tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1969853827792284452.post2010957879004988988..comments2023-07-16T07:06:46.209-07:00Comments on Barefoot Stories: The Halloween ConundrumThru a Tori-lenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14510894741605608131noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1969853827792284452.post-80663547069442793072011-11-12T04:41:12.163-08:002011-11-12T04:41:12.163-08:00Thanks for posting this! We had a beautiful exper...Thanks for posting this! We had a beautiful experience with Halloween this year and reading yoru experience reaffirms our "new way" of doing things.Mariannehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09071490157994717653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1969853827792284452.post-91291009536008855452010-11-01T21:27:13.844-07:002010-11-01T21:27:13.844-07:00Rachel- most Christians I know are pretty aware of...Rachel- most Christians I know are pretty aware of the difference between the satanism and paganism. I think the discussion about Halloween lies more around the idea of "appearance of evil" and the scariness of the holiday for little kids as well as the commercialism/greed aspect. However- you're exposed to the scary stuff at the grocery store, so what are you gonna do? And greed is worse at Christmas, IMHO. I'm sure Pagan families have to weigh the pros and cons of Halloween as much as Christian ones do, and they have made choices about how to celebrate each holiday as it comes up, just as Christians do. <br />Besides- I have several Pagan friends who are pretty cool peeps. ;)Thru a Tori-lenshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14510894741605608131noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1969853827792284452.post-61608501178181696952010-11-01T21:22:58.788-07:002010-11-01T21:22:58.788-07:00Katie- I get that- we don't watch any commerci...Katie- I get that- we don't watch any commercial t.v. at our house (we watch it all online or rent videos from the library). We do have a lot of control over how we choose to celebrate!Thru a Tori-lenshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14510894741605608131noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1969853827792284452.post-71610200075428564662010-11-01T20:35:47.512-07:002010-11-01T20:35:47.512-07:00I'm not really clear on what you are strugglin...I'm not really clear on what you are struggling with in this decision. It is not too difficult to have Halloween be a fun holiday for kids. I don't see what is objectionable. A a kid I always loved dressing up and trick or treating. It really is a nice way to meet/see neighbors. Yes, as a parent you have to set limits on what is too scary or too much candy for young kids. But if you are a parent then you are constantly setting limits on all kinds of things.<br /><br />I know there are some people who can't distinguish between pagans and "satanists." But I also know from your reference to "The Christians and the Pagans" song you are not one of them. Pagan Samhain (halloween) celebrations that I am familiar with include things like lighting a candle for loved ones who have died (especially in the last year), talking about the Persephone myth and eating pomegranate, and celebrating it as a new year. Also, most other general fall season fun can be included too. It's pretty tame, really. (I can't tell you much about "satanists" since I don't know any.)<br /><br />RachelAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1969853827792284452.post-30541131099023359062010-11-01T06:56:30.076-07:002010-11-01T06:56:30.076-07:00Great post, Tori. We had some of the same discussi...Great post, Tori. We had some of the same discussions at our house this year, too. I never went trick or treating as a kid and, so far, neither have our kids. This year we had our regular special Reformation service at church so it wasn't an issue, but we had decided not to participate. My main 2 reasons are that our kids are highly sensitive to sugar/candy and we are trying really hard to avoid it (they know it, too, and are pretty good about saying "no" to things) and that the whole American greed thing is something we'd like our kids to learn to avoid. We're also changing some things about Christmas this year in regards to teaching that as well, starting with no commercial TV (even the 1/2 hour they watch is filled with ads about toys, etc.).Katiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14214487731652175956noreply@blogger.com