hand. I've read the histories, listened to the arguments from significant leaders on both sides of this, and know of those who push for the complete separation of the church and the secular society. Contrasted passionately are those who insist that God would want us to be engaged with and interactive in our communities in these annual festivities, giving every opportunity to grow relationships and even share one's faith in the process. Both sides have definite issues that make sense, each with their own reasons to bolster their positions, but neither has gained the clarity of conviction to convince me to join them on the edges." -- Brad Mathias

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Credentialed Minister of the Gospel for the Assemblies of God. Owner and founder of 828 ministries. Vice President for Goodwill Industries. Always remember that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to (more...)
 
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