We didn’t do trick or treating this year. We didn’t do it last year, either. Or the year before. Or the 20 years before that. We’ve never gone trick or treating and we never will. We won’t celebrate Halloween at all. The origins are rooted in the worship of pagan gods and the ghouls, gore, and rituals that have since been associated with it are not in keeping with our Christian principles.
You can argue that it’s robbing the kids of innocent fun such as dressing up in non-scary costumes and partaking of the goodies gleaned from a beggar’s romp through the neighborhood. You can argue that not everyone who celebrates Halloween worships pagan gods. But mixing with those who do lowers my family’s standards and condones the promotion of evil as something to be joked about. Evil is certainly no laughing matter, regardless of what forms it takes.
So, when the little (and sometimes big) ghosts and goblins come knocking at the door, we close the binds, disconnect the doorbell, turn on some music (or a football game) and do something together as a family. We might do a craft or make caramel apples. We might even carve artistic designs into pumpkins. Perhaps we’ll play a game or just hang out and read good books. Whatever we do, we do together.
And that’s how I deprive my kids.
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