Should Christians celebrate Halloween? – Isabel Clayden, Notre Dame School

Christians should not celebrate Halloween as a way to celebrate evil, death, and darkness. But, Christians can participate in the holiday as a way to enjoy time with friends and family, engage the community around them, and be a light for Jesus in the hardest and darkest places like Halloween night.

Halloween is a fun occasion but as Christians, they must be careful on how they celebrate it. They must avoid the dark parts of the holiday and instead participate in reflection of Jesus’ light.

However, the festival originated in Ireland, Scotland, and Wales as a folk custom where it was thought that the souls of the people who had died that previous year, moved to the world of the dead. The Celts placed food and drink out to sustain the spirits, and people concealed their identity with disguises to escape harm while they walked from house to house to enjoy food and drink (much like trick-or-treating today). Many people also carved turnips to represent faces, marking the origination of today’s carved pumpkins. When Christianity took root in northern Europe, these folk customs were incorporated into a Christian framework.

Settlers and immigrants from Ireland, Scotland, and Wales brought their folk customs to America, where they took root and evolved over the years. Halloween was originally celebrated in America as a harvest festival. Carved turnips became carved pumpkins, which grew in abundance in America. Colourful costumes replaced disguises, and presenting food and drink to the wandering spirits became the popular act of trick-or-treating.

With the large stream of Irish immigrants into the U.S. in the nineteenth century, Halloween became associated with ghosts, goblins and witches. Over time, it grew into a fun, playful holiday most popular with children.

In conclusion, as long as the holiday is all in good fun I believe there is nothing stopping a Christian from partaking in this enjoyable tradition.