All the horror and occult movies come out of the vault this time of the year as Halloween approaches. What is disconcerting to Christians in America is the profound changes in our culture relative to this ‘holiday’. Ghoulish obsession with everything scary and evil has become a mandatory part of the October experience.
I remember when it was merely one day when children would dress up as their favorite cartoon characters and go door to door begging for candy. Now it has become an industry all its own that seems to get bigger every year. Halloween has long been a favorite of the occult but now it has taken on an expanded role in the dominant culture.
Here are three articles demonstrating the effect and how much the occultic influence has entered into the mainstream, particularly during the Halloween ‘season’:
1. Poll: Belief in Ghosts and the Occult is Growing
According to this AP poll, 23% claim to have seen ghosts and 31% believe in them. 48% said they believe in ESP and 19% in the effectiveness of spells and witchcraft. 20% say they are at least somewhat superstitious.
This runs counter to the Christian world view that considers most of this phenomena as demonic activity.
Psychics, mediums, ghost whisperers, diviners, and fortune tellers have become common place on TV shows.
The Biblical Christian view is that Christians should not participate in these activities. It is subject to charlatans, flim flam artists, but also there is some authentic phenomena that comes from demonic sources.
3. Some Christian Responses to Halloween
Many churches are sponsoring ‘Harvest Festivals’ on Oct.31 as an alternative activity for Christian families. This article also tells about some churches who even join in the spirit of the night by putting up a ‘Hell House’ to scare folk into Heaven.
One way or another, Halloween has certainly become a bigger deal then it ever use to be and more folks are actually taking this stuff serious.