Halloween or Not

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Miraluna

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I have always been Catholic, but it was not until recently that I experienced a true conversion. I never saw Halloween, while I was growing up or now with my children, as anything but a time to dress-up and get candy. My children (nor did I) wear constumes that celebrated monsters or witches or Satan. My boys usually are Thomas the Train, Superman, knights, and etc. This year, I am not sure if I want to partake in this or not. A part of me says that the intention is key. But another part says that if any part of it is wrong, then all of it is wrong. So do I get rid of the plastic spiders and pumpkins and costumes or not? What are your thoughts and how you handeling this in your family?
 
If you do a search for “Halloween” you will find this discussion, it takes place every year 🙂
 
Miraluna said:
I have always been Catholic, but it was not until recently that I experienced a true conversion. I never saw Halloween, while I was growing up or now with my children, as anything but a time to dress-up and get candy. My children (nor did I) wear constumes that celebrated monsters or witches or Satan. My boys usually are Thomas the Train, Superman, knights, and etc. This year, I am not sure if I want to partake in this or not. A part of me says that the intention is key. But another part says that if any part of it is wrong, then all of it is wrong. So do I get rid of the plastic spiders and pumpkins and costumes or not? What are your thoughts and how you handeling this in your family?
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We are handling this by working for 4 weekends at a haunted house and scaring people. We become the monsters, the ghosts, the shadows, and the villians 😃 .

The Catholic high school my kids attend are sending crews of students a few weekends to work as haunters, too. We all attended training and orientation this week on how to effectively terrorize people.👍
 
I’ve chosen Halloween as the day for my planned c-section!
 
I say have fun. I trick or treated for hours back in the 60s. That was back in the day when someone would have ya apples or rice krispy treats and you didn’t worry about pins in them.

Even at 7 years old I knew it was all a joke. I didn’t believe in ghost and goblins etc, but looked at it as something fun to do. Halloween ranked right up there with Christmas, and birthdays.

I passed the same attitude to my son when he was growing up.

If my folks hada locked me down on Halloween night I’d been down at the courthouse trying to get a decree for child neglect, I’d been fit to be tied.

We Catholics have a tendency to take things way to seriously.
 
We do the costumes and trick or treating as well. I don’t have a problem with that, but I know that in general Halloween has become a really big moneymaker “holiday” and more people are getting more into it to the point where Halloween is encompassing two weekends and all the days in between! While I don’t have a problem with participating, I also don’t want to spend so much of our time, money, and energy on such a thing. Does that make sense?
 
HouseArrest said:
We do the costumes and trick or treating as well. I don’t have a problem with that, but I know that in general Halloween has become a really big moneymaker “holiday” and more people are getting more into it to the point where Halloween is encompassing two weekends and all the days in between! While I don’t have a problem with participating, I also don’t want to spend so much of our time, money, and energy on such a thing. Does that make sense?
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To each his own…our Halloween started last Friday. We (our whole family) got all dressed up and made up and crept through a corn field maze scaring people for 4 hours every night. We had a blast!! We will do it all over again for every weekend through Nov. 1. The first night only about 150 people came. Last night, though, I bet there were close to 600. The volume will only pick up from here.
 
halloween is fun. i really look forward to it this year as its my first as a parent. i gotta think a cute baby will get a good haul, and if she cant eat the candy well i’ll just have tyo do my fatherly duty and help her out with it…
 
dorisbonkers said:
I’ve chosen Halloween as the day for my planned c-section!
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ooh exciting! Congrats & prayers that it goes well! Three years ago my mom was set to induce labor on my youngest sis on Nov. 1st! She came pretty close to changing it to halloween when a spot opened up. Then she realized that it may be a pain it would be to do the whole trick-r-treating/birthday thing in one night, and decided that she’d rather bear one more day of a pinched nerve.

Anywho, back on topic- I wouldn’t stop my kids from trick-r-treating! Its always one of my favourite evenings of the year. What’s more fun then dressing up, staying up late, and going door to door for free candy? And then of course once you get home you have to dump it all out and organize the loot into little piles, and trade with sibs & friends, seeing how badly you can rip em off. This years my last year though. 😦 Unless I go whilst in college.
 
To the best of my understanding after doing some Catholic reading on the subject … celebrating Halloween is fine if:
  1. We do not participate in the culture of death by glorifying violence, witchcraft, Satan, or the occult.
  2. We celebrate it in its true context, which is the eve of All Saint’s Day. Dressing up as saints, or even as tortured souls in Purgatory, is appropriate. Going to Mass on All Saints (or Halloween night, if you prefer) is a must. Visiting a cemetery and offering prayers for the dead is also encouraged.
I’m under the impression that trick-or-treating is fine (just as leaving cookies for Santa is fine) so long as it is not the entire focus of the holiday (holy day). Where it goes wrong is when all the focus goes to candy and costumes and none goes to the Saints and the Holy Souls.
 
surf(name removed by moderator)ure said:
To the best of my understanding after doing some Catholic reading on the subject … celebrating Halloween is fine if:
  1. We do not participate in the culture of death by glorifying violence, witchcraft, Satan, or the occult.
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Just to expound, from my understanding, that doesn’t mean we can’t dress as witches/devils etc. But not to participate in occult practices and “casting spells” etc. The way I have seen it explained is that the devil gets enraged at being made fun of as a kid’s costume. Kind like a “nah nah nah nah nah” with a thumb on your nose;)**
 
Feanaro_s_Wife said:
Just to expound, from my understanding, that doesn’t mean we can’t dress as witches/devils etc. But not to participate in occult practices and “casting spells” etc. The way I have seen it explained is that the devil gets enraged at being made fun of as a kid’s costume. Kind like a “nah nah nah nah nah” with a thumb on your nose;)
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Hmmm … I’ve heard that argument made. My priest has warned us strongly against it, saying that it glorifies evil. I don’t personally believe I’d like to see my son or daughter even pretend to be a creature or practicer of darkness. I certainly wouldn’t let them roleplay as evil creatures, so I have a hard time imagining letting them have “fun” impersonating them on Halloween.

But again, this is just my private conviction and what I have learned from our priest. 🙂
 
I prefer All Saints Day to Halloween. On that note, a good way to take part in Halloween and All Saints Day at the same time is to dress up as a saint and give prayer cards in exchange for candy. Or when trick-or-treaters arrive, you pass out a big candy and a prayer card.
 
Nickkname said:
I prefer All Saints Day to Halloween. On that note, a good way to take part in Halloween and All Saints Day at the same time is to dress up as a saint and give prayer cards in exchange for candy. Or when trick-or-treaters arrive, you pass out a big candy and a prayer card.
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yeah make sure you add candy to the card. if you dont it seems like youre just aking for someone to wrap your house.
 
Halloween is lots of fun! My boys dress up in fun costumes with the neighborhood kids… take pictures… get candy… what’s not to love? 🤷 Keep it innocent and fun and you’re good to go!
IMO if it’s something you keep your kids away from entirely (especially just the fun innocent stuff) then they’ll desire it even more and resent you for it! :o )
My kids dress up in fun stuff… star wars, pirates, disney characters… and my little 3 month old is going as a cheerleader! 😃
We also participate in the All Saints Parade with the Sunday School kids… and my oldest son dresses as a Saint for his Catholic School party…

Keep it innocent and you’re good to go! 👍
 
I’m dressing as V from V for Vendetta and trick-or-treating at the embassies with friends:) Many of them Catholic, too:)
 
i usually just where camoflague and ‘pretend’ to be a hunter
 
surf(name removed by moderator)ure said:
Hmmm … I’ve heard that argument made. My priest has warned us strongly against it, saying that it glorifies evil. I don’t personally believe I’d like to see my son or daughter even pretend to be a creature or practicer of darkness. I certainly wouldn’t let them roleplay as evil creatures, so I have a hard time imagining letting them have “fun” impersonating them on Halloween.

But again, this is just my private conviction and what I have learned from our priest. 🙂
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😃 Just wait until they are 15 and 17…bloodied faces, latex scars, wielding a battle ax (plastic)…in the corn…at night…(and getting paid to do it!).😃 We are DEFINITELY making fun of evil, and having a blast doing so!👍
 
Catholic90 said:
😃 Just wait until they are 15 and 17…bloodied faces, latex scars, wielding a battle ax (plastic)…in the corn…at night…(and getting paid to do it!).😃 We are DEFINITELY making fun of evil, and having a blast doing so!👍
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Haha … nope, not my teens. If they can’t watch it on TV, they definitely can’t act it out. 😉
 
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