Overprotective parents

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There is a small group of parents in my parish that keep warning the school and other parents about the evils of Harry Potter, Dressing up for halloween, Yugi-oh cards, etc… they believe that these things are portals for cults and witchcraft.

though I believe in the existence of evil, hell, witch craft and cults I dont get too concerned that my 6 y.o. child wants to dress up like a power ranger for halloween .

My kids have also been exposed to many other things like Saint cards, saint costumes, catholicism and wholesome programming etc.

Because of this small group my 1st graders holloween party will be Saints only costumes. I’m all for learning about the Saints but is Trick or treating so bad?

Are they overprotective or am I too slack?
 
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tTt:
There is a small group of parents in my parish that keep warning the school and other parents about the evils of Harry Potter, Dressing up for halloween, Yugi-oh cards, etc… they believe that these things are portals for cults and witchcraft.

though I believe in the existence of evil, hell, witch craft and cults I dont get too concerned that my 6 y.o. child wants to dress up like a power ranger for halloween .

My kids have also been exposed to many other things like Saint cards, saint costumes, catholicism and wholesome programming etc.

Because of this small group my 1st graders holloween party will be Saints only costumes. I’m all for learning about the Saints but is Trick or treating so bad?

Are they overprotective or am I too slack?
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I could make the case either way. I used to worry about stuff like that but I don’t anymore.

I used to say that we are always doing symbolic things for our faith, so even if it is only symbolic and they don’t really know what they’re doing it’s still wrong. My oldest son was happy to dress up as a priest for his first Halloween.

Now I say that I don’t think kids take their costumes seriously and I don’t think a little imagination will do them harm. I know llittle about Harry Potter but a couple of my kids have read them and my daughter was a key player for her school in the diocesan religion bowl, so apparently Harry Potter didn’t prevent her from learning her Catholic faith.

With all that in mind, considering how the other parents feel, I don’t think it is too much of a concession to limit the costumes for the kids’ party. After all, your faith may be strong enough not to be threatened by a few little kids dressed up like ghosts and goblins, but it is understandable how troublesome it can be for other parents so I personally would go along with the saints idea. Maybe you could expand it to include bishops, angels, and other “good” characters.

Alan
 
I struggle with this issue too. I mean, halloween did originate as a pagan holiday. But today, most people just see it as a time to go dress up in a costume and get candy. You don’t want to tell your kids that they are worshipping Satan when they go out for halloween. Because that just scares them into thinking that all of their friends are Satan worshippers. I think this issue with everything else involves good communication. Just make sure you read what they read and watch what they watch. Have you read Harry Potter? I did read it and I thought it was really cute. All kids have imaginations and pretend to be something they are not or that they have powers that they don’t. Now, Ouigi boards and tarot cards and stuff. I would stay away from them. They are actually used in occult practices. But I don’t see any Wiccans worshipping Harry Potter. I don’t know how much this advice has helped, but I wanted to throw in my two cents. 🙂
 
Halloween is the abbreviation of the archaic English express All Hallows Eve, that is, the vigil of the feast of All Saints, hardly a pagan holiday.

The customs we associate with halloween in this country mostly originated in Ireland, where an older pagan druidic feast on or near that night was taken over by the Christian missionaries and “baptized” with Christian symbolism and meaning. They of course condemned and discouraged the old pagan aspects of the celebrations (which were pretty disgusting) and catechised the people on the meaning of the customs.

The dressing up as demons and witches, and use of jack-o-lanterns (which is actually an Dutch custom) and other symbols of the devil were to poke fun at and denigrate the devil and his cohorts in evil. Children, in or out of costume, would go door to door beggin for treats and these were given to show the “devils” could not succeed in claiming the souls inside the house. The whole point was to show that the army of saints united with Christ in heaven represent victory of Satan and sin, and the breaking of his power in human lives on earth.

The day after All Saints, the feast of All Souls, is particularly a day of prayer for the souls in purgatory, and another “teaching moment” for the church on the whole doctrine of judgement and purgatory. Different cultures developed different ways to observe and celebrate, often drawing on and christianizing earlier pagan elements of their culture. example el dia de los muertos, the day of the dead in Mexico, which can sound bizarre to us, but has sound doctrinal basis when properly understood.

Halloween as a secular celebration in America is an amalgam of customs of the different immigrant groups. Some like the Dutch, who at the time they came to this country were members of a church where the battle against witchcraft was a dominant feature of the time period, reflect that in their customs that persist to this day (the story of Ichabod Crane and Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving preserves this), as an example.

Remember the Judy Garland movie Meet me in St Louis, where the halloween night was a key feature, with bonfires and tricks played on certain people, these all had cultural roots. Other customs like Devil’s Night in Detroit, were purely local in origin, and has grown to be a disgraceful night of crime perpetrated by psychopathic adults, not the night of mischief for children tolerated when I was child. Not particularly edifying, but not evil either, at least back in the good old days, but we were not allowed to participate anyhow.
 
Saints… hummm…

St. Sebastian all shot up with arrows
St. Lucy with her eyes on a plate
St. John the Baptist either eating locust or after the beheading…

There can be some very scary costumes from lives of the Saints.

(But, that is most likely NOT what these parents have in mind…)

😃
 
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kage_ar:
Saints… hummm…

St. Sebastian all shot up with arrows
St. Lucy with her eyes on a plate
St. John the Baptist either eating locust or after the beheading…

There can be some very scary costumes from lives of the Saints.

(But, that is most likely NOT what these parents have in mind…)

😃
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Interesting thought! How about Padre Pio with stigmata after being beaten by satan/demon. The family in Macabbes that were tortured. Very scary indeed…
😃
 
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puzzleannie:
Other customs like Devil’s Night in Detroit, were purely local in origin, and has grown to be a disgraceful night of crime perpetrated by psychopathic adults, not the night of mischief for children tolerated when I was child. Not particularly edifying, but not evil either, at least back in the good old days, but we were not allowed to participate anyhow.
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“Devil’s Night”. Now there’s a blast from the past. 😛

After it got so bad in 1995 that the fracas was getting international attention, the mayor of Detroit began a bunch of new security initiatives in the city in the nights leading up to Halloween (curfews, patrols, citizen watchdogs, etc.). Since then, crime levels around Halloween in the city are actually lower than normal city night levels. Believe me, that’s one tradition that can just stay buried, thanks very much.
 
I try to look at this as a good thing. My kids sometimes dress in scary costumes for Halloween. We have had Power Rangers, Zorro, Harry Potter, even the grim reaper. As long as they aren’t obsessive, I think it’s ok.

On the other hand, their school has an All Saints party where the kids dress as Saints and Holy People (ie JPII). They all love it and have a lot of fun. Where else can you go dressed as Juan Diego or Elizbeth Ann Seton? The parents love it too. I doubt many of them wear the same costume when they go out in the neighborhood.

So the kids get to celebrate two holidays - Halloween in the neighborhood and All Saints Day at school. Their public school counterparts only get one day. 🙂
 
I guess I’m one of those over protective parents.

I was faaaarrr away from God and the Church for over 20 yrs. My conversion began around the same time as I had my first born.
As I became on fire for my faith…and filled with the Holy Spirit, the more my eyes were opened to the evils of this world…and also the lack of teaching of our faith in the Catholic schools.
I didn’t allow my children to read Harry Potter either…it didn’t seem to bother them at all. Now when I look back it probably wouldn’t have hurt them.
However, children are bombarded with evil today…it’s everywhere, and the way I look at it is the more evil they see (and of course the sex things they see everywhere) the more they will think its ok.
That’s just the way I feel…and I pray that I’m doing the right thing, because I also can see that some of things I don’t allow my children to watch, or read, may lead them away from God.
So I pray that I do not cross that line either.
Parenting is so difficult, that’s why I’m always praying for guidance.
I guess I feel that the more children are exposed to these things the more insensitive they will become…I mean who would ever have thought 20 yrs ago that soooo much sex would be allowed on tv.
God Bless us all who are trying to raise children in these times.
Jeanette
 
I think much depends on the parent 🙂 If the parents creates an atmosphere where anything truly occult would be unthinkable for the child, then there is probably no danger. I speak from the perspective of a rather unsupervised childhood. I loved going to bookstores, and in my beloved, trusted bookstore they had tarot cards. I had no reason to fear them, so I asked for them for Christmas, because I thought the pictures on them were cool. Unfortunately, I did receive them.

ANYway, there were lots of preparatory things in my life that made it difficult for me to see any danger in the occult and to treat it like play and silliness. But I assume a careful parent could steer a child so that it would never be a danger due to familiarity and seeming harmlessness.
 
Just keep everything in perspective. Teach children the true meaning/history behind halloween (if old enough to understand),
but for goodness sakes, let them have a night of FUN. :whacky:
 
Okay, I am with you on nix-ing the really macabre or gory stuff for Halloween costumes. But dressing up as a witch, a bride, a Power Ranger, Barney, a pumpkin??? :confused: Last year my 12 year old went as Bob the Builder! (The little kids and their dads loved it!) I believe that the parents’ job is to guide their children and to set limits. To the extent we can, we should give them the discretion to participate in our immoral society in moral ways. I find it hard to believe that Halloween or Harry Potter are immoral. Neither is Mardi Gras. EXCEPT where any of those get out of hand and become excessive (Halloween and Mardi Gras) or obsessive (Harry Potter).

I don’t know where tTt is from, but I suspect it is somewhere with a lot of fundamentalist/evangelical Christians. They are the ones who are most negative about Halloween and Harry Potter. They are also they ones who are negative about wine and who serve grape juice at their “Communion” and argue that Christ used unfermented “wine”! Although non-Catholics (and some Catholics) criticize us for having too many rules, I would say that our “rules” are about sin. We Catholics are more at ease about things that other “Christians” are pretty uptight about–like drinking alcohol in moderation, Bingo, Halloween and Mardi Gras! I like being Catholic! 😉
 
I have a rule of thumb. If the Jehovah’s Witnesses don’t allow it, then it must be okay for Catholics. Okay, yes I’m exaggerating, but I think some of you know what I mean. One of the things I love most about Catholicism is how SANE it is as a faith. Let’s keep our sanity. Halloween and Harry Potter won’t lead your children to the devil. Every parent should be delighted if their child actually wants to read not just one book, but a whole series of 'em. Once they’re done with Harry, you can turn 'em onto the Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis. 🙂
 
I agree with the posts but I’m having difficulty being charitable to these Catholic parents because they come across as being filled with the Holy Spirit and therefore they are on a higher spiritual plane than I. This irritates me.

If I protect them from every possible portal of evil they will never learn to think critically and reject it when I’m not there holding thier hand.

Happy Halloween avoid sick junk, learn the faith and have some fun.
 
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tTt:
I agree with the posts but I’m having difficulty being charitable to these Catholic parents because they come across as being filled with the Holy Spirit and therefore they are on a higher spiritual plane than I. This irritates me.

If I protect them from every possible portal of evil they will never learn to think critically and reject it when I’m not there holding thier hand.

Happy Halloween avoid sick junk, learn the faith and have some fun.
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Oh, you mean the “holier than thou” attitude? 😛 Don’t let it get to you. Twenty years from now when your kids are the solid, well-balanced young adults who think critically with no hand-holding, you will resist the urge to feel “holier than thou”! And your kids will have learned important lessons from your balanced parenting. God bless.
 
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tTt:
My kids have also been exposed to many other things like Saint cards, saint costumes, catholicism and wholesome programming etc.

Because of this small group my 1st graders holloween party will be Saints only costumes. I’m all for learning about the Saints but is Trick or treating so bad?

Are they overprotective or am I too slack?
Click to expand...
In a Catholic school All Saints should be celebrated as All Saints, many time the children go to mass for the feast before their parties there is nothing worse than seeing a bunch of witch, demons, or the trend of the day costumes at Mass. If it is a All Saints they should be dressed as Saints. Halloween evening is fine for the costume of choice. But in a Catholic school it should be saints. My children always celebrated both, and had two costumes for this purpose. They learned about the saints, and had fun trick or treating in the costume of choice. Some people do go a little over board about this issue but it sounds like you are balanced. Just give a little and try and keep the school party as it should be. (If you were in a public school then the story changes)
 
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