It’s that time of year. Halloween is just a few weeks away. Children will be dressing up in costumes and going door to door in excitement. Candy will be handed out, taken home and sorted through by their parents. Along with this holiday, the yearly debates have already started. Christians are quick to criticize Christian parents who allow their children to participate in this yearly jaunt. They are quick to point out the pagan origins of this holiday. And they are correct. Halloween’s origins are pagan and can be traced back to pagan gods. The Christians that speak out against Halloween quickly point out that to participate in the rituals of Halloween is giving the wrong message to young children.
These same Christians will shortly be out buying a Christmas tree, putting up lights, decorating their homes in Christmas decorations. The trappings that come with Christmas is borrowed from paganism. There is nothing in the Christmas trappings that originated from the bible. In fact, Jesus never celebrated His birthday. His parents did not celebrate His birthday. Jews did not celebrate birthdays. Birthday celebrations was an activity that was celebrated by the pagans who worshipped false gods. Christians who are putting up a tree, decorating their homes will point out that they are focused on Christ and His birth. I agree. They are not honoring the false gods from which these Christmas rituals originate.
Easter is another holiday that Christians celebrate. Easter is the celebration of the resurrection of Christ. The word that we use for this holiday is borrowed from the pagan fertility god. The Easter eggs and bunnies are borrowed from this former fertility pagan celebration. Yet, Christians are not honoring a pagan god. They are celebrating Christ’s resurrection.
Am I suggesting that Christians refrain from celebrating Christmas and Easter? No, I am not. What I am suggesting is that as much as Christian parents are not intending to send a wrong message when they help their young children paint Easter eggs or putting up Christmas trees, neither are the parents who send their children out to have fun collecting candy while dressing up in costumes.
Across the internet, the yearly fights have begun and as it is every year, Halloween is the “kick-off.” These same people who are arguing against Halloween and the reasons to avoid Halloween will, in a couple of months, be shopping for the perfect Christmas tree (pagan origin), wreath (pagan origin) and decorating their homes in Christmas trappings. These same Christians that rebuke others for participating in Halloween will be using a pagan god’s name (Ishtar or Easter in English) to name the day set aside to celebrate Christ’s resurrection while many will be sending their children out on Easter egg hunts.
I am making one point. Before anyone condemns another for Halloween because of the pagan origins, make sure that your own celebrations have no pagan origins. It is the epitome of hypocrisy to rebuke a Christian about sending their children out to gather candy on October 31st while planning how to decorate your pagan Christmas tree, wondering if you will need a new pagan wreath to put on your door. There is a legal principle called the doctrine of clean hands. This means that if one wishes to ask a court for relief or action one must be in a position that is free of the same conduct that they seek relief from. A thief who whose property was stolen cannot seek the court’s assistance in recovering the property he stole in the first place. In other words, first clean your own house before cleaning up someone else’s house.
If we want speak against Halloween and the families that allow their children to go out in costumes gathering candy, let’s make sure we have clean hands and have removed all pagan trappings from our holidays. We lose all rights to speak against paganism if we retain it in our own lives.
Christians are not honoring false gods, they are following tradition. Some celebrate the holidays, some do not. Some celebrate the holidays but do not incorporate the traditions associated with the holidays. It is up to each person to work out their own salvation with fear and trembling.
You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. Matthew 7:5 (ESV)
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8 comments
doug
October 9, 2009 at 9:53 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Couldn’t be said any plainer than that!
tishrei
October 9, 2009 at 10:27 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Thanks Dagiolio.
wolfshowl
October 9, 2009 at 9:57 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Yes a thousand times this. It is so hypocritical for Christians to condemn Halloween and simultaneously whine about saving Christmas. Either consider them cultural events and participate or condemn them all and don’t.
tishrei
October 9, 2009 at 10:26 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment
I am of the mindset “clean up your own house before cleaning up someone else’s house.”
I’m not suggesting that anyone refrain from these holidays. That is up to each individual Christian to work out. I am only responsible for working out my own salvation.
Thanks for stopping by.
Jennifer Cable
October 13, 2009 at 10:23 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Wonderfully stated. But, I still have a problem with the Christmas thing. If it is deemed a pagan holiday, then it should not be celebrated at all. My question is, how can we celebrate a birthday for God? Isn’t He eternal? We rejoice at His birth, death and resurrection, but did God give us the month or date to celebrate in the first place? No, and I am glad He didn’t, I believe we would be more pagan than ever, the month and the date would certainly be an object of idol worship more so than today’s practiced idolatry.
tishrei
October 13, 2009 at 12:08 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Hi Jennifer, I am not so sure that it is deemed a pagan holiday, well for sure it is not by anyone that celebrates it. Even though I do not celebrate Christmas as a born again Christian, I do not deem it a pagan holiday simply because born again Christians are celebrating the birth of their Savior. What I see as pagan is the rituals that were adopted directly from pagan practices. No easter egg hunts in this household
Even so, if a Christian is uncomfortable with it, they should not celebrate it. We are each personally responsible to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. What others do is their walk, not ours. No one answers to me, they answer to the Lord. If someone takes exception with me for not celebrating Christmas, that is their problem for I do not answer to them but to the Lord my God.
There is one thing that I disagree with that you said and that is that the month and date is an object of idol worship. The reason I say that is because the object of worship is not the date or month, it is simply when it is done. IF people are centering their worship on the date, then it is idol worship. I just don’t think people are doing that.
At most, the best we can do is provide information and the Lord does the rest.
Thanks for your gracious comments.
Agnes
January 1, 2010 at 6:52 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
A few weeks ago we went to a worship service at the church where our daughter goes to preschool. We have recently parted from that church because of doctrinal differences, but kept our daughter at the preschool since it’s convenient for us at the moment. The Sunday before Christmas several groups of children from the Sunday school ‘performed’ and had us seriously consider leaving and never looking back again. The whole facade was so embarrassing, and it was not due to the kids lacking talent but because the WAY they sang and WHAT they sang. The kindergarteners sang “Happy birthday to you..” with Jesus’ name inserted… We were shocked not only at the utter disrespect it demonstrated but at the way the audience reacted, which was the adoring awhs swooning over the cuteness of the act. Again, my husband and I were not mad at the children but their teachers to have them sing about our Lord, our Savior, the King of Kings in a most disrespectful manner. My heart also ached when I watched as my three-year-old daughter attempted to follow the pace of a very fast version of ‘Joy to the world’ blasting from the speakers… Sorry for my belated venting, it came to my mind when reading about Christmas traditions that I have been observing but seriously considering to let go altogether. Sacrilege is one of them.
Tishrei
January 1, 2010 at 7:05 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Hi,
Oy — Happy Birthday. I share your sentiments. I don’t remember which one of my posts, but I shared something that I read and I was just flabergasted. There’s this church that in reaching the young (teens) had pizza and coke as the elements of the Lord’s Supper. Another one that I saw personally almost made me crash my car I was so shocked. I was driving to work and the van in front of me was one of those Christian organizations that reach out to troubled teens. I don’t recall the name of the organization but what made me almost run into the back of their van was their slogan which was “Jesus is my homeboy and Heaven is my hood.” I was so shocked I almost forgot to hit my breaks.
Reverence, as you pointed out, has gone out the window in a huge woosh.
Thanks for stopping by and I seriously understand your vent. I’m glad you’re taking notice and since your daughter is still very young, you can find the right place for her so that you don’t have to spend too much time undoing what she’s been taught.