On Thursday 31 October, many churches will stage “light parties” as a “positive” alternative to Halloween. From their perspective, Halloween is spiritually dangerous: a gateway drug that can lead to full-on devil worship.
I used to believe that myself but, mercifully, I’ve long since been delivered from the curse of fundamentalism and the church I lead now actively embraces Halloween. So, each year, we throw open the doors of our none-more gothic building and invite the hundreds of little witches, vampires and werewolves who are already out trick or treating in the village to come in and take part in further fun activities such as apple-bobbing, a slimy lucky dip and (my favourite) spooky stories in the graveyard (by which I mean Peppa Pig’s Pumpkin Party, not Edgar Allan Poe).
I’m aware that this may horrify some of my fellow believers but churches should think this through: for me, the alternative is far worse. Hating Halloween, which is now a big event in our society, seems like an own goal for an organisation that is already struggling to attract younger people. And what’s the problem anyway? Whatever the roots of the festival, the contemporary ritual is really just an opportunity for children to dress up, eat lots of sweets and stay up late. And what could be more fun that?
Well, arguably, Christmas. But it’s worth remembering that Christians of the puritanical persuasion once had a problem with that too. They didn’t approve of all the merry-making so, between 1647 and 1660; it was against the law to celebrate Christmas.
Few Christians today would support such a Scrooge-like policy, with the Jehovah’s Witnesses being the obvious exception. They don’t allow their children to take part in any Christmas activities, which many people outside that particular group regard as unforgivable – with some warrant, in my opinion. But how is evangelical parents not letting their kids go trick or treating when all their friends are any different?
Obviously, there are safety issues to consider: young children need to be supervised by responsible adults, and residents who want to ignore the whole thing need to be left in peace and allowed to do so. However, those conditions are certainly met in Wye, as they were in my last parish in Battersea. Children are always accompanied by their parents and the golden rule, strictly observed, is that you only approach houses that have specifically invited trick-or-treaters by placing pumpkins in the window. So more sensitive souls aren’t disturbed by the doorbell ringing – or anything worse – and a good time is had by all.
Of course, to paraphrase the Holy Trilogy (yes, vicars watch Star Wars too), it may be that I am simply underestimating the power of the dark side. If there are, indeed, forces of evil, as the church has always claimed, can we really be so cavalier about them?
Well, for a start, I have more experience of the powers of darkness than the average person. Another national newspaper once claimed that I was a satanist before my conversion to Christianity and that isn’t entirely false. If listening to Black Sabbath while smoking a bit of hash makes you a satanist.
Having said that, I did stare deeper into the abyss than that and had experiences that, nearly 40 years later, I would still describe as supernatural. But even if you believe in a literal devil (and I’m aware that most people in this day and age don’t, preferring to see him or it as a mere symbol of human evil), authentic Christian theology has always insisted that God is infinitely more powerful and that the devil is nothing to be scared of. Indeed, some people, such as the evangelist Glen Scrivener, argue that, far from being anything sinister, children dressing up as ghosts and skeletons on Halloween is a continuation of the ancient Christian tradition of mocking death and all the powers of evil on All Hallow’s Eve before the celebration of eternal life on All Saints’ Day.
So, arguably, Halloween is a holy thing. And certainly, it’s wonderful to see hundreds of children in our church having a great time even if they are dressed as Dracula or Frankenstein’s monster. And with everything that’s going on in the world today, is that something to get hot under the collar about, whatever your beliefs?
Possibly. HL Mencken defined puritanism as “the haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy”. Some people won’t approve of my more cavalier approach – but the children will love it and, as Jesus said: “The Kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as them.”
Ravi Holy is the vicar of Wye in Kent, and a standup comedian
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