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Is it a case of her believing something different from what they believe, or is it a case of her not believing anything?

First of all, you don’t say what age your daughter is.
Second, your daughter needs to understand that her aunt’s family are entitled to be the way they are, and to have their own opinions. There is no right or wrong in this equation.
This doesn’t, however, entitle your sister to go out of her way to crush your daughter. If your sister chooses to continue to do so I would seriously think about finding other places to visit. If this turns out to be the case you might mention to your sister the reasons that you no longer visit.
She is the one that is depriving herself and her family of her niece’s visits, not you.
It is not your place to raise your sister’s children. It is not her place to raise your’s.

Allow your child to expand her imagination, it will only help her grow. A mind only works when it is open.

Being a witch for halloween is not really being a witch.

It’s a costume, it’s pretend. Thus, neither good nor bad. I can’t imagine it having any religious connotations. But…

If the argument is for against halloween, that’s another discussion entirely.

Just to add this thought:

No different than an actor portraying either a criminal or a priest in a television show or a movie.

Just have your daughter wiggle her nose and turn her cousin into a frog. That’ll teach him.

The Bible teaches us that Wiccan is evil. All who are Wicca were historically burned at the stake for their sins or thrown of cliffs. If they are innocent, God will save them.

Your Family was correct in condemning your daughter. The Bible is written by God and all it says is absolute Truth. Only through blind obedience and slavish adherence can you hope to achieve Spiritual Purity. Therefore you must follow the Bible and vote Republican to be a good Christian.

Aldous, I do hope that was tongue-in-cheek. If
not, I’ll be getting some eye of newt and tongue
of bat.

If your family gets upset about your daughter being a witch at Halloween there is not much you can do about it. Except perhaps suggest that she originally wanted to be Hillary Clinton, from the sounds of it? They might feel the witch is a better choice.

It’s rather silly of them to get upset about anything she wants to be for Halloween. Now, if she told them that when she grows up she wants to be a witch? Then while it would still be silly given how many times children decide what they want to be when they growup, it would at least be un-related to a Holiday when alot of people dress up as Witches.

My youngest wants to be a geisha girl…want to trade?

:-)

Considering that the entire holiday is based on the antiquated belief that dressing up like something scary will scare away the real “evil”, dressing up like a witch is not so bad.
Probably not something that your daughter will want to explain to an elder, and it’s also probably not the reason she is going to be costumed as a witch, but it’s something that your sister should be made aware of.
Dressing up in such a manner was originally considered to be for good, and not evil. It’s not extolling the virtues of witches. It’s the exact opposite.
On the other hand, your sister may disagree with Halloween entirely, in “witch” case the discussion is probably on more of a basic level as to whether or not it should be celebrated. But if your sister celebrates it in any way, then she is guilty of the same sin for which she would condemn others.
So, in for a penny, in for a pound. Either celebrate it and scare away the meanies, or don’t celebrate it at all.

Sounds like my family. Knowing what to do as a parent can’t be easy for either you or your sister in such circumstances, but it sounds like you have a healthy attitude of respect for each other (I mean, you’re still visiting each other), so things should be okay.

It sounds to me like a situation where the “house rules” in either place should be respected as long as they don’t conflict with anybody’s values. Since the disagreements seem to center on religion, you probably shouldn’t take your daughter dressed up as a witch to their house (not that you would). But your daughter shouldn’t be forced to say prayers or attend Sunday School when visiting them if she doesn’t want to either. These things, in my experience, tend to resolve themsevles amicably as long as people communicate honestly and don’t let themselves get unnecessarily pissed off.

Also, things probably won’t get really tense in the family until the day when your sister’s son decides to dress up like a ghoul on Halloween himself—or comes home with tattoos, body piercings, and a Goth girlfriend! Or if your daughter becomes a Born Again Christian. Ah, family life. Such incredible drama.

Family is more important than a halloween constume. I would just get a different constume, or have a different costume for the family to see. I would pick a different battle. Halloween is about candy, neighbors and walking safely around in the dark. Personally I wouldn’t sweat it.

Craig

Carla:

Fight over something important like whose side of the family your are going to spend the holidays with first. Or whose family is more interfering or something.

Actually, the Halloween costume would make a good episode on “Everybody Loves Raymond”.

Families!!!

Craig

Unfortunately, there none more full of hate & malice as many modern day christians. Always on crusade they are; destruction of thought not congruent to their own. Perhaps you should remind them of the story of the good Samaritan from Jesus’ own teachings. Where is compassion in the intoleration of difference? The root of such is fear. Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering. None so blind are they who will not see.

Dressing as a witch is not so bad when she could do worse, like dressing to like an ignorant fool, just get Aldous to send a photo so that your daughter gets the costume right.

“My daughter is very sensitive to their beliefs and doesn’t wish to offend.”
Did she learn this from you?
I ‘offend’ people all the time. Not intentionally. I forget that I am ONLY supposed to talk about cookies and church meetings.
The worst thing to do is question someone about going to church - and don’t mention that there are good and bad who go to church, the same as good and bad who don’t go. Especially don’t say that to the woman down the street who chases the Jehovah’s Witness out of her yard with the broom!
Sounds like your sister & family would just love the neighborhood I live in. The church goers here won’t let their kids play with the evil kids who don’t attend church at least weekly.
Our kids are not allowed to dress up at school. The kindergarteners were the only ones allowed 3 years ago. Now they have to dress up the same - school mascot.
No longer are they allowed to wear those evil costumes BUT when one walks into the school they have decorated the halls with all the EVILS of Halloween - bats,witches,black cats etc…. and HAPPY Halloween signs!

Especially don’t say that to the woman down the street who chases the Jehovah’s Witness out of her yard with the broom!

Is she riding it at the time?

Funny.
… but with her BLACK hair and all that makeup she wears….

Carla, I have had similar experiences with my kids and the kids in the neighborhood. Whether it’s religion, politics or whatever, I tell them the same thing. Be polite, be respectful, but stand up for what you believe. It’s o.k. in this world for people to have different beliefs. If your relatives can’t deal with that, it’s their problem and not your child’s. Your daughter will be better off in the long run if she’s taught to stand for what she believes versus attempting to “keep peace”.

Carla,

Just a couple of quick thoughts. First, I might use this as an opportunity to allow your daughter to explore and share her own feelings, values and beliefs in this area. Perhaps by asking her whether SHE thinks that people have to believe any particular way in order to be a good person, how she feels when people accuse her of being “evil” for wearing a costume, whether she thinks that makes someone “evil,” etc. If she can explore and share her feelings with you on these topics, she’s much more likely to feel confident in herself when she has to face the topic with her cousin.

Some other possible topics you could explore (depending on her age, your comfort level, etc.) — is the Bible infallible or capable of error (e.g., is it a “FAX from heaven” or at least partially a product of human creation); how do we balance respect for someone’s feelings with standing up for her own beliefs?

In general, I would try to see this as an opportunity to work with your daughter in teaching her resiliency in the face of possible conflict — and the fine art of dealing with someone respectfully while nonetheless disagreeing with them. I might even practice this with her by having a silly discussion with you over some topic you might disagree about (e.g., what is the best kind of ice cream?) These kinds of skills will serve her well, I’m sure, in many situations in life.

Have your daughter ask the nephew to step closer and repeat his point. Then, instruct your daughter to whack him in the head with her broom. Your daughter will make her counterpoint remembered always and, you may not get invited back anymore.

Holloween is on the eve of the Cathloic holliday of All Saints Day. It (Holloween) is supposed to be the day when all the evil things from hell come out and go around trying to ‘steal’ souls for the devil. It is also the most ‘holy’ day of the year for devil worshipers. Most of these people consider themselves whitches or warlocks and think that the more evil they do, particularly on holloween, the more they’re pleaseing Satan.
If you want your kids to dress up like this bunch of kooks, more power to you. If you don’t mind your kids taking part in activities that worship the devil, more power to you.
I sure don’t want my kids or grandkids doing this.
Check any book in the library dealing with whichcraft and Satan worship if you don’t believe me. And remember, these books were written by wcitches, warlocks and Satan worshipers.

Ron, I agree with you 100%.

Let’s start a pool on how long it will take someone to respond with some reference to how Halloween is Bush’s favorite day or, the secret celebrations in the basement of the White House on that day or, the ultimate, “I wonder if GOD talked to Bush about Halloween”.

I have a similar situation. My wife’s family believes the Harry Potter is pure evil and my wife thinks that people who play DnD will go to hell. Stupid, I know, but there’s absolutely no way of proving them wrong because they’ve proclaimed those things “against God” and that’s the end of the discussion. Being a Christian myself it’s doubly embarassing.

Yeah good point Ron. It seems obvious that trick or treating leads to devil worship. They can have it.

Ron, I’m sorry, but the historical significance of Halloween is “All Hallows Eve,” the evening before All Saints Day—when the church (in England, it was the Anglican church, precursor to the Episcopal Church, not the Catholic Church) celebrated saints who had died. “On 31st October, the eve of All Saints Day, the people of England celebrate Hallowe’en, or All Hallows’ (meaning hallowed or holy) Eve.”

“In ancient Britain this date was the pre-Christian eve of the New Year and Celtic Harvest Festival, when the souls of the dead were thought to revisit their homes to eat and drink. People left refreshments on the table and unlocked their doors before retiring for the night, then bells were rung, fires lit to guide the returning souls back to earth and animals were brought in for the winter.” [http://englishculture.allinfoabout.com/features/halloween.html]

Its history is similar to the Mexican celebration of “Dia de los Muertos” [day of the dead]. “The Days of the Dead, celebrated throughout Mexico, coincide with the Christian All Souls and All Saints days, November 1 and 2nd. People who have died in the past year are remembered, their pictures placed on family altars and special food and drink are offered for the souls of the departed.” [http://www.mexconnect.com/mex_/dayofdead.html]

It is odd that a large segment of our society has made this wonderful holiday, where we remember the times we have had with our departed loved ones, into a “goulish” celebration, and that Christians are ignorant of its true origins.

So, Ron Brown and Tim have very different explanations regarding Halloween. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

Good Morning All:

Carla, I have had similar experiences with my kids and the kids in the neighborhood. Whether it’s religion, politics or whatever, I tell them the same thing. Be polite, be respectful, but stand up for what you believe. It’s o.k. in this world for people to have different beliefs. If your relatives can’t deal with that, it’s their problem and not your child’s. Your daughter will be better off in the long run if she’s taught to stand for what she believes versus attempting to “keep peaceâ€.

Posted by: Dennis at October 11, 2005 10:12 AM

Truer words have never been written or spoken. This is Afterall A country where “we have freedom of religion, A right to OUR own beliefs”. It takes a LOT, excuse me “A WHOLE LOT OF COURAGE TO STAND UP FOR WHAT YOU BELIEVE IN, WHEN FACED WITH OPPOSITION AT EVERY TURN”. You have done a mighty job Carla, You have shown your daughter that it is alright to have an Opinion of her own. That it is okay, to not share the beliefs of others. I have a dear friend, who now lives in Michigan. He and his wife are deeply religious, BUT they have never given me ANY grief over my beliefs that aren’t even close to THEIRS, They are true friends, they even ask me if it is ok to pray for me, could I ask for any Better FRIENDS? The Answer……NO.

As Always,
Wayne

The majority of Christians ascribe no doctrinal significance to Halloween, treating it as a purely secular entity devoted to celebrating imaginary spooks and handing out candy. The secular celebration of Halloween may loom larger in contemporary imagination than does All Saints’ Day.

The mingling of Christian and pagan traditions in the development of Halloween, and its real or assumed preoccupation with evil and the supernatural, have left many modern Christians uncertain of how they should react towards the holiday. Some fundamentalist and evangelical believers consider Halloween a pagan or Satanic holiday, and refuse to allow their children to participate. In some areas, complaints from fundamentalist Christians that the schools were endorsing a pagan religion have led the schools to stop distributing UNICEF boxes at Halloween.

Other Christians, however, continue to connect the holiday with All Saints Day. Some modern Christian churches commonly offer a “fall festival” or harvest-themed alternative to Halloween celebrations. Still other Christians hold the view that the holiday is not Satanic in origin or practice and that it holds no threat to the spiritual lives of children — being taught about death and mortality actually being a valuable life lesson.

Ironically, considering that most fundamentalist sects are Protestant in nature, many Protestant denominations celebrate October 31 as Reformation Day, which commemorates the October 31, 1517 posting of Martin Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses. Many mainline churches and religious schools, particularly Lutheran ones, meld the two holidays without worrying about “Satanic influences.”

The same source also confirms the celtic new years origins. But Ron Brown is correct that some religions such as Wiccan or satanism will put a more religous lean to the holiday. (I personally don’t think that makes the holiday itself satanic)

I Forgot this:
Can you imagine a sight more scary than this:

Opening your door on Halloween and finding, “Evangelical Christians”.

Scary Thought isn’t it?

Or “EVEN MORE SCARY”

Having your son or daughter Knock on the door of “Evangelical Christians” looking for a treat only to be offered a “Bible”. SCARY THOUGHT isn’t it.

As Always,
Wayne

Carla:

One side of my family is is conservatively Christian, while the other side of my family is relatively agnostic. Both sides have strong beliefs about their positions, and both sides have well educated and intelligent people.

What I’ve found is that were either side to “push” their beliefs on the other, that would lead to arguments. But what both sides have done is to explain their beliefs, their rationale and their supporting thoughts. Both sides are then free to better understand the other, while not necessarily agreeing.

I’d suggest that this is a good opportunity for you and your daughter to explore different thoughts. Allow her to reach her own decisions, with your guidance of course, since you have the benefit of life experience on your side. Don’t allow her to be bullied into an opinion, and don’t fall into the trap of “helping” her to only see the benefits of your thought process. It’s easy to do, but doesn’t help out really.

Having a better understanding of what people truly believe, as opposed to the stereotypes that abound, is a great thing. It will help your daughter and you have a clearer rationale for your own beliefs.

A couple of the “weird” things about Halloween are :

1. The actual day of Halloween is determined by each locality. There is of course an actual Halloween Day but, towns will decree what day and for how long kids can go trick or treating.

2. Trick or treating has become a science. There are drivers and walkers. Cars full of kids from neighborhoods that are miles away come into a “strange” neighborhood and cruise around dropping off and picking up kids so that they get the best coverage of houses.

3. Infants that have to be carried are trick or treating.

4. Costumes are not even required.

5. This is my favorite. TRICK no longer has any meaning. If you say TRICK, the kid has no idea what you are talking about.

Pass these TRICKS on to your kids :

A. Ring the bell, hide and throw water balloons
B. Set a bag of animal poop on fire at the door
c. Lubricate someones doorknob
D. Put a potato in someones muffler

“Pass these TRICKS on to your kids”

Steve, in these liberal PC times, those things are all considered crimes. Are you trying to get my kids arrested for assault? :)

To kids, Halloween mean candy and Christmas means presents.
The adults are the ones who need to get over their “not being treated fairly” mentality.
If somebody is intolerant for not respecting your views the way you think they should, are you not just as intolerant and closed minded for not respecting their views in the way they think you should?

kctim,

The tricks wont get them arrested. They will just be held at the scene until Mom or Dad comes to get them. Can’t kids have fun anymore?

Carla:

“My daughter is very sensitive to their beliefs and doesn’t wish to offend.â€

This is a beautiful statement and reflects beautifully upon you.

I don’t think you have anything to worry about. She will express herself while being respectful of the opinions of others. Let her do it her own way.

From the little you told us I can see that you are a great mother!

Steve,
Don’t count on the kids not getting arrested.
Last year some kids from my town went to the local college town and pulled off a few tricks like you suggested. The police were called and the kids were all arrested and charged with vandalism. It seems that it’s not PC to do tricks on holloween.
So in answer to your question. NO! kids cann’t have any fun anymore. It’s not PC.

Wayne,
Most ‘Evangalical Christians’ or anyone else that doesn’t want to particapate in holloween won’t have their porch light on. This lets the kids know not to go to that house.
In the case that someone is giving out something that the kids won’t want (like your example of being offerd a Bible) the kid intel network will get the word out and kids will stop going there.

I personally don’t particapate in holloween, and never have. And neither have my kids or grandkids.
But I’m not going to tell anyone not too.
While most families in our church don’t particapate there’s a family that lets their kids tick or treat. It’s a choise that the kids parents need to make AND ONLY THEM.

BTW Steve, Tim is correct that the Celtic celebrated the day.
It’s also true that it is a ‘holy day’ for the Satanist.

Steve:

What do you do when your kids ring/knock at someones door and the homeowner in a “Bozo the Clown”(R) Costume sneaks up behind the kids and says “Trick” and squirts the kids with SillyString(R). I always thought that the homeowner decided what to give out. Obviously, This is intended for the older children ONLY. Have a Candy Bowl Filled for the little ones, AND if you have little ones, “DO NOT LET THEM EAT ANYTHING BEFORE YOU HAVE INSPECTED THEIR HAUL.” Let us all have a Safe, Spooky, and Special Night, For the children.

Happy Halloween Everyone

Wayne

Ron Brown & others I mave have put in distress:

The bible quote from me was purely in jest. If I have offended anyone, Please Accept my apologies.

As Always,
Wayne

Dressing up as a witch with an Anne Coulter mask would really be good. Anyway it’s a big improvement over hiphuggers with their belly and asscrack showing, which is a costume I’ve seen too often. I live in the land of Condos and Old People, where Haloween is only for parties and school.

The stories about candy being poisoned and all that nonsense are urban legends trotted out by the news media every year. The only kids who were ever hurt by halloween treats were harmed by their own families.

The same source also confirms the celtic new years origins. But Ron Brown is correct that some religions such as Wiccan or satanism will put a more religous lean to the holiday. (I personally don’t think that makes the holiday itself satanic)

Here is a good explanition about how Wiccans feel about Halloween: The Truth About Halloween

Wayne,
I’m not that thin skined. You used it and it was a good example of something that most kids don’t want so I used it.

Ronnie,
Intresting post.

Did this really happen, because I’m not buying it. Can’t as a witch for halloween. Whats next don’t dress as superman because he has powers not granted by god.

Steve:

The following could never ever happen now, but in its day, it was hilarious.

My high school chemistry teacher told his students for weeks that he was going to be out of town over Halloween, so he wouldn’t be giving out candy. He also told them they better not do anything like soap the windows on his second car, which he left in the driveway. Naturally, many kids implemented plans to soap the windows on his car, which was the teacher’s plan.

Around his car, he liberally spread a chemical (I barely passed his class so I have no idea of the chemical) that when crushed and exposed to oxygen bursts into a small flame. He then videotaped kids sneaking up to his car, and then running as their feet appeared to catch on fire.

By the way, the flames extinguished themselves very quickly so there was virtually no chance of danger to the kids.

I thought his “trick” was hilarious, but today, he’d lose his job and face lawsuits. The good old days were better.

I’m with Dennis and Wayne,
I believe it’s very important to encourage your children to think for themselves and to then express what they think — and of course, the way they go about doing so need not be in an overtly rude or antagonistic way — but it is important that they learn to stand against the tide of someone elses opinion whenever and wherever necessary.

I also agree with Steve Westby:
“First, I might use this as an opportunity to allow your daughter to explore and share her own feelings, values and beliefs in this area.”

Absolutely. Situations like this one are actually a great chance to make her think for herself and examine her own reasoning processes.

“If she can explore and share her feelings with you on these topics, she’s much more likely to feel confident in herself when she has to face the topic with her cousin.”

Yes, indeed if she is old enough, she might even debate her cousin after thinking her thoughts on this subject through. What better place to learn how to do this than within the family? After all, you’re always going to see them again, which means such a discussion could be the perfect exercise in articulating her opinions and feelings about something while maintaining her temper AND using her manners.

“In general, I would try to see this as an opportunity to work with your daughter in teaching her resiliency in the face of possible conflict — and the fine art of dealing with someone respectfully while nonetheless disagreeing with them. I might even practice this with her by having a silly discussion with you over some topic you might disagree about (e.g., what is the best kind of ice cream?) These kinds of skills will serve her well, I’m sure, in many situations in life.”

I couldn’t agree more.

I also agree with Paul who said:
“From the little you told us I can see that you are a great mother!”

It’s true, just the fact that you are thinking about how your sisters family’s attitudes may affect your daughter shows that you are an excellent Mom!

Ron Brown:
“If you want your kids to dress up like this bunch of kooks, more power to you. If you don’t mind your kids taking part in activities that worship the devil, more power to you.
I sure don’t want my kids or grandkids doing this.
Check any book in the library dealing with whichcraft and Satan worship if you don’t believe me. And remember, these books were written by wcitches, warlocks and Satan worshipers.”

That’s some way to suck the joy out of life there, Ron. Most kids don’t have a clue as to the Devil worshipping aspect of the day unless you drill it into their heads that this is what Halloween is. To most kids, its a day to dress up however they want and have tons of fun getting scared at creepy stuff.

“BTW Steve, Tim is correct that the Celtic celebrated the day.”

Yes, it was one of the Celts two major fire festivals — the other is Beltane (first of May, also known as May Day). They burned things in huge bonfires as symbols of doing away with evil — during pagan times, they burned human and animal sacrifices, later, effigies were burned instead.
It was also a great excuse to have a ceilidh (party with music and dancing) and knock back a few drams with yer clansmen — in fact, it still is… Slainte Mhath!

jbod,

Bring back the good old days.

Dress up like a vampire, sit completely still on your front lawn like you were part of a display, when kids come up, jump up and go BOO!!!!!

Then give them a treat.

We did similar tricks dressing up as jack-o-lanterns and having the bowl of candy in our lap.

Having raised (okay…managed to survive) four kids, I can empathize with the struggles that all parents encounter. You’re always concerned about their health and safety, of course, and you also do all you can to instill in them some solid principles that will equip them to be well adjusted and productive adults.

But after reading and re-reading your post, and then checking the link to your earlier post, it seems to me that you might want to consider a few things:

You state that your family and your sister’s family hold different beliefs regarding ethical and moral issues. Fair enough, but why do you describe their beliefs as intolerant and closed minded? Since each family apparently rejects the beliefs (or unbeliefs) of the other, why do you apply those terms only to your sister’s family and not your own? As a practical matter, are you any more open minded on these issues than she?

You encouraged your daughter to tell her cousin about things that she believes in, or at least the things that she doesn’t see anything wrong with. Can’t argue with that, as long as she also understands that she’s treading on someone else’s belief system. At the same time, she should certainly not object if her cousin wants to share what he believes in also. If relatives can’t discuss things they disagree on (Is there any other kind of family conversation??) then you and your sister may as well just put each other on your do-not-call list.

When your daughter asked you what to do if her aunt gets upset with her for telling her cousin something that she doesn’t want him to believe, you said to let you know and you’d talk to her. Why not just talk to her about this specific issue before it escalates to crisis level? If you already know it’s going to be a problem, why not make the attempt to head it off?

It sounds like there’s probably more going on here than just a disagreement over some silly halloween costume. I think you and your sister need to sit down and sort out some things like two open minded, tolerant, reasonable grownups. This goes well beyond, and is far more important than, simply disagreeing who should run the country.

Aldous,

Can you truely say that you are rightious?
What does Thou shalt not kill, Thou shall love thy enemy and thou shall love thy neighbor mean to you? What about one of Jesus’ deciples turning a stick into a snake? Would that not be considered witchcraft? God destroyed all of man and realized that it was wrong, therefore recreated man to live no matter how corrupt. Is “GOD” really perfect in every way?
Remember Genisis? Does it not speak of our creation coming from inbreeding? Read it closely if you disagree, it is all there. Inbreeding is a gainst the law. Does this mean the bible holds the truth about what is right or wrong? The Bible when read closely and paid attention to completely contradicts itself. Why? Because it has been corrupted itself by several interpreters who placed their own beleifs into the Bible. How many times has the Bible been re-written? How many versions are there?
Remember about the devil coming in form of good only to steal those who beleive in God? Is the Republican party who put us into almost a $1,000,000,000,000 deficit really of good?
Do they not say what we can or can’t do with ourselves?
Isn’t that Government controlling citezens?
That is against the constitution.
Is the government not giving charity to Religious organizations?
Again against the constitution.

If you Truely believe in such people then you are a fool.

12 characteristics of a “TRUE CHRISTIAN”

1. Love all neighbors
2. Be accepting of all who surround you
3. Give no prejudice onto others
4. Help those who are in need
5. Sarifice all you have for God
6. Devout you’re entire life to God
7. Never merry and follow all that God asks of you
8. Never kill anything as God will give you food
9. Never drink as God will replentish you
10. Give up all material posessions for the good of God.
11. Never do harm onto others.
12. Love your Enemies.

Does the Republican party follow at least one of these? If so, which ones?
Can you honestly say that BUSH is a Devout Christian?

Do you ever listen for God to speak to you?

I have. I am not even considered a Christian.

I was able to help a Devout Isreali Muslum to forgive the Pakistanians for slaughtering thousands of his people. I was able to help him realize that his standing on the corner of the street yelling “All Pakistanians must die for killing my family and destroying their beleifs!” was only going to bring further hatred and war.

I tought him forgiveness and showed him hope.
He felt I was an Angel from GOD.
You do not have to be a so called labeled christian to have the Holy Spirit speak through you. Most christians are fake anyway and are blind because they beleive more in the church and the pastor more than the real word of god.
I have met a total of 2 real christians in my life.
Reading the bible every day and going to church every sunday does not make you Christian.
You must cleans your soul every day of hatred, fear, loneliness, anger, spite, etc. Not just be baptised and say you are free from sin.
The truth is your sins will never leave you, this is why you must listen for God or “The Divine” as I like to call the higher power/s to guide you through life’s hardest hours.

Never Give in to what others tell or preach to you as being the right way.
Always shut everything out when you are uncertain and listen to your soul. There is where all your answers will be.

Ron Brown,

Please Please Please,

Before saying such ignorance be sure to further study. Sahween is the real holiday. It was celebrated by the Pagans. It was celebrated in a very similar way as Mexico’s “Day of The Dead”.
Also as a matter of fact. Catholics slaughtered hundreds of thousands of these pagans and decalaired it a day for the saints. So if you want to look at it as a day of the saints then you are celebrating ignorant murderers who are just as evil as SATAN!
It was then changed yet again to Holloween by the “CHRISTIAN” faith to dress up as your fears and use that to scare away demons who would try to take your soul.

Mike:
“Sahween is the real holiday.”

Actually Mike, the holiday was called “Samhain”, but the way you spelled it is in fact, the way the word is pronounced.

Adrienne,

You are absolutely right. Still the same holiday though. I am not perfect and openly admit it. LOL
Who is though?
Not being perfect is what makes life interesting. ;)
I must say, you are one smart cookie! :) I like you!

Considering the origins of Halloween, I don’t see a problem with it. It’s the PC police and the religious right who don’t understand it. Here’s an excerpt from just one website:

The word itself, “Halloween,” actually has its origins in the Catholic Church. It comes from a contracted corruption of All Hallows Eve. November 1, “All Hollows Day” (or “All Saints Day”), is a Catholic day of observance in honor of saints. But, in the 5th century BC, in Celtic Ireland, summer officially ended on October 31. The holiday was called Samhain (sow-en), the Celtic New year.

One story says that, on that day, the disembodied spirits of all those who had died throughout the preceding year would come back in search of living bodies to possess for the next year. It was believed to be their only hope for the afterlife. The Celts believed all laws of space and time were suspended during this time, allowing the spirit world to intermingle with the living.

Naturally, the still-living did not want to be possessed. So on the night of October 31, villagers would extinguish the fires in their homes, to make them cold and undesirable. They would then dress up in all manner of ghoulish costumes and noisily paraded around the neighborhood, being as destructive as possible in order to frighten away spirits looking for bodies to possess.

More at this site:
http://wilstar.com/holidays/hallown.htm

Mike:
“Not being perfect is what makes life interesting. ;)”

Oh, I definitely agree! (And it’s a handy outlook too, seeing as I’m far from perfect! :^)

“I must say, you are one smart cookie! :) I like you!”

Aw! That’s nice of you to say — but don’t be too impressed. I’ve heard alot and read quite a bit about celtic history because half of my family is Highland Scottish. It was expected of us kids to know all about where we’d come from and take our measure of pride in it.

“So on the night of October 31, villagers would extinguish the fires in their homes, to make them cold and undesirable.”

Right, keeping the dead and evil spirits out of the house was considered of highest importance because they thought that the departed could return home on that day — missing the warmth and the people they’d enjoyed there when they were still alive. That’s why they had the bonfires out on the hillsides or on a cleared patch of moor — as far as they might put themselves from where they lived.
Interesting fact I remember reading about this is that the spark that started the fires (both on Samhain and Beltane) traditionally had to be “new”. That means that rather than just keeping a candle lit from their hearth fire, they they had to start it totally and literally from scratch — by friction and then a bit of dry moss or bark thrown on to catch the flame (in Gaelic it’s called a forced or “need” fire: tein eigin). Then with that, they’d light the massive piles of fuel gathered for the bonfire that was meant to burn for most of the night.
Afterward, when they returned to their homes in the wee hours, they’d bring a lit torch back with them to kindle the fires on their hearths. That was considered good luck for the New Year, as all the evil/dead folk that had been lurking around earlier would have been sent on their way.

I’ve always enjoyed how Celtic people like their good luck traditions, and protective omens and talismans, and how often they’ve managed to cling to a lot of them despite their sometimes very strict and pious adherence to their Catholic or Protestant faiths. It’s like they don’t like to give very much up, but would rather just keep adding on to their traditions instead.
Take the Celtic Cross for example — the center circle is the pagan symbol, and rather than do away with it completely, they just put it at the apex of the cross — which transformed it into a combined symbol of their past and present faiths.

I haven’t read all the replies, so I hope I don’t replicate anyone’s, but I had just one comment. Now don’t mistake me for someone on the religious right or something like that, not that it would (or rather should) mater. It seems to me that there is a genetic problem with illiberality in your family. You claim, perhapse rightly, that your sister is being intolerent in her beliefs, but fail to analyze your own suppossedly open-mindedness, at least in your post. You say your daughter understands what your niece’s beliefs are and that they should be open-minded and try to understand yours. However, it is one thing to acknowledge another’s beliefs and another to be open-minded about them. You acknowledge that their family believes witches are evil, but a priori discount their beliefs as being spurious. That is not being open minded, especially for your daughter who probablly did not grow up religiously as I might assume you did. The fact is that witches could concievably be evil or wish to be evil or be ambasadors of evil and that dressing up as a witch or pretending to be a witch may be bad as it would be support for these things. While I think it unlikely, and yet impossible to prove, and you do as well, has your daughter acctually had the chance to decide for herself or have you decided for her. Like it or not, there is a very sizable portion of the US population, not to mention world wide population, who do believe things contrary to our “educated” beliefs. Is it not arogant to assume that we know beter than all of them?
Now that I have read over the other replies I find that Owl Creak Observer already made this point. I can only hope I have elucidated it more.

Mike,

Just curious how you came to the never marry conclusion.

Dear SirisC,

Jesus said to his deciples to leave everything behind and follow him and his teachings. He did give them a choice. They either become his devout followers and learn from his teachings and spread it on to others or stay behind and have family, marry, conceive, etc.

Therefore, Jesus did not want his followers to marry. He wanted faithful desciples who would carry his every word from territory to territory without question or doubt. It is all there in the Bible.

This is where I received the conclusion from.