Why I have not let my kids celebrate Halloween

My kids have never Trick or Treated, they don't get dressed up and go from house to house, and we don't turn our front lights on every October 31st.  This hasn't always sat well with my kids or my husband, but I have gone to the mat on this one because I really have a strong conviction about it. 
So why do I have such a strong conviction?  Isn't it just an innocent fun time?  It is really anything bad is it?

My issues with Halloween are 2 fold.  One comes from my Christian beliefs and the other comes from my concern about what it is teaching my kids. 

From the Christian standpoint my concerns are about celebrating a Satanic holiday.   Halloween is the Satanic New Year and is a high "holy" day for them.   If you don't believe me ask the police in an area near pagan groups.  When I lived in Warren, Maine, we would get messages every year just before Halloween to keep our pets (especially cats) inside because there have been animals stolen around that time.  There was a coven of witches in the next town over and many rituals were done around this time and needed cats.   I have played in the occult and paganism and know how serious it is.  My playing of Dungeons and Dragons and my immersion into pagan mythos, turned me away from God. For a long time I questioned if God existed and if He did, why would he want to have anything to do with me.   A short time after I became a Christian I burned my D&D stuff.  I felt much better after it was out of my life and I don't want to head down that path again. 
We have done the "harvest party" on the day but I have realized that is just something so that kids don't feel left out or weird.   Sorry folks, I don't buy it.  Many times in scripture God says we are a "peculiar" people, just like the Israelites in the Old Testament.  We are set aside.  We are to be different from the world. This is the same reason Santa is a fun make believe story at our house too.  If I have to make a choice between getting dressed up in a costume for fun or pleasing my Savior...I'll take the latter one every time.

From the "what does it teach my kids" standpoint, it teaches them extortion.  I know that is a strong word and I am sure folks are saying that I am going overboard, but hear me out.  The legal definition of the word extort is (from dictionary.com)

"to wrest or wring (money, information, etc.) from a person by violence, intimidation, or abuse of authority; obtain by force, torture, threat, or the like."

 That sounds like Trick or Treating to me.   I show up at your house in disguise so that you can't be recognized, demand you to hand me something that belongs to you and if you won't hand it over to me I will do something nasty to your property or person.  Any other day of the year people would be rightfully calling the cops if someone did that.  I never knew where the custom came from, but I recently learned its origin.  In Hiawatha, Kansas in 1914 the children would go out on October 31st and destroy property and wreak havoc.  One of the things that was habitually destroyed was Mrs. Elizabeth Krebs' flower garden. Just as it had for many years before. She was the leader of the local garden society and had worked very hard on that garden. She had finally had enough of it and thought that maybe if she told the kids they could come to her house for candy and a party they would not destroy things (especially her flower garden).  Well it kind of worked.  Many of the local children came, but a group of rowdy boys burned a cart and ran it down the streets.  Mrs. Krebs wouldn't be detoured.  The following year she asked kids to dress up and have a parade and party in the center of town.  She paid for this town party from her own pocket when the town wouldn't fund it.  It was a huge success.  The children came and there was no destruction.  So she paid the bribe to keep the kids from destroying property.  And every year since then all over the country we have continued paying that bill so that kids won't destroy stuff. It doesn't always work (see Devil's Night in cities like Detroit). So I was right, Halloween is all about paying protection candy.  Didn't they arrest the Mafia for doing stuff like that???  This is NOT something I want to teach my kids.  

 

I never liked Halloween as a child (I would trick or treat for UNICEF and would thank people even if they didn't give).   I never understood why it was fun to scare the living daylights out of people then laugh when they freaked out.   I am pretty sure I have NEVER left a haunted house when I wasn't in tears, even when I knew the people doing the scaring.  And that was when the things doing the scaring were make believe (monsters, vampires, zombies and ghosts).  Now a days the scary things are way too real: murderers, mutilation of people, blood dripping from terrible wounds, and stalkers coming after you.  If I want to see that kind of stuff all I have to do is watch the news (another thing I try to avoid doing).  

 

So that is why I have such a conviction about Halloween.   I don't ask anyone else outside my immediate family to avoid it so I would ask folks to be tolerant of my convictions.