I remember as a child, even being as self-centered and oblivious as I was, all the controversy surrounding Halloween every year. It was always a matter of discussion in church and even made it into the news. People were afraid that we might be promoting witchcraft or devil worship or some other form of pagan evil into our children. And perhaps these are good concerns for parents to contemplate. But on October 31st of this year, I witnessed the real sin and evil of modern-day Halloween.
It goes like this; my wife and I had taken our daughter out on her first outing. It was Halloween night. On the way home, she informed me that there was something she needed to buy, and it could only be purchased at Target. So we went. And it was PACKED. The entire mall was packed! It looked like December 23rd! And of course it didn't take me long to realize that it was packed because the people of our community were taking their children to the mall to trick or treat.
That night we did not have a single trick or treater come to our door. Not one.
Did I mention I live on Main St. of my small town!
We worry about kidnappers, child molesters, razorblade implanters, poisoners, satan worshipers and a host of other kinds of people who are meant to stir fear in our hearts. But what worries me is that when we feel afraid, we go to the mall. What frustrates me is that we apparently trust places with commercial interests more than our own neighbors. What saddens me is that the church is so afraid of satanic influnces in things like Halloween or Harry Potter, never noticing that the antichrist himself hides in our shopping malls influencing our kids (and us) towards the gods of consumerism and capitalism. That is the real sin of Halloween.
Peace,
Matt
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4 comments:
I know what you mean, last year (and the year before) I had zero kids come... and I lived in a nice, family neighborhood that wasn't even on a busy street or anything. I was quite surprised to run out of candy this year. I think living next to a fire station (which also served as a "safe trick or treat hub") was a big factor, but it's still sad that people don't even trust their neighbors anymore. What a distorted system of trust. I seriously doubt any retailer at the mall would come to your aid if your house caught on fire or a burglar came...
This year, our church organized with the Roosevelt Neighborhood Association at trick or treat loop for kids in the neighborhood. Since most kids' parents don't have cars to get to the mall, we tried to do something to enable them to still get some candy.
We handed out fliers throughout the neighborhood telling people that we would be handing out candy. People were lined up down texas and alabama street from woburn to pacific. It was cool.
Last year cynth and I had one trick or treater. This year we went through a Costco size bag of candy plus more candy that a friend of mine brought. It was a recapturing the streets for the neighborhood of sorts. It ruled.
What a bizarre Halloween! Good insights on turning to the mall as a "safe" place.
What's interesting to me is that it's in one of those "evil" zombie movies (Dawn of the Dead) that George Romero makes a similar point about our "default" roles as consumers. Sometimes (maybe most of the time) it's the non-Christians who see through this stuff. Why do we so often walk around blind to these things?
Yeah this is seriously messed up.
Colin
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