Tuesday, October 31, 2017

Halloween 2017, Notes from a Theological Point of View

I wanted, and felt led to, create a post outlining some advice about Halloween that you may not read other places.

1. HALLOWEEN IS NOT INHERENTLY "EVIL" AND IT IS TOTALLY 100% OKAY FOR CHRISTIANS TO CELEBRATE HALLOWEEN. I have no idea how this idea got started, but it's complete legalistic lies. While Halloween may have started out much darker than its modern counterpart, that version of Halloween is NOT what we talk about when we say "Halloween". The "Halloween" we celebrate today is about decorations, candy, costumes, and so on. There is an emphasis on fear, but it's fear generated from ultimately "safe" things. That is, it's all smoke and mirrors, props, tricks purposely set up for entertainment purposes, etc. If you want to get technical, you could say Halloween is a little on the materialistic side, but eh. If you feel convicted by that, feel free to adjust your celebrations accordingly. If you feel convicted by Halloween in general, don't celebrate it. In fact, the only thing I would advise all Christians against is costumes that are purposely meant to be sexual. We are to avoid the sin of lust, and to avoid provoking others to it. Keep Halloween safe for all ages.

2. Do not EVER mess with the supernatural. While Halloween is primarily about "ghosts" made of cardboard, or bed sheets, what have you, there are those who do take the supernatural element seriously. And contrary to popular dismissal of such things, the supernatural is 100% real, AND can interact with us directly. HOWEVER, the supernatural is not inherently good. When you communicate with a foreign spirit, you do not know what spirit you are talking to. You don't know its intentions, its true identity, its true personality, etc. Remember that spiritual beings are not limited by the physical -- they may very well be able to obtain information that can impress you, or give off the impression of being a certain person, etc. DO NOT LISTEN TO THEM. I can speak from personal experience, they CAN and WILL lie to you in some way. Do not use ouija boards. (And don't just scoff at this and say ouija boards are "just toys", spirits can still communicate with us through them regardless of the intent of the companies that produce them.) Do not try to cast spells. Don't use witchcraft, candles, recitations, or any other conceivable "occult" thing to try to engage the supernatural. One thing I've learned for sure over the past several years is this: there are spirits that are for God, and spirits that are against God. And the ones that are against God (which you will 100% always attract with occult practices) will lie to you, infiltrate your life, mess with your head, give you just enough knowledge and supernatural events to keep you interested, and lead you down a path of confusion and bitterness. Also, never trust anything the aforementioned spirits say to you. Their word is not final. Just as you can lie, just as anybody else can lie, these spirits can lie as well. And if you're the type of person to use incense candles and medieval spells on Halloween to try to ""summon"" the occult, well.......... let's just say, you're probably pretty naive when it comes to this stuff, and they know that, and will use it to the fullest extent of their ability.

3. Do not sacrifice black cats or... whatever. See the above paragraph for reasons why you shouldn't interact with the kind of spirits that encourage you to sacrifice cats. Also, this is worth noting too, spirits are not bound by your actions. If you make a pact with a spirit, or "command" that a certain spirit do something, that spirit is under no obligation to follow through with it. Sacrificing a cat will do nothing, unless the spirit wants it to. Perhaps something will happen, but even if it does, it will ultimately be turned around to hurt you in some way, too, and you will be made to pay for it, and you will be led down the same path as I mentioned in the previous paragraph. These spirits would do what they planned to do anyway, no matter if you sacrificed a cat, or solved a Rubik's Cube in a graveyard while whispering "M-... Mr. Spirit? C-Could you do a thing for me please?", or ate some McDonald's by a bus station while uttering incantations with your mouth full of french fries, and so on, and so on. It's about the INTENT of your actions, not the actions themselves. And given the consequences you WILL face when messing with these kinds of spirits, your best bet is cliched, but true, regardless -- turn away from them altogether, and turn to God, through Jesus Christ. Your debt has already been paid. Your only objective now is to accept it, and prayerfully walk the path of truth.

3.5 Black cats are not "bad luck".  Neither is breaking mirrors (even though you shouldn't do that anyway for obvious reasons), neither is stepping on cracks, and so on. "Luck" is not a thing. "Luck" is not how God has created our universe to operate. Black cats are simply like any other cats, with different genes so as to have black fur instead of white, gray, orange, brown, neon green, and so on. While again, yes, there are spiritual and supernatural elements to our world, "luck" is not one of them. So step on cracks as long as they're safe, pet black cats as long as they don't have rabies or something, etc.

4. Be safe and have fun. Watch out for shady people. Keep track of your kids. Don't get drunk and act irresponsibly. And so on.

God bless you all and guide you according to His perfect will! In Jesus' name. Amen.


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