Should Christians celebrate Halloween?

[det313grrl]

I didn't make this up, this is a Fall Sunday School lesson!



I meant no disrespect, just showing an example.

And since you mentioned it...

[G-DDT]

No disrespect taken.

Contemporaized commercialization of Christianity does irk me, though [[right up to the slop that passes itself off as "Christian Pop/Rock" with their own "awards" shows). I still have the petrified "Bible Bar" I bought well over fifteen years, that touts itself as a "health" bar with ingredients mentioned in the Bible. I bought it, because I thought it was an ugly fluke of commercial kitsch [[only to find out it was one of many such things to be marketed and distributed in similar fashion-than again, Charles Taze Russell made claims to "Miracle Wheat"). Now, where's my knotted whip cord?...

[G-DDT]

What does scare me are "cults" and fringe para-churches that terrorize, injury, and kill kids with confession sessions and exorcisms gone wrong [[the internet has quite an extensive lists of such things). More proof that the myth of the "ungrateful guest" is far surpassed by the truth of the captive audience controlled by the dominate and bullying host. The recent incident in the state of New Hartford, New York had the media somewhat hinting that this "cult" looked Amish in nature, when they were more of a rabid strain of Pentecostal.

One doesn't have to be "Christian" to pull such atrocities. Recently the body of a little girl named Bella Bond was found on Deer Island Peninsula near Boston. The boyfriend of the mother charged with the brutal death [[though they typically accused each other) was into Demonology and narcotics.

Then, there is this haunting myth that hasn't been classified as a "syndrome" [[yet, someone, of all places, suggested it on an Iron Maiden site), but given a lot of the cases of women killing their children, it should be, and that is the myth of La Llorona......

[Jimaz]

... The recent incident in the state of New Hartford, New York had the media somewhat hinting that this "cult" looked Amish in nature, when they were more of a rabid strain of Pentecostal....

That would have benefited from a few links. Allow me:

• 6 N.Y. church members arrested after teen dies in assault
• Glimpses Inside Secretive Sect After Killing at Upstate New York Church

I find these two alternative depictions interesting: "Some self-proclaimed Christians can be dangerous people." "Some dangerous people can be self-proclaimed Christians." Is there a difference between the two that implies causality?

I think it's less biased to depict it as a Venn diagram showing an intersection of self-proclaimed Christians and dangerous people — no causality implied. Plus, it shows non-dangerous Christians and non-Christian dangerous people.

For context matching the thread title, from the NYT article:

Not much was known about the church’s need for secrecy, though it was intensely private: On Halloween, neighbors said the perimeter of the church — partially hidden by a tall, thick hedgerow — would sometimes be guarded by members, dressed in dark clothes, apparently to prevent vandalism or pranks.

[G-DDT]

^^^The Reverend from the adjacent Catholic church was right; that wasn't a Church of God. Because there should have been growth, not this decrepit, reclusive secrecy. The story about the wandering child outside of their compound was disturbing and difficult to believe anyone would ever make up.

At least most monks engage in charity, go on retreats, and sell homemade goods-yet, I guess these guys did have their bakesales. The Amish-though varying in degrees and ordinances-stay connected within a network of many other communities spread out geographically and have their goods to sell. They don't seem all that phased at looking at the T.V. when I would see them at the Greyhound stations in Syracuse or Cleveland.

[rb336]

Should they celebrate Easter - a holiday named after a pagan Germanic godless, and celebrated with pagan symbols of fecundity

[G-DDT]

^^^Don't blame you rb if you didn't read my lengthy take on how symbols/holidays change. A holiday is a holiday. Whether folks want to celebrate it or not, or whether other holidays are going to coincide with others...well, to each their own.

[G-DDT]

Hoping the shooting in Fort Myers at a ZombiCon that left one dead and 4 [[or 5?) injured wasn't by anyone demonstrating a fundamental backlash to the attacks done to Christians lately. There were hints that the locals and some religious folks were not happy with the festival. The last thing I'd like to see is an escalation [[or fabrication) of some violent war between faith and non-faith. I also hope social media doesn't turn a lot of yahoos [[and avid weapons-packing Walking Dead fanatics) into a bunch of crazed vigilantes looking for this suspect. For all we know, the event could've been a personal skirmish following a previous event or party.

The video is odd. People with already apprehensive looks. Grim Reaper "On Strike". Playboy bunny butt. Than four shots, people running and yelling "Oh sh*t!".