Has Halloween sparked up controversy?

To be honest, I just don't do Halloween and haven't since I was 13 (now 16,) and the last two Halloweens I was happy not not really be involved. There are religious parts of it, which is the night before All Saint's day, but the way you usually think of Halloween may be evil.

The Catholic Church did not adopt any pagan hoilday:

"The belief that Halloween is pagan in origin is a myth. Many neo-pagan websites claim that it was an attempt by early Christians to “baptize” the Gaelic harvest festival of Samhain. Because of this persistent myth, some Christians are hesitant to participate in anything associated with Halloween.

Like other claims that Catholicism adopted pagan practices and beliefs, this myth is also based on bad research and propaganda that developed after the Protestant Reformation. Given the contempt of the reformers for the Catholic doctrine of purgatory and prayers for the dead, this development is not surprising.

The origins of Halloween are not rooted in pagan rituals.

According to the Original Catholic Encyclopedia, “Gregory III (731-741) consecrated a chapel in the Basilica of St. Peter to all the saints and fixed the anniversary for 1 November.”

While this date had become significant for the Christians in the West, it was not yet a universally recognized feast. Sixty years later, Pope Gregory IV commanded that All Saints be observed everywhere annually on the first day of November.

All Hallowe's eve is part of the celebration of the feast day All Saints Day

http://www.catholic.com/blog/jon-sorensen/hallowee...

It has been since God caused the flood to kill the wicked people in Noah's day and cause the demons to go back into spirit bodies. So they made humans celebrate it since the beginning of that time. The mask symbolizes the fact the spirit persons in a human body was a costume. Jack as the story goes was thrown out of heaven to wander the earth carrying a jack O'Latern. For a while it was called All saints day them thinking they were saints. Which they are not. Then the Soul is the body, so they called it All souls day for the human body they resided in. So this same day is celebrated today calling it Halloween. I think that is another language or name for worship of the demons. The mask is also hiding the fact they were wicked spirit persons. It has been common for those who worship Satan to cover their face with a mask or cloth covering. We see them in cloaks or masks that cover their whole head.

Halloween was never a pagan holiday.

"Hallow" is Old English for "Holy" as in "hallowed be Thy name." Halloween is actually like Christmas Eve. The night before a Christian holy day. It is the "Eve of All Saint's Day" or "All Hallows Eve" or "Halloween."

Pope Boniface IV created the festival of All Saints on May 13 in 609 or 610 (we are not sure which). It was moved to November 1 about 735.

Do you really think that the Pope in Rome was worried enough by a single Celtic Pagan holiday in far away tiny Ireland to move a holy day that affected the entire Christian world? I seriously doubt it.

But just like Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday), Halloween has taken on a life of its own.

Christians including Catholics do not fear death, evil, or Satan. In Christ, we can laugh in the face of death.

From an email I received: Being a Christian is like being a pumpkin. God lifts you up, takes you in, and washes all the dirt off of you. He opens you up, touches you deep inside, and scoops out all the yucky stuff--including the seeds of doubt, hate, greed, etc. Then He carves you a new smiling face and puts His light inside you to shine for all the world to see.

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Just because a Christian Holy Day lands on the same day of the year as a Pagan holiday does not mean that that Christian Holy Day is "based on Paganism" or is "worshiping Satan."

With the thousands of Pagan religions all over the world which have been practiced for thousands of years, there is probably at least one (if not more than one) Pagan holiday for everyday of the year.

Using that logic:

+ Christians could never celebrate anything on any day of the year.

+ Anyone celebrating a loved one's birthday on April 20 is celebrating Hitler's birthday because coincidentally, Hitler was born on the same day.

With love in Christ.

I am a Christian and I think that Halloween is a fun holiday that brings families together. No need to get caught up with motives of the past.

Hallowe'en didn't start as a pagan holiday....it collided with pagan beliefs. In its infinite wisdom, the Catholic church declared religious observations and festivals around the same time as the pagan rituals as an alternative to wavering pagans. What happened was a paganizing of Christianity, or the Christianizing of paganism.

http://www.gty.org/resources/articles/A123/christi...

It's only a controversy for stupid, closed-minded religious fanatics. For everyone else it's an opportunity to see your neighbors and their kids and to make them happy by giving out candy and treats.

Holloween is NOT a Christian holiday, and remain Pagan.

HOWEVER, teh holdiay of All Saints Day (same as All Souls Day) show respect for the dead that God has taken, and THAT part is not Pagan.

Here at Arbys we like to focus on what Halloween is truly about: . . . . . poisoning children.

Happy Halloween from Arbys.

Actually Halloween (which means "hallowed evening" or "holy evening") began as a Christian feast day, the Eve of all Saints, and my church still celebrates it as such.