Who's anti-Halloween?

[NikPreviousAcct]

Originally posted by: ElFenix

Originally posted by: glen

Originally posted by: ffmcobalt

Santa Claus is a pagan continuation of a man who used to run around giving gifts. But that doesn't mean that the holiday that I celebrate gets celebrated because of SC. I don't have little Santas all over the place, but I do decorate. And, until I find some sinisterly evil roots to the decorations that I do have - or a reason not to use them, I don't see anything wrong with it. If someone says "hey, look..." and they have a real background to things that I don't think are too terribly bad, and they happen to be so, it's not that hard to stop using them.

nik

You just called a widely recognized 4th century Christian Saint a Pagan.

saints are Catholic, which is the root of all evil

lol

 

[glen]

saints are Catholic

Don't tell the Anglicans or Orthodox Christians.

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: glen

saints are Catholic

Don't tell the Anglicans or Orthodox Christians.

ah yes, the Orothodox guys, whose calendar gets further behind every year

and the Anglican church is just a ripoff of the Catholic church so that Henry VIII could marry someone else.

 

[NikPreviousAcct]

Originally posted by: ElFenix

Originally posted by: ffmcobalt


Going to church isn't "Christian," it's "politically correct"

I usually spend it with family at a huge dinner and play games. Gifts are given, but I would like to know more about the whole "giving gifts is evil" thing.

nik

oh, maybe its when santa claus gives gifts its pagan, the rest of the time its mass consumerism on the part of the american public (apparently giving gifts isn't so rampant in other countries).

Yes, and the American public has been around for centuries making that so.


nik

 

[Iron Woode]

How many times does it have to be stated: halloween is not satanic. Satan is a Christain idea not a pagan idea.

Commercialized? Yes. Twisted and changed over 500 years in to something quite different? Yes. Christians getting their knickers in a knot over anything even remotely pagan and involving spirits? You betcha.

Its great to have faith, but don't turn off your common sense for it. Do some research first before bashing something because some Theologian scholar told you so.

Dec 25 (more or less) is the shortest day of the year. That is why that day was important to the Celts and other pagans.

BTW: 7 days of the week are named after 7 heavenly bodies. Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Venus , Sun and Mercury. The calender months are named after various Roman rulers, and gathered from other languages too.

 

[NikPreviousAcct]

Originally posted by: Iron Woode
How many times does it have to be stated: halloween is not satanic. Satan is a Christain idea not a pagan idea.

As many times as it takes for you to get it right. Or actually understand what you're talking about, for that matter.

Commercialized? Yes. Twisted and changed over 500 years in to something quite different? Yes. Christians getting their knickers in a knot over anything even remotely pagan and involving spirits? You betcha.

500 years? lol - You must not be able to count any higher. Or read. Otherwise, you'd have numbers a little closer to the truth.

Its great to have faith, but don't turn off your common sense for it. Do some research first before bashing something because some Theologian scholar told you so.

Take your own advice.

Dec 25 (more or less) is the shortest day of the year. That is why that day was important to the Celts and other pagans.

lol I like you.

BTW: 7 days of the week are named after 7 heavenly bodies. Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Venus , Sun and Mercury. The calender months are named after various Roman rulers, and gathered from other languages too.

That's the first sensible thing you've said. Well done.

nik

 

[Noriaki]

Anti-Halloween? Whatever...
About as much as I'm anti-Aug31...

I don't care much about Halloween, but I'm not anti-halloween.

 

[Iron Woode]

I used the number of 500 years to represent North America. I know it goes back further.

I do understand and I will continue to say it. It is not Satanic. Get it through your head.

Dec 25 is an important day. Not just for christians. Why do you think that day was chosen?

 

[Aves]

I really don't care one way or the other.

 

[networkman]

I really don't care one way or the other.

Roger that! I don't happen to participate in Halloween, but it's not for religious reasons, and I don't have a problem with people who have fun with it.

 

[kgraeme]

Originally posted by: ffmcobalt

Originally posted by: Iron Woode
How many times does it have to be stated: halloween is not satanic. Satan is a Christain idea not a pagan idea.

As many times as it takes for you to get it right. Or actually understand what you're talking about, for that matter.

LOL! You're a poor, sad misguided person.

There is absolutely nothing satanic about Halloween. There is also nothing demonic or even slightly evil. None of these apply to the original Samhain either. A good synopsis of the origins has been posted, but here's another go: Samhain was an existing holiday. When the Roman Cathoic Church was converting people, it looked at the existing folk holidays and made up new Catholic holidays to correspond to them. Samhain became All Hallows Eve. Yes it was about the dead roaming the earth, but it wasn't because of demons or satan, it was just because they believed that ghosts always exist and that night just happened to be when the world of the living and the world of the dead came close together. It is a time of transition to winter. The leaves are falling off the trees, the crops are going dormant and the land is "dying".

To think that it is demonic in any way only points to a christian belief that all other religions are "evil" and thus the work of satan. So if you're that much of stuck up christian, then yes, I suppose that Samhain seems like a satanic holiday to you. However, the truth of it is that the people didn't worship satan or demons, the Church just tells people they did. The word "pagan" is a latin word that basically means "country bumpkin", but the Church converted used it in a context to mean "heathen".

BTW, a few other holidays that correspond to "pagan" holidays:

Easter = a German folk holiday worshipping the spring goddess Eastre. The easter eggs are symbols of her fertility.
Christmas = Many holidays that predate the birth of christ, including Yule and the Mesopotamian celebration you alluded to. It's a popular time of worship for many religions because people needed it to get through the bleak winters.

I'm not at all trying to take away from the importance that christians place on these events as they relate to christianity. I'm just providing a cultural context as to why and how many religions intermingle their celebrations.

 

[NikPreviousAcct]

Originally posted by: kgraeme
LOL! You're a poor, sad misguided person.

I'm glad you think so. So do I have to take your word for it? Or are you going to give me links to show that you're not just talking out of your ass?

nik

 

[kgraeme]

Sorry, I don't have links handy. I spent a few years studying comparative religion and focusing on folklore traditions.

I also don't consider most web sites to be good sources of information about this kind of subject. The people who are motivated to put things up are either flaky witch wannabes or whack-nut christians.

Ultimately, it doesn't matter. Both Samhain and All Hallows Eve were about the rememberence and veneration of the dead, but that is not the celebration today. Today it is another secular holiday for kids to have a bit of fun and get candy. The old ways, christian or pagan, are basically forgotten.

 

[Cyberian]

Originally posted by: ffmcobalt

Originally posted by: kgraeme
LOL! You're a poor, sad misguided person.

I'm glad you think so. So do I have to take your word for it? Or are you going to give me links to show that you're not just talking out of your ass?

nik

nik -

Read the post above by Beau6183 from 10/30/2002 @ 2:32 PM

 

[CantedValve]

Originally posted by: JC
I was surprised and dismayed to find out how many of the 'Christian' employees at work are anti-Halloween. You know, the Pagan celebration, devil's holiday, etc. I've always thought of Halloween as a kid's day, get dressed up, have fun, get sick on candy
Now these people tell me they won't let their kids go out on Halloween, because of what they think it 'stands for'. I maintain that kids don't think of it that way, that those parents should stop ruining it for their kids and let them be kids....

JC

There are anti-Christian and non-Christian things. Anti-Christian are things that are the OPPOSITE of the faith (worshipping Satan for instance), and non-Christian things are those that are not part of the religion (buying a car for instance). Halloween as it was established (the history behind it) is anti-Christian. The current practice today of going door to door is non-Christian. People who are getting worked up over Halloween are missing the point.