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Halloween

Discussion in '2003 Archive' started by Jailminister, Oct 31, 2003.

  1. Jailminister

    Jailminister New Member

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    Halloween
    Kid's Treat or Pagan Trick?
    Many Christians celebrate holidays, such as Halloween, without thinking about their origins or true meaning. It is impossible to separate Halloween from the Druids because they originated the "holiday."

    For several hundred years before Christ, the Celts inhabited what is now France, Germany, England, Scotland and Ireland. Celtic priests were called Druids. These people were eventually conquered by the Romans.

    Information about the Celts and Druids comes from Caesar and the Roman historians, Greek writings from about 200 B.C., and very early records found in Ireland. Greek and Roman writings about the Druids dwell heavily on their frequent and barbaric human sacrifices. The ancient Irish texts say little about human sacrifices, but detail the Druids' use of magic to raise storms, lay curses on places, kill by the use of spells, and create magical obstacles.


    Human Sacrifices

    Davies, however, a 16th century writer who traced his family lineage directly back to Druid priests who fought against Caesar, clearly describes the human sacrifices of his ancestors and the secret sacrifices still performed regularly by the Druids of his time.

    By 47 A.D., Rome finally defeated the Druids in England and outlawed human sacrifices. The few remaining Druids went underground.

    Today a growing group of people claiming to be of direct Druid descent, still practice their religion, including human sacrifice. Those in England still perform ceremonies at Stonehenge.


    November 1st was the Celtic new year.

    October 31st was celebrated by the Druids with many human sacrifices and a festival honoring their sun god and Samhain, the lord of the dead. They believed that the sinful souls of those who died during the year were in a place of torment, and would be released only if Samhain was pleased with their sacrifices.


    Monks Fascinated By Druids

    Irish records tell of the fascination the Catholic monks had with the powerful Druids, and Druids soon became important members of their monasteries. Pope Gregory the Great decided to incorporate the Druids' holiday into the church. He made the proclamation, "They are no longer to sacrifice beasts to the devil, but they may kill them for food to the praise of God, and give thanks to the giver of all gifts for His bounty." Pope Gregory III moved the church festival of October 31st to November 1st and called it All Hallows or All Saints' Day. Pope Gregory IV decreed that the day was to be a universal church observance. The term Halloween comes from All Hallows Eve.

    The founding fathers of America refused to permit the holiday to be observed because they knew it was a pagan holiday. Halloween was not widely celebrated in the U.S. until about 1900. In the 1840's there was a terrible potato famine in Ireland which sent thousands of Catholic Irish to America. They brought Halloween with them.

    The modern custom of going from door to door asking for food and candy goes back to the time of the Druids. They believed that sinful, lost souls were released upon the earth by Samhain for one night on October 31st while they awaited their judgment. They were thought to throng about the houses of the living and were greeted with banquet-laden tables. People greatly feared these spirits and thought that the spirits would harm and even kill them if the sacrifices they gave did not appease Samhain. They carved demonic faces into pumpkins or large turnips, placing a candle in them to keep the evil spirits away from their homes.

    The tradition of bobbing for apples and giving out nuts came from a Roman addition to the Druidic New Year’s eve. The Romans worshiped Pomona who was the goddess of the harvest. They combined their harvest festival to Pomona with Halloween.

    Very little archeological evidence of the Druids has been found, but there is excellent agreement between the Roman and Irish documents. Both clearly state that the knowledge of the Druids was never committed to writing but passed from generation to generation by oral teaching. This was to protect their secrets. In his writings, Davies indicates that he came under much persecution by his family for putting in writing his information about Druids. The same is true today. Nothing is put into writing. The Druids continue on secretly with much the same traditions.

    The widespread problem of harmful substances such as razor blades, drugs, poisons, needles, etc. being placed in the Halloween treats here in America is no accident. Testimonies of several ex-Satanists show that these children killed and injured by the "treats" are sacrifices to Satan (or Samhain). Satanists throughout the world continue to perform human sacrifices on Halloween.

    Is this something you want YOUR child to participate in?
     
  2. BrianT

    BrianT New Member

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    Redemption is a crucial theme of Christianity. The word "Halloween" means "hallowed evening", the evening before All Saints Day, a Christian celebration. The devil took it. Take it back. Redeem it.

    How Halloween Can Be Redeemed
     
  3. Mike McK

    Mike McK New Member

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    I hate Halloween but we have an annual party and I'm sort of expected to go so I grit my teeth and go.

    It was last Saturday and I was Jeckyll and Hyde.

    Glad it's over for another year.
     
  4. Pete Richert

    Pete Richert New Member

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    Wait a minute. Are you telling me we are NOT supposed to sacrifice humans tonight!
     
  5. Travelsong

    Travelsong Guest

    Not unless they are evolutionists.
     
  6. Mike McK

    Mike McK New Member

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    No, you're only supposed to sacrifice humans at rock concerts because we all know that's the Devil's music and that's what happens at rock concerts.
     
  7. Jailminister

    Jailminister New Member

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    Well MikeMc you got it. I can think of NO good that could happen at Rock Concerts.
     
  8. Brett

    Brett New Member

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    I'd like to see evidence that Satanists are sacrificing children on Halloween. I'd also like evidence that harmful candy is a "widespread" problem in the United States.

    Nevertheless, what does all the history have to do with Halloween now? No kid has any knowledge of or considers the history of Halloween when they go trick or treating.

    Travelsong, you'll have to remind me to laugh next time.
     
  9. Jailminister

    Jailminister New Member

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    Brett, Go ahead and celebrate halloween if you want to. Iam just warning you of the roots of it.

    PS just study it on you own and you will find that it is the christmas for satanist.

    The candy problem is always there. Read the paper tomorrow and Sunday morning.
     
  10. Mike McK

    Mike McK New Member

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    Really? You agree that human sacrifices happen at rock concerts? This is where I would normally insert a witty rejoinder but I'm speechless that someone would actually believe that.
     
  11. Mike McK

    Mike McK New Member

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    Wouldn't a Satanist, by nature, not celebrate Christmas?

    I wonder if Satanists say, "just study it on you own and you will find that it was originally a feast day in the Christian church to honor saints, martyrs and heroes of the faith" in order to discourage other Satanists from celebrating such a holy day?
     
  12. Brett

    Brett New Member

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    I don't celebrate it, and I'm not questioning the roots you posted. I'm just saying that for the vast, vast majority of people, Halloween has nothing to do with either Satanism, sacrifices, or Druids.
     
  13. Mike McK

    Mike McK New Member

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    Jailminister,

    I apologize. I understand that this is a very emotional issue and I shouldn't be making fun of you for believeing differently than I do. I tried to edit my post but it was too late.

    Anyway, a couple of things I'd like to bring to your attention.

    On the issue of "The widespread problem of harmful substances such as razor blades, drugs, poisons, needles, etc. being placed in the Halloween treats..." I would just suggest that this happens only a very few times each year out of millions of children.

    When you take the number of children trick or treating and multiply that by the number of candies per child, then divide that number by the number of incidences of tampered candy, we see that it's not widespread at all but, in fact very, very rare.

    As to the origins of Halloween, is there a pagan history to it? Yes, no one is arguing otherwise. Is there a Christian history, as well? Yes.

    If you're going to say that Halloween is evil because of it's pagan history, then you also have to say it's good because of it's Christian history.

    The history of something isn't what makes it good or bad. It's the intent behind the usage of it. Many of the same people who argue against Halloween also argue against Christmas and Easter, constantly reminding us that our word, "Easter" comes from the pagan word, "Ishtar".

    Do you believe that any good can come from a Christian celebration of the lives of martyrs and other heroes of the faith?
     
  14. Pastor Larry

    Pastor Larry <b>Moderator</b>
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    I don't have children, but I trick or treated when I was growing up and I can assure you that neither I, nor any my friends, participated in anything you have listed here. This is simply unimportant. For those who don't know, let me remind you that for most people, Halloween is about dressing up in make believe costumes of some sort or another and geting candy. The worst part of Halloween has nothing to do with anything you have listed. It has to do with the junk food your children are putting in their body. To focus on junk food, obesity, and out of shape children would be much more beneficial than focusing on something that no one even knows and therefore is not celebrating ...
     
  15. Clint Kritzer

    Clint Kritzer Active Member
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  16. Jim1999

    Jim1999 <img src =/Jim1999.jpg>

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    Would it be more acceptable if we called it Heckowe'en?

    Cheers,

    Jim
     
  17. Mike McK

    Mike McK New Member

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    Clint,

    Can you blame him? C'mon, if you were quoting something from Jack Chick, would you want people to know where you found it?
     
  18. Jailminister

    Jailminister New Member

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    Clint this material I posted is not copyrighted. It is available free. If we had to post every source I used then that is all that would be posted. Please use common sense.
    Now as far as as Jack Chick goes. I can think of no one that has been more dedicated to soul winning and telling the truth than he has.
     
  19. Clint Kritzer

    Clint Kritzer Active Member
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    Jailminister -

    This is not up for debate. Start posting your sources from now on or we will be forced to prevent you from posting. That is not our desire, but the site must protect itself in whatever way it can against any type of legal action.

    That IS common sense. Though I almost dread the answer, why would you have a problem posting a link to the site from which you cut the article? There is no free use clause on that page and on their home page there is a notation that reads as such:

    Again, this is not a topic for debate. Please see the agreement to which you subjected yourself upon registration:

     
  20. Jailminister

    Jailminister New Member

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    It is your board and so I will try. I am not lawless, but I just did not find that in on that page awhere use of the history of halloween had any restrictions.
     
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