Is Anyone Else as Pump(kin)ed as I Am?

Halloween...a time of rotten teeth and gingivitis, of hyper children and cranky parents. A time when anybody who's masochistic enough to be driving on the night of the 31st deserves a Purple Heart for their trouble, and when every house in the neighborhood has orange, black, and purple adorning its lofty eaves, with a giant rubber spider and a Skeletor doll thrown in for good measure. When tempers are high (and in some cases, teenagers), caution is low, and three-foot-tall Power Rangers roam the streets with plastic jack-o-lanterns saying "trick-or-treat!"

Is it sinful if I'm one of those cynical jerks who would answer their cries with "trick" and douse them with a water hose?

Yeah. Probably.

But what's more "sinful" is when people try to turn little kids eating candy into a legal issue. Next thing you know, we're only going to allow our kids to trick-or-treat for candy that's been blessed by the Pope! (All I can say is that'll certainly get rid of any vampire costumes...)

Yes, I know, Halloween is historically a holiday with pagan backgrounds, and the general gist of it is kind of Satanic. I mean, making kids wear stupid flappy costumes symbolic of TV shows that they're either addicted to or have never seen before? And you tell me that's not evil! Pah! The nerve!

In the article, Mr. Hamm says, "How should Christians think about Halloween? Well...probably the same way we think about Christmas." A good point--of equally pagan backgrounds is the obviously Christian (and by that I intended sarcasm to be implied) holiday of Christmas. If you're celebrating Christmas because you're honoring the Roman god Sol Invictus, then you're missing the point. If, however, you're celebrating it because that's the day you remember Christ's birth on, then you're right on Target.

As an ending note, I think it's disturbing how the church spends so much sermon time and money on why we shouldn't participate in Halloween when in fact we have more important things to worry about. Like preventing Westborough Baptist Church from going to a gay pride parade and burning He-Man pinatas in Army uniforms. And stuff like that.

Peace, love, and Minecraft!

--JesusFreak

P.S. Oh, and by the way...

"Happy" Halloween.