A couple of Sunday’s ago during the youth service at my church, an interesting discussion took place about Halloween. The discussion centered around what role, if any, Christians should have in the celebration. I am not going to give the answer the youth minister gave, because I want to see what other people think on the subject. Halloween has become, in America, one of the big four holidays next to Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Easter. It is commercially lucrative, educationally encouraged and socially accepted by many Americans, including individuals that identify themselves as Christian. Parents let kids go “trick or treating” and dress up as devils and witches…and any other character that the child chooses. Schools have costume days, employers have competitions centered around it and many churches do not preach against it. Should Christians celebrate Halloween? Is it just fun, or does it go against the fundamental teachings of Christianity?

To truly asses an answer, you must understand the origins of Halloween. I wanted to get information from a non-biased source, meaning that I did not want to use sources from those in favor of or against Halloween. For these reasons, I gathered my historical background information from History.com, the on-line extension of the History Channel. The holiday’s origin is routed in the Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in). Samhain was celebrated in the Celtic areas now known as Ireland, the United Kingdom, and northern France. They celebrated their new year on November 1 and the day marked the end of summer and the harvest. They had a belief that the night before this new year, October 31, the boundaries between the world of the living and the dead was not existent. Samhain, or October 31, was basically considered a day when they believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. The Celts felt the “otherworldly spirits” made it easier for the Celtic priests, or Druids to make predictions about the future.

To commemorate the event, the Druids built huge bonfires where people would gather to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic pagan deities. During this celebration, they wore costumes which typically included animal heads and skins. In addition, they attempted to tell each other’s fortunes during this time. In the 800s, Christianity had spread to this territory. In efforts to change the Celtic holiday related to the dead with a church sanctioned event, according to some sources, it is believed that Pope Boniface IV designated November 1 as “All Saints’ Day.” It was designed to honor saints and martyrs. This celebration was also called All-hallows or All hallowmas (this word originated from Middle English Alholowmesse meaning All Saints’ Day). Samhain began to be known as “All Hallows Eve”, basically the night before All Saints’ Day. All-hallows Eve eventually morphed into Halloween.

Now with its origins routed in Pagan worship, occult rituals, sacrifices, and fortune telling; is Halloween simply a “fun” holiday or a representation of something bigger? An estimated 36.1 million 5 to 13 year-olds across the United States engage in “trick or treating.” This means that their parents are either allowing or condoning them participating in the holiday. Why is this important? According to the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, 76.5 million Americans identify themselves as Christians (approximately 52% protestant and 24.5% catholic). The majority of Americans identify themselves as Christian, yet a holiday routed in pagan tradition is widely celebrated in this country.

Proponents of Halloween say that it is “just fun for the children?” Opponents of the holiday say that it is routed in pagan traditions and children should not be identified with it. Should Christians celebrate Halloween? Should churches offer alternatives to Halloween if they do preach against celebrating it? Why aren’t more churches taking a position on Halloween? Personally, because of my Christian beliefs, I do not celebrate Halloween. I do however support programs that provide children with a positive alternative on that night so they do not feel “left out.” I also believe that adults have an ability to distinguish between events that support the tradition of Halloween and events that are simply trying to provide children with entertainment. I’ve gone to events on Halloween that I felt were good community festivals, such as the Khema Boardwalk’s “Boo on the boardwalk.”

Where is the balance for Christians? Many of the youth at our church felt that they should have a right to participate in Halloween festivities like all other youth. Although we were not allowed to celebrate Halloween as children in my family, it became a fun family night for us. My mother taught us from the beginning the origins of the holiday. As an alternative to celebrating Halloween, we made candy apples, popcorn balls, played games and enjoyed family time. Is it the responsibility of Christian families to offer an alternative if they are not going to let their children participate in the holiday? Are the youth at my church right as long as there is balance, or are they wrong because of the history of the holiday? Does a holiday routed in pagan worship, secular rituals, and ghosts and witches have a place in Christianity? Should Christians celebrate Halloween?