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https://www.828ministries.com/articles/Christian-Halloween-Strawm-by-Anthony-Wade-Christianity_Faith-181024-344.html

October 24, 2018

Christian Halloween Strawmen Arguments and Whataboutisms

By Anthony Wade

Dispelling more carnal arguments for why Christians should participate in Halloween...

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You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. - 1 Corinthians 10:21 ESV

Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. - Ephesians 5:11 ESV

Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God. - 3 John 1:11 ESV

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. -- Romans 12:2 (ESV)

https://www.charismamag.com/life/men/38956-is-halloween-ok-for-the-christian-family

As Halloween 2018 is a week away we see more Christian operatives coming out of the woodwork to defend the indefensible. We must understand that this is explainable as a phenomenon. The apostate church is so compromised with the world already through the purpose driven industrial complex and the seeker friendly theories of church growth. Instead of being the shining city on a hill the modern church as loving cast her gaze upon Sodom as Lot's wife once did. The church is far more concerned with being relevant to a decaying culture than being biblical with it. So is it any wonder that when the most evil day the world has to offer comes around the church lines up to jump in. The above linked article is from a pastor named Brad Mathias, who is the co-founder of something called the "Brilliantly Brave Parenting Podcast." Why am I having my doubts about the name of that podcast as we once again reason together:

"I've had many discussions, friendly debates and concerns as I've raised three kids through the Halloween season for over 25 years. It's taboo in some corners of the evangelical world and totally acceptable in others. Some families are incredibly strict and others very permissive, but what's the "best" option for your family this Halloween?" -- Brad Mathias

This foundational flaw in thinking is what goes wrong with every pro-Halloween Christian argument. That foundational flaw is that there are choices. That there are options and we must determine which is the best option for our families. Allow me to proffer the notion that there are no options beloved. God has made it abundantly clear as He has nearly everything else through His Holy Word. The key verses are just a sampling of that clarity. We cannot drink from the Lord's cup and the cup of demons. Instead of partaking of the unfruitful works of darkness we should be exposing them. We should be imitating good, not evil. Make no mistake about it, Halloween is evil. I think we can get distracted to jump down bunny trails of lesser arguments than the very clear and simple truth -- Halloween is evil.

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

So we come to the typical strawman argument when discussing Halloween. No one is suggesting a removal from secular society. I think if you are home, it would be good to have your kids pass out candy to the visitors to your house. Maybe give them a tract or at least a "Jesus loves you." You can reward your children with their own candy later. This however is a moment to teach them that you simply do not believe as the rest of the world believes. When they have off for Jewish holidays from school we have no problem simply saying we do not celebrate those holidays but suddenly Halloween becomes this great problem because we don't want to tell them no.

As for the community strawman argument, I ask why wait until Halloween to pretend to care about your community? Have a church community event the month prior. Or even the week prior. Heck, you can do one every single month if you want. Just when the satanic high holy day rolls around, it is time to not participate. When you choose to essentially ignore your community until it comes time for Halloween, I think you are more interested in Halloween than your community. I love how Mathias defines believing in the bible to not partake in evil as being "on the edges." How sad this is how low the church has sunk to.

"Here's where I've landed: If you allow your 6-year-old to dress up as Peter Pan and grab Twix bars from the neighbor's house while screaming gleefully to the next house to score some sour, gummy, corn syrup goo, it's truly a matter of context and perspective. I don't believe it's a make-or-break spiritual decision as a parent." -- Brad Mathias

Strawman argument number two on display. By pretending this is being portrayed as a "make or break" issue, Mathias sets himself up to downplay the significance. Now, can this be a serious decision for a parent? Absolutely. You see the six year old that you dressed up as Peter Pan will one day be 16 and what did you teach him about Halloween? That it is all somehow acceptable. When your adorable six year old princess decides at 16 to dress as a vampire just remember that you taught her that. The context and perspective cannot be clearer. On October 31st of every year it is ritual in this country to celebrate Halloween. The roots of Halloween are evil and through this day it is practiced as evil. It is the High Holy Day in Satan worship and no Christian should want to play any part in it, let alone expose our children to the spiritual nature of what goes on.

"I'm not nearly as concerned about the sugar rush and pagan holiday as I am for those who allow our kids to consume an average of nine hours of media per day without batting an eye. If that's true, it suggests the values of our faith are under a subtler attack than the dangers of Halloween, and the risks of trick-or-treating have become a truly moot point." -- Brad Mathias

So we come to the second whataboutism argument offered up -- what about all the other bad things we allow! If you want to have a discussion of parenting and media, I am all in. Of course it has NOTHING to do with Halloween. I believe we can walk and chew gum at the same time. We can discuss the evils of letting machines raise your kids and have a separate discussion about the evils of Halloween. I think we are advanced enough to accomplish this. Mercifully, this scary article concludes with a few sound bite arguments:

"If celebrating Halloween creates the space in your life to interact with and enjoy one another's company as a family, to draw closer together with each other and your neighbor, then I'm having a hard time finding reasons to "not" do that.

For me, I believe if you start down this road of cultural avoidance, it ends badly for the Christian family in the end. Personally,

I believe that non-essential issues like this should settle into a moderated position of recognizing and respecting both ends of the debate and landing somewhere firmly in the middle of it.

Each of us as parents will have to give an accounting to God for our actions, take these concerns to Him and ask the Holy Spirit to guide your decision this fall. -- Brad Matthias

If you need the devils holiday to draw near to your family and neighbors then you are not trying hard enough. Just because you can create a perceived positive outcome it does not make the choice correct or righteous. Remember that everything is permissible but not everything is beneficial. The truth is that Brad Mathias wanted to be able to say that Christians can celebrate Halloween and I assume because he always had with his children. So he splattered some strawmen arguments along with playing whataboutism games to try and downplay the significance of the conversation.

It is not a matter of cultural avoidance beloved. No one is suggesting shuttering your doors and huddling up until daybreak. This is about not participating in evil, pure and simple. You are not redeeming the day, taking it back somehow, or waging war against the enemy. Just have the guts to admit that you do not want to tell your children no. We are supposed to be a peculiar people beloved. We are supposed to be set apart.

His third closing argument is especially well disguised. He spent the majority of this article trying to make a moral equivalency between celebrating Halloween and not celebrating Halloween. He did so to set up this argument. That when you have two opinions it is always safe to split the bill and land somewhere in the middle. The poor assumption baked in here is that both sides of this conversation have merit when they do not. There is not one biblical reason why people should celebrate Halloween. I gave you four points against in the key verses off the top of my head alone. Perhaps the most frightening statement Mathias has made is in saying this is a "non-essential" issue. Partaking of evil is always a serious issue with God beloved; always.

His closing argument is simply a cop-out. I am all for prayer and asking for guidance but the bible is our primary source and it is crystal clear. The only reason why you would pray here is that you do not like the answer the bible has given you. Beloved, I know this is not easy when it comes to parenting. Sometimes however we have to be the adult. Sometimes we have to be the parent. You want to outreach your community? You have over 300 other days to choose from. The same goes for any argument you can come up with. Harvest parties, trunk or treats, or any other faux substitute is still partaking of Halloween. Brad Mathias' bio says he co-founded the "Brilliantly Brave Parenting Podcast" but there is nothing neither brilliant nor brave about lining up with the devil and pretending it is just as reasonable as avoiding it.

Reverend Anthony Wade -- October 24, 2018



Authors Bio:
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 His purpose.

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