Why our family will not celebrate Halloween

As Halloween is quickly approaching and Keira is quickly growing and ever so observant, I have really had to expalin a lot this year regarding Halloween and why our family doesn't celebrate like the "world" does. We do dress the kids up, attend our church's kids fest, she also has a party at school tomorrow,but they are calling it a Fall Harvest party, and no scary costumes, so that is awesome. Pumpkins are fine at our house, but we don't carve them. so we are not total sticks in the mud - lol. Not until the past few years did I really start to dislike this day so much. Growing up I thought nothing was wrong with getting all dressed up in horror costumes or going to haunted houses, watching horror movies, etc. But as I drew closer to the Lord and dived into Scripture, it became clear to me how much this goes against all the things the Lord wants us to do. Why would I choose to have my children participate in things that are of the dark side and I truly believe Halloween is a spiritual battle and a major way that Satan subtly uses to draw people into his ways and not God's. Even some Christians see nothing wrong with this day or participating in the horrors of it. I am not judging anyone at all, each family must decide what is best for them, I am just sharing our thoughts. After having to confess my past sins in this area and some from not too many yrs ago, I cannot take part in this day. I use to think there was nothing to this stuff, just having fun and that it cannot influence you........, man was I wrong. Satan is on a rampage and look how popular this day is and how many people celebrate it and what lengths our society goes to now for entertainment purposes. Some members of my family think I have become a religious nut (or freak) and that is fine by me. I still love them :) I cannot serve God and pretend that Halloween will not affect my family, b/c it can. Just recently I was so proud of Keira at a family cookout, there was some inflatable ghosts blowed up and she immedialetly told my mother " My family doesn't like that kind of stuff, " I was so proud of her little stand. It is so hard evey day this week to monitor Noggin(cartoon shows) and we experienced this Sunday morning as Noggin had an all day Halloween theme going on. She pitched a fit on us and was so upset. But, we didn't give in, which was the easiest thing to do since we were in the middle of getting ready for sunday school. If you take the time to look at the background of some of the traditions of Halloween, then it is not hard to see why my family has chosen not to celebrate. The origination of Halloween began in the ancient Celtic harvest festival, Samhain, a time when people believed that the spirits of the dead roamed the earth. The Celts adopted Druid beliefs and customs, in pre-Christian days, to commemorate the end of summer and the last day of the year. As winter approached and the sun waned, people were afraid that life itself, and not just the year, wascoming to an end. They imagined that the night was haunted by ghosts and witches, and more particularly byt he spirits of the dead who were revisiting their earthly homes. With the supernatural rampant, the night was full of danger and omens. Concerned for their survival, the people employed every possible means to fortify the flames of the dying sun and to chase away, or pacify, the evil spirits. For this purpose, they lit bonfires and sometimes offered sacrificies. The Celtic New Year, Nov 1, is also the beginning of the new yr for wiccan witches. Nov. 1 was also the Day of the Dead, a time when it was believed that souls of those who had died during the yr were allowed access to the land of the living. I could go on about the festival Samhain. Briefly, some said the bonfires were lit on Samhain to light the way for wandering spirits away from people's homes while others said they werelit to keep spirits away from homes. Go figure!! Christian missionaries then began a redefinition of calendrical celebrations. To a large extent the early church adopted and accomodated the traditional religious beliefs and practices of those it sought to convert. Many of the festivals and holidays observed today resulted from this policy and were derived in some part from already existing festivals / celebrations. Nov. 1 was declared All Saints Day and later Nov.2 was proclaimed All Souls Day. Celebration began at sundown prior to Nov. 1 Since most celebrations began prior to Nov 1 it became known as the Eve of All Saints Day or Eve of All Hallows' or All Hallows Eve. It is the glossing of the name Hallow Eve that has given us the name Hallowe'en. There is even more that transpired but to sum it up, even after Christianity had succeeded in supressing paganism, people continued to practice some of its customs. Photobucket src="http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r306/awages/Signatures/LeffewSign.jpg" border=0>