Halloween Culture Shock
I remember
well this time of year…. the crisp autumn air, the leaves on the ground, the
abundance of pumpkin food and pumpkin carvings.
Halloween was one of my favorite holidays. I loved dressing up and going
trick-or-treating. Scary movies always
fascinated me, and I got a thrill out of the haunted woods and pumpkin patches
that I would frequently visit with my friends.
However, after experiencing the “culture shock” of how Halloween is seen
by Christians in other countries, I was forced to take a deeper look at
Halloween, and I have come to the conviction that I could never celebrate this
holiday again.
I have been
living in Nicaragua for almost three and half years now. I feel like I have assimilated into the
evangelical Christian culture for the most part, while I still struggle with
the fine line of walking freely in the truth and being bound to the rules of
legalism. Nevertheless, I have been
opened my eyes to the truth of the spiritual world and how we as Christians
really are in a daily spiritual battle.
One of the
biggest shocks was the realization that all evangelical Christians, and even
some Catholics, are completely against Halloween. While the rest of the country wants to adopt
our North American traditions of celebrating Halloween, pastors and devoted
followers are fighting hard against it. Why
is it such a big deal? They believe that
Halloween is a Satanic holiday, and its practices open up a door for Satan and
his demons to enter and destroy people’s lives.
When I
first learned about these beliefs, I really didn’t think too much about it and
even considered that it might be a cultural misunderstanding or pastors trying
to put on more rules about what we should and shouldn’t do. However, in the past few years, I have
decided to analyze and research the holiday for myself, and I have come up with
my own conclusions.
Some Questions to Consider
Therefore,
I would like to invite you to look and analyze some questions that I have had
to ask myself:
1 1. What are the origins of Halloween?
2. Do witches really exist? Should Christians really imitate them?
3. Do demons really exist? Should we play around with images, games, and movies that depict them?
4. Is Halloween currently a Satanic holiday?
5. Would I entertain the idea of observing any day if I had the slightest doubt that children might be kidnapped or even killed for this day?
2. Do witches really exist? Should Christians really imitate them?
3. Do demons really exist? Should we play around with images, games, and movies that depict them?
4. Is Halloween currently a Satanic holiday?
5. Would I entertain the idea of observing any day if I had the slightest doubt that children might be kidnapped or even killed for this day?
- The Origins of Halloween
One of the
biggest arguments that I hear from evangelical pastors is that Halloween is a
Pagan holiday. On the other hand, a lot of people in the US make a good
argument of how it is a Christian holiday. However, I don’t take just anybody’s
word; I had to investigate the topic.
It’s easy
to find information to answer this question.
The History Channel has a ton of videos and an article on the topic; I
don’t know many people who wouldn’t consider this to be a credible source. According to the History Channel, Halloween
was originally a Celtic holiday called Samhain, where ghosts returned to
earth.
“On the
night of October 31 they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the
ghosts of the dead returned to earth. In addition to causing trouble and damaging
crops, Celts thought that the presence of the otherworldly spirits made it
easier for the Druids, or Celtic priests, to make predictions about the
future…. To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where the
people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities.
During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of animal
heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other’s fortunes.” (http://www.history.com/topics/halloween/history-of-halloween)
After
further reading of the article, you will see how the Romans incorporated their
own practices of worshipping Pomona, the goddess of fruit and trees. Later on, these days were “Christianized” by
the Roman Catholic Church.
Keep this
in mind as you read on. We will look at
the end about what the Bible says about all of this. Let’s go on to the next question.
2. Witchcraft has always existed and still does.
Witchcraft
has been a practice in Nicaragua longer than Christianity, and it is still
evident in Nicaragua. Nicaragua’s first
lady, Rosario Murrillo, is well known to be a practicing witch. There are witches everywhere, some known and
unknown. I can even walk a few blocks
from my house and find a house with an inverted cross where a supposedly witch
doctor lives and treats people with sickness.
Luis’s grandfather was a practicing witch years ago, and up until he
died, he would complain about a man following him around and tormenting him.
Most people
here know how dangerous witchcraft can be.
I have heard countless stories of how people have consulted witches or
have been cursed by witches and later they become demon possessed, get sick,
die, or kill themselves. Only the Holy Spirit can liberate people who fall prey
to a witch’s snare.
If you
don’t believe me, believe what more credible sources say. On the same History Channel website, you can
find information that witches existed and still exist. The information takes on a different bias
saying that witches were only “blamed” for bad occurrences and that modern day
Wiccans do not practice witchcraft to harm others.
3. Demons are not a myth.
A lot of
Nicaraguans believe and testify to seeing creatures that we would consider
being mythical. One of the most common
mythical creatures are called duendes,
translated dwarfs or goblins, who take on the form of a child with pointed
ears, backwards feet, and a tail. Just a
few weeks ago, there was a story on the news that a seven year old girl was
kidnapped by a duende and taken up
into a tree. He gave her candy and rice
and threatened to kill her entire family.
She was missing for 7 hours, when a pastor (one that we know) showed up
at her house and prayed for liberation.
She was obviously distressed, but she was able to describe in detail the
creature that kidnapped her.
I have also
heard of many personal accounts of demon possessions and casting out
demons. There have even been stories and
academic articles about the indigenous people on the Atlantic Coast of
Nicaragua having a strange sickness with losing consciousness, having
supernatural strength, and exhibiting violent behavior. The sickness is said to occur after having a
sexual relationship with the devil. (http://anthropology.msu.edu/anp204-us14/2014/07/18/grisi-siknis-in-the-miskito-people/)
Now, I’m not asking you to believe
all of this; I find it hard to believe myself.
However, we do have to consider that almost all cultures have deep
rooted beliefs in demons. All religions,
including Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism, profess that demons are real. Even some areas, like China and Japan, have
deep cultural beliefs about demons and their powers. (http://www.mythencyclopedia.com/Cr-Dr/Devils-and-Demons.html)
I am very
careful about what I research when looking up information about demons, because
there are many sources that you shouldn’t play around with. For example, I was looking up information on
the Biblical god “Molech,” when I accidently opened up a Satanic website that
described Molech as a demon and what his purposes were. I didn’t read but a glance because I didn’t
want to stay on this website.
I believe
demons are real, and I do not want to play with them. Pastors here teach that
scary movies and images that represent demons give an open invitation for that
demon to come into one’s home. We need
to warn our children about playing games such as the Ouija, Bloody Mary, and
light as a feather, because those that play them are playing with demons. I have heard many reports about people become
demon possessed or dying bizarre deaths, such as being electrocuted in a remote
community, after playing with the Ouija board.
4. Halloween is said to be a Satanic Holiday.
Like
beforehand mentioned, witchcraft and devil worship is still prevalent in
Nicaragua. Pastors preach that during
this month Satanic worshipers are praying to the devil and fasting against
Christians. Halloween is the finale of
the month’s rituals.
However,
those who practice Satanism do not always do so openly. Therefore, it is very hard to find
information about whether Halloween is really a Satanic holiday without firsthand
accounts. However, I did find a calendar
of Satanic rituals, and Halloween and November 1 is one of their holy days. I
caution you that the detail about what they do each day is disturbing: https://wesdancin.wordpress.com/2011/10/07/list-of-satanic-holidays-a-must-read/
There are
also many personal testimonies to the occult practices on this day. One that I recently read was by a famous
Latin American artist who sings for a Christian group called Tercer Cielo, or
Third Heaven. One evening before
Halloween, he was hiking on South Mountain in the southern part of Phoenix,
Arizona to shoot a video for his group.
Suddenly, he stumbled upon a group of people who were dressed in black
and praying in odd motion on the ground.
He felt a strange presence and immediately knew that this was a Satanic
group. Later, he told some people in Phoenix about what happened, and they told
him that it was common for the Satanic groups to go to the high places during
Halloween to pray against the Christian churches and the pastors. http://www.acontecercristiano.net/2015/10/juan-carlos-de-tercer-cielo-halloween.html
5. Halloween is targeted against children
I don’t
know how much you believe of what I’ve written so far. I know that this is a
lot to take in and a lot of it depends on the type of faith you have. However, regardless of what you believe, I
don’t think that many people would want to participate in a day that preys on
children.
The last
and most disturbing argument that pastors in Nicaragua use against Halloween is
that children are kidnapped and used as human sacrifices to the devil and his
demons. Many people claim that more
children go missing in the month of October.
Let’s look at the facts first.
The FBI is
about the only credible source that I can find on statistics of missing
children in the USA. If you look at the
past years of missing people, October always has the second highest rate of
missing persons, after May. (What is
interesting about May is that April 30/May 1st is Walpurgisnacht or witches’
day). What is even more disturbing is that October has the highest rate of
unidentified deceased bodies in both 2013 and 2014. (Keep in mind that Satanic rituals are said
to occur the whole month of October).
I have
heard testimonies about children used in Satanic worship and sacrifices for
these days. Two of these testimonies you
can watch for yourself. Both of these
people were raised in the Satanic cult and abused as children. I will warn you
that the details they describe are extremely graphic and extremely
disturbing. They go into detail about
how they were sexually abused and about how others abused and slaughtered as
part of these demonic rituals. Even if these were false testimonies, I still
wouldn’t want to have anything to do with a day where there is even a slight
possibility that this could be going on.
**WARNING: Both of these testimonies go into graphic detail about what Satanists do in their rituals on these days. It is horrific and disturbing.
**WARNING: Both of these testimonies go into graphic detail about what Satanists do in their rituals on these days. It is horrific and disturbing.
There was
also a more recent story of a man eating a boy in a haunted house attraction in
Texas on October 25, 2015. His motive
for doing so was not mentioned in the article, but clearly, the man was possessed
by the spirit of Halloween and went beyond just pretending. It puts a different perspective on how you
view these haunted house attractions that glorify monstrous behavior.
http://now8news.com/texas-man-found-eating-teenage-boy-in-haunted-house-attraction/
What does the Bible say?
Whether or
not you believe any or some of the information I have provided, if you are a
Christian or even a believer, you need to consider what the Bible has to say
about such days and practices.
1. God
does not approve of “Christianizing” Pagan holidays.
After finding a lot of this research, especially the last two videos, I
was distraught, terrified, and confused; some of you may feel that way
now. I need to read the Word of God
after seeing such dark information.
Coincidentally, or not, my Bible opened to Psalm 106: 34-43:
“They did not destroy the peoples (the pagans) as the LORD had command
them, but they mingled with
the nations and adopted their customs. They worshipped their idols,
which became a snare (trap) to them.
They sacrificed their daughters to demons. They shed innocent blood, they blood of their
sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land
was desecrated by their blood. They
defiled themselves by what they did; by their deeds they prostituted
themselves.
Therefore, the LORD was angry with his people and abhorred his
inheritance. He handed them over to the
nations and their foes rules over them.
Their enemies oppressed them and subjected them to their power. Many times he delivered them but they were
bent on rebellion and they wasted away in their sin.”
The Psalmist was referring to the Israelites and their continual sin of
adopting foreign idols and integrating those practices along with “worshipping
God.” In various stories in the Old
Testament (see 1&2 Samuel and 1&2 Kings), you will see the continual
practice of the Israelites worshipping other gods and setting up idols in the
temple. Even the wisest of all men, King Solomon, fell into the trap of
worshipping false gods and demons (see 1 Kings 11:4-6). For these actions, the
wrath of God burned against Israel and sent enemies to oppress them.
We see for a fact that this holiday was originally a Pagan holiday. However, the Roman Empire and the Catholic Church
have mingled or mixed these Pagan traditions with Christian beliefs. This does
not please God.
2. Witchcraft
is an abomination towards God.
The Bible is very clear about how God feels about witchcraft:
“Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the
fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in
witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist who consults the
dead. Anyone who does these things is
detestable to the LORD, and because of these detestable practices the LORD your
God will drive out those nations before you.”
-Deuteronomy 18:10-12
“Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to
the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. Outside are the dogs, those who practice
magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who
loves and practices falsehood.” –Revelation 22:14-15
3. We cannot drink from the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons.
Demons are mentioned over and over in the Bible. Most of Jesus’s ministry in the gospels was
spent casting out demons. If we deny
their existence, we make God a liar.
Demons are the devil’s army and work to destroy mankind. They have ranks according to their powers and
their purposes.
“For our struggles is not against flesh and blood, but against the
rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and
against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”-Ephesians 6:12
Not only do they physically attack, demons deceive and teach people
false doctrines. Paul warns us in his
letter to Timothy that “the Spirit clearly says that in later times some will
abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.” -1
Timothy 4:1
We need to be on guard to test the spirits to see if they are from God
(1 John 4) and reject any practices that are dedicated to demon worship.
“The sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do
not want you to be participants with demons.
You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you
cannot have a part of both the Lord’s table and the table of demons. Are we trying to arouse the Lord’s
jealousy? Are we stronger than he?” -1
Corinthians 10:20-22
4. Those who worship Satan are vessels carrying out the devil’s work in
deceiving and assaulting mankind.
Since the beginning, Satan has been our adversary who seeks to “steal,
kill, and destroy” all mankind. He is
the father of lies and the master of getting humans to question God’s Word (see
Genesis 3). He masquerades what is evil as good; he is the wolf in lamb’s
clothing.
“Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just
as he is righteous. He who does what is sinful is of the devil,
because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to
destroy the devil’s work.” -1 John 3:7-8
“We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the one who
was born of God keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot harm him. We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under
control of the evil one. We know also that the Son of God
has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true—even in his Son
Jesus Christ. He is the true God and
eternal life. Dear children, keep
yourselves from idols.” -1 John 5:18-21
5. We must protect our children by not closing our eyes to harm being done
to children.
“The LORD said to Moses, ‘Say to the Israelites: ‘Any Israelite or any
alien living in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech must be put to
death. The people of the community are to stone him. I will set my face against that man and I
will cut him off from his people; for by giving his children to Molech, he has
defiles my sanctuary and profaned my holy name. If the people of the community close their eyes when that
man gives one of his children to Molech and they fail to put him to
death, I will set my face against that man and his family and will cut off from
their people both him and all who follow him in prostituting themselves to
Molech.” –Leviticus 20:1-5
I’m not suggesting that everyone go out and start lynching people. However, we do need to open our eyes and
realize that there are evil people who use even their own children in
detestable practices to the devil. We
should also guard our own children from being persuaded into these practices.
What You should Do Now:
1.
Research for yourself.
Please don’t just take my word on all of this. Investigate everything yourself. Look at all sides of the arguments. Study God’s Word on the topic.
2.
Pray for discernment.
“If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to
all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.” James 1:5
1 Corinthians 2:10 tells us that God reveals wisdom to us by the Holy
Spirit. We cannot discern the spiritual
matters on our own. Pray that God will
give you the Holy Spirit and that he will help you to understand what is true.
3.
Repent.
While we are still struggling with the flesh, we always need to be in
repentance; we are not perfect yet. John
the Baptist warned even the most “holy” of people, the Pharisees, and told them
to “produce fruit in keeping with repentance” (Luke 3:8). Based on what God reveals to you about this
day, you may feel the need to repent and turn from things that you formerly
did.
“This is
the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him
there is no darkness at all. If we claim
to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by
the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have
fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from
all sin.
If we claim to be without sin,
we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our
sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not
sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.”-1
John 1:5-10
4.
Educate others.
Based on your convictions, you might feel like God is moving you to
persuade others to take a closer look at this day. We do have to be careful to not condemn
people and argue but gently instruct them to the truth. Remember that the reason we proclaim the
gospel and God’s truth is for the benefit of others and not to boast about what
we know.
“The Lord’s
servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach,
not resentful. Those who oppose him he
must gently instruct, in hope that God will grant them repentance leading them
to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape
from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.”-2 Timothy
2:24-26
Why did I write all of this?
I decided to write this message
because I felt convicted by the Holy Spirit to do so. At first, I didn’t want to at all; I know
that some people will call me crazy or hate me for a lot of what I’ve said in
this blog. Then, my pastor put me in
charge of researching and presenting this information to the church. It amazed me to see how fast I was able to
research and write; it felt like God was whispering Biblical texts into my
ear.
After writing most of this blog, I
found myself in a spiritual battle that threw me into a deep depression and anxiety attacks out of
nowhere. I wanted to give up writing
this and thought it just wasn’t worth it, but I received visits and messages
from people saying that they have felt burdened to pray for me. I was invited to speak and have already spoken on the local Christian radio station here in Leon, and they want me to go back Monday. It's embarrassing to speak on the radio in Spanish with my foreign accent and occasional mistakes, but I am not doing this to glorify myself.
I admit that I am fearful of what
others will say or think. I know that I
am going into battle with the enemy, and that scares me, too. However, I refuse to be a coward anymore and
make selfish excuses to not proclaim God’s truth that sets us free. Furthermore, I fear God more than the enemy,
because who is bigger and stronger than our Mighty God? Yet, I know that He fights for me, He is with
me, and He is working in me to set me and others free from the chains and the
lies of the enemy. He is worth the
battle. His cause is worth the
battle. Shining light on the truth is worth the battle.
“To the Jews who had believed him,
Jesus said, ‘If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth
will set you free.” –John 8:31-32
