Sometimes decisions to participate in a holiday such as Halloween can become difficult as our society has become so desensitized to violent scenes that are ever present before us. This article further solidifies my feelings towards Halloween. Things that are of virtue bring peace....not conflicting feelings due to satanic overtones. If we want to become a righteous example to others then I believe that we should eschew evil...Just as Job did in the Old Testament. We are taught to avoid the very appearance of evil. Most often the right choice is not the popular choice.
Me1973October 30, 2013
I love Halloween. It feels so charitable and warm, just a big hug for all the kids in the neighborhood. I love, as the above commenter posted, that for one night we can let our guard down and just enjoy being part of a community.
Diane KunkelOctober 22, 2013
Wow, great article! It addresses some concerns that I have had about Halloween. I also really appreciate Joyce Kinmont's comment and reference to her article in the Ensign.
Debbie of CincinnatiOctober 22, 2013
We have moved a lot. Though I understand the logic of all of this, I am reminded of living in a midwest US neighborhood that typically felt unwelcoming. Then Halloween came and we went down the sidewalks. The warmth of the porches and welcoming older couples, younger families with teenagers sitting in the driveway around a firepit all helped me believe that maybe, just maybe I could really like this place. People were so warm and welcoming when we rang their doors it made my homesickness less. It let strangers let put their guard down for one night and helped me feel like I could be "at home".
Kathy NewtonOctober 22, 2013
I totally agree! I have a love/hate relationship with Halloween. The dressing up in costumes is so very fun for the children, but the Satanic overtones really gag me out.
Luana WellsOctober 22, 2013
Years ago my mother dressed me up as a ghost for a 12 year old's Sunday School class Halloween party at the teacher's home. I wanted to wear cut off jeans and a straw hat and go as Tom Sawyer. I was so miserable that as soon as I got to the teacher's house, I washed off the make-up and ditched the sheet! Until reading this, I hadn't put 2 and 2 together. I have embroidered the 13th Article of Faith and framed it for my home. My basic desire to seek to live the precepts taught in #13 were very much at odds with the "ghost" and I was truly uncomfortable. Thanks for the insight.
Bonnie MarshallOctober 22, 2013
I loved your article. Glad to know I'm not the only one who flinches at the thought--for all of the above reasons. When we lived in Hong Kong the children had a "Fancy Dress" event/party, with all of the fun of costumes without the Satanic overtones and greed. Thank you!
Joyce KinmontOctober 22, 2013
What you are really saying, I think, is there is no way to win with this day. So true. When our children were young we tried to improve the experience with Harvest parties and visits to the elderly. Now I am one of the "elderly," and I dislike the unholy-day even more. Last-days events have made Satan much more real; he is having far too many days of celebration. I love the cutely costumed children, but I don't like participating in lessons on gluttony and extortion. Is this how we become a Zion people? Here's an Ensign article from 1996:
https://www.lds.org/ensign/1996/10/i-have-a-question
Elizabeth BradburyOctober 22, 2013
Really awesome! I totally agree with you! We gave up Halloween 10 years ago!
RebeccaOctober 22, 2013
One year the kids in our ward dressed up as Book of Mormon characters and visited members homes. (Not in Utah ) I loved it!
JillOctober 22, 2013
Thank you! As an Australian, I can never really understand the obsession with Halloween. When I was young, it wasn't celebrated here; but over the past 20 years or so it has migrated! I object to people I don't know knocking on my door at night, expecting me to open the door for one thing, and give them treats for another. But I'm afraid that if I don't give them something, they'll do some nasty trick like egging my house! Where's the fun in any of this for me?!
Rob POctober 22, 2013
If you're going out of your way to avoid holidays with pagan origins, you might as well toss out Christmas as well, which started as a way to celebrate the winter solstice. It was co-opted by Christians and evolved until it became what it is today.
On the next note about the body, it's quite a stretch to equate the prop arm dangling from the car trunk with pornography, or to say that it's a quick slippery slope from here to there. Entitlement and gluttony are always concerns, however.
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Christine YaccarinoOctober 31, 2013
Sometimes decisions to participate in a holiday such as Halloween can become difficult as our society has become so desensitized to violent scenes that are ever present before us. This article further solidifies my feelings towards Halloween. Things that are of virtue bring peace....not conflicting feelings due to satanic overtones. If we want to become a righteous example to others then I believe that we should eschew evil...Just as Job did in the Old Testament. We are taught to avoid the very appearance of evil. Most often the right choice is not the popular choice.
Me1973October 30, 2013
I love Halloween. It feels so charitable and warm, just a big hug for all the kids in the neighborhood. I love, as the above commenter posted, that for one night we can let our guard down and just enjoy being part of a community.
Diane KunkelOctober 22, 2013
Wow, great article! It addresses some concerns that I have had about Halloween. I also really appreciate Joyce Kinmont's comment and reference to her article in the Ensign.
Debbie of CincinnatiOctober 22, 2013
We have moved a lot. Though I understand the logic of all of this, I am reminded of living in a midwest US neighborhood that typically felt unwelcoming. Then Halloween came and we went down the sidewalks. The warmth of the porches and welcoming older couples, younger families with teenagers sitting in the driveway around a firepit all helped me believe that maybe, just maybe I could really like this place. People were so warm and welcoming when we rang their doors it made my homesickness less. It let strangers let put their guard down for one night and helped me feel like I could be "at home".
Kathy NewtonOctober 22, 2013
I totally agree! I have a love/hate relationship with Halloween. The dressing up in costumes is so very fun for the children, but the Satanic overtones really gag me out.
Luana WellsOctober 22, 2013
Years ago my mother dressed me up as a ghost for a 12 year old's Sunday School class Halloween party at the teacher's home. I wanted to wear cut off jeans and a straw hat and go as Tom Sawyer. I was so miserable that as soon as I got to the teacher's house, I washed off the make-up and ditched the sheet! Until reading this, I hadn't put 2 and 2 together. I have embroidered the 13th Article of Faith and framed it for my home. My basic desire to seek to live the precepts taught in #13 were very much at odds with the "ghost" and I was truly uncomfortable. Thanks for the insight.
Bonnie MarshallOctober 22, 2013
I loved your article. Glad to know I'm not the only one who flinches at the thought--for all of the above reasons. When we lived in Hong Kong the children had a "Fancy Dress" event/party, with all of the fun of costumes without the Satanic overtones and greed. Thank you!
Joyce KinmontOctober 22, 2013
What you are really saying, I think, is there is no way to win with this day. So true. When our children were young we tried to improve the experience with Harvest parties and visits to the elderly. Now I am one of the "elderly," and I dislike the unholy-day even more. Last-days events have made Satan much more real; he is having far too many days of celebration. I love the cutely costumed children, but I don't like participating in lessons on gluttony and extortion. Is this how we become a Zion people? Here's an Ensign article from 1996: https://www.lds.org/ensign/1996/10/i-have-a-question
Elizabeth BradburyOctober 22, 2013
Really awesome! I totally agree with you! We gave up Halloween 10 years ago!
RebeccaOctober 22, 2013
One year the kids in our ward dressed up as Book of Mormon characters and visited members homes. (Not in Utah ) I loved it!
JillOctober 22, 2013
Thank you! As an Australian, I can never really understand the obsession with Halloween. When I was young, it wasn't celebrated here; but over the past 20 years or so it has migrated! I object to people I don't know knocking on my door at night, expecting me to open the door for one thing, and give them treats for another. But I'm afraid that if I don't give them something, they'll do some nasty trick like egging my house! Where's the fun in any of this for me?!
Rob POctober 22, 2013
If you're going out of your way to avoid holidays with pagan origins, you might as well toss out Christmas as well, which started as a way to celebrate the winter solstice. It was co-opted by Christians and evolved until it became what it is today. On the next note about the body, it's quite a stretch to equate the prop arm dangling from the car trunk with pornography, or to say that it's a quick slippery slope from here to there. Entitlement and gluttony are always concerns, however.
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