Okay I know they don't celebrate Halloween but who here thinks the little girls would be the so cute in Halloween costumes? I DO!

Oh my cousin was raised Jehovah's Witness, broke away and is now a Presbyterian, recently had her first Halloween. Of course they didn't do anything "occultish" but she dressed her 2 year old in a bright red dragon suit, complete with spines and wings, and they visited a few of the neighbors for treats. It was honestly the cutest thing I've ever seen, and they just had the best time. Too bad Halloween is so tied up (for many christians) with the occult and devilish things, cause kids (and grown ups) need an excuse to dress up in crazy costumes and be generally silly!
It also seems like a good excuse to meet your neighbors.

I grew up trick or treating. Granted we never dressed up as ghouls or devils or anything but it was very much a part of my childhood and remains a part of my childrens lives as well.

I wish alot of Christians would drop the ridiculous notion that it is "of the devil". Maybe what it started as centuries ago did, but what we celebrate is just a wonderful childhood event (which many adults enjoy as much as the children).

My church calls our party a harvest party and they dress up but don't use the word halloween.

I think the whole pretense is silly. It's FUN.

Yes. I think there are a lot of cute little princess costumes, not to mention all the cute little animal costumes...bumble bees, lady bugs, puppy dogs, fuzzy bears. They are so cute on little toddlers!

We've always had Halloween in our house...it was never viewed as something bad. We had parties, went trick or treating with other kids, and when we got too old to go enjoyed watching scary movies with friends, or answering the door for the little kids. Even at work we dress up in costumes, have a lunch potluck, and just enjoy not being so serious.

My kids have always gone trick or treating, and usually end up being some kind of action hero like a power ranger or a star wars character. This year we are going to a "haunted house" This is a fundraiser for the girl scouts. We've never gone before, so the kids are pretty excited. If they like it, we'll head to another part of town and go to a "haunted forest" being sponsored by the band club to raise money for some trip they're going on.

Happy Halloween everyone!

My husband and I had a Halloween wedding. Nothing ghoulish, but the wedding party and guests wore costumes, the reception was decorated with carved pumpkins, fall flowers, and there was a costume contest. My husband and I dressed like a bride and groom, and we had matching costumes made for the flower girls. The rest of the wedding party wore whatever costumes they chose. It took the pressure off of me to find bridesmaid dresses, and it was cheaper for them. We had a blast!

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Originally posted by mom9900:
I grew up trick or treating. Granted we never dressed up as ghouls or devils or anything but it was very much a part of my childhood and remains a part of my childrens lives as well.

I wish alot of Christians would drop the ridiculous notion that it is "of the devil". Maybe what it started as centuries ago did, but what we celebrate is just a wonderful childhood event (which many adults enjoy as much as the children).

My church calls our party a harvest party and they dress up but don't use the word halloween.

I think the whole pretense is silly. It's FUN.

Yes, thank you! My hubby and I were talking about that earlier, that the roots of the holiday are long past, and Halloween today is about costumes and candy.

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Originally posted by Denny14:
My husband and I had a Halloween wedding. Nothing ghoulish, but the wedding party and guests wore costumes, the reception was decorated with carved pumpkins, fall flowers, and there was a costume contest. My husband and I dressed like a bride and groom, and we had matching costumes made for the flower girls. The rest of the wedding party wore whatever costumes they chose. It took the pressure off of me to find bridesmaid dresses, and it was cheaper for them. We had a blast!

That sounds like so much fun! Halloween is my favorite holiday. I start decorating the first of Sept. so I can enjoy all my cool decorations.

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Originally posted by arnaras:

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Originally posted by mom9900:
I grew up trick or treating. Granted we never dressed up as ghouls or devils or anything but it was very much a part of my childhood and remains a part of my childrens lives as well.

I wish alot of Christians would drop the ridiculous notion that it is "of the devil". Maybe what it started as centuries ago did, but what we celebrate is just a wonderful childhood event (which many adults enjoy as much as the children).

My church calls our party a harvest party and they dress up but don't use the word halloween.

I think the whole pretense is silly. It's FUN.

Yes, thank you! My hubby and I were talking about that earlier, that the roots of the holiday are long past, and Halloween today is about costumes and candy.

Yes it is. In fact I saw a clip last night on the new with Pat Robertson saying that all candy at Halloween was cursed by witches and demons and I just stood there with my mouth on the floor. I know he is on the complete fringe of the right but he is totally over the top with this one. It took me 2 hours to convince my kids that it wasn't true and he was just crazy. It's pretty wacked when you can't even flip thru the channels without having your kids hear that type of crap.

I love halloween, always have always will. I think those who think it is "of the devil" are just missing out on a lot of silly creative FUN!

In fact I just got home from a Halloween Parade (an annual event in our town) and my son rode on his football team's float. It was a blast watching all of the kids react to the parade.

Happy Halloween!

I also have some relatives & good friends who are Jehovah's Witnesses. After doing some of my own research, I learned that many "secular" holidays (as the Witnesses call them) really are rooted in Pagan origins. There is nothing Christian about them, not least of all is Christmas. I won't preach but read up on the origins of x-mas and I bet you'll be surprised. For that reason, and because I simply don't need the hassle, I don't celebrate Halloween and I do very little for x-mas. It's a hyped up holiday. I'm actually surprised at how many church denominations don't know the origins of the holidays.

All the holidays we celebrate started pagan. I still love them.

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Originally posted by mitsy12:
I also have some relatives & good friends who are Jehovah's Witnesses. After doing some of my own research, I learned that many "secular" holidays (as the Witnesses call them) really are rooted in Pagan origins. There is nothing Christian about them, not least of all is Christmas. I won't preach but read up on the origins of x-mas and I bet you'll be surprised. For that reason, and because I simply don't need the hassle, I don't celebrate Halloween and I do very little for x-mas. It's a hyped up holiday. I'm actually surprised at how many church denominations don't know the origins of the holidays.

What matters is what we celebrate (what we remember) in celebration of it. At Christmas we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. We remember his birth and in our family and church we exchange gifts as the wise men did long ago.

Same with Easter and so on.

It is what we choose to celebrate not what it started as centuries before.

And it brings us PRICELESSL family memories.

And as far as Christmas, our children make gifts for family members (homeade cookies and we give pictures of the kids to them in frames). We don't do the materialistic Christmas either. We give gifts from the heart.

The roots may be pagan, but they've elvolved into something else. I think holidays are what you make them to be. We choose to have fun and do a lot of nostalgic things to make them special. We've already had our first snowfall, and although we complain about the snow and the cold, it's nice to have a white Christmas. Hopefully it'll be the wet, heavy stuff that works great for snowball fights, snowman building and sledding!

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Originally posted by Michelle87:
All the holidays we celebrate started pagan. I still love them.

Oh yes. Christmas trees, wreaths, even the timing of Christmas are all pagan. Easter eggs, Easter rabbits, pagan again. Many of the saints? Olg pagan gods/goddesses converted over to Christianity. The list goes on and on.

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Written by Crabitha8675309:
The roots may be pagan, but they've elvolved into something else. I think holidays are what you make them to be. We choose to have fun and do a lot of nostalgic things to make them special. We've already had our first snowfall, and although we complain about the snow and the cold, it's nice to have a white Christmas. Hopefully it'll be the wet, heavy stuff that works great for snowball fights, snowman building and sledding!

I agree. So many holidays out there are evolved from older things, things that most people don't even know these days. To me, it's the modern incarnation that matters, not what it used to be.

I could do without the blood & stuff...I went out to a restaurant last night and some kid came in with his (fake) head in his hands

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Originally posted by mom9900:

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Originally posted by mitsy12:
I also have some relatives & good friends who are Jehovah's Witnesses. After doing some of my own research, I learned that many "secular" holidays (as the Witnesses call them) really are rooted in Pagan origins. There is nothing Christian about them, not least of all is Christmas. I won't preach but read up on the origins of x-mas and I bet you'll be surprised. For that reason, and because I simply don't need the hassle, I don't celebrate Halloween and I do very little for x-mas. It's a hyped up holiday. I'm actually surprised at how many church denominations don't know the origins of the holidays.

What matters is what we celebrate (what we remember) in celebration of it. At Christmas we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. We remember his birth and in our family and church we exchange gifts as the wise men did long ago.

Same with Easter and so on.

It is what we choose to celebrate not what it started as centuries before.

And it brings us PRICELESSL family memories.

And as far as Christmas, our children make gifts for family members (homeade cookies and we give pictures of the kids to them in frames). We don't do the materialistic Christmas either. We give gifts from the heart.

I agree. I wish a lot more people felt that way about Christmas.