Opinions on Halloween

Growing up I loved penny candy. The little grocery store down the street always had at least 30 or 40 kinds on display. The store owner probably lost money on doing that but did it for the kids.

Growing up my parents never talked about the pagan origins of holidays such as Halloween and Easter but rathe chose to allow their children to have a happy and memorable childhood. They never talked about Santa Claus or the Easter bunny. Growing up Catholic, the kids had to give up candy for lent. Getting and being allowed to eat candy on Easter morning was like Christmas coming early. My parents did stress however that on Christmas we were celebrating the birth of baby Jesus and on Good Friday and Easter we talked about Jesus dying for our sins an His resurrection.

I get where you are coming from. A real tree requires a bit of work vacuuming the dead pine needles that fall off. One year, my sister and me went into the woods and cut down our own pine tree for Christmas with the property owners permission. Nothing like the scent of pine during the Christmas season.

My mom always made a bunch of different kinds of cookies. I always made a few batches too. The last few years I have been acting like a real Scrooge and seemed to have lost interest in celebrating Christmas. This is probably due to being depressed because holidays disrupt my routine. With God's help I need to change this about myself.

spiritual depression comes from spiritual 'dis-obedience...

It was much the same growing up Baptist.

Actually, my spiritual outlook is quite positive as Jesus is by my side and has promised to never leave nor forsake me. Also, I know my purpose during my sojourn on earth and that is to do the work that the Heavenly Father has prepared for me to accomplish beforehand. I take great comfort in that.

It could be that my bouts of depression are more of a clinical nature. I have noticed however that since I got remarried in 2014 my depression has lessen and the bouts fewer and far between. I attribute that to our daily prayer, devotion, bible study and reading of the bible. I am a firm believer that the family that prays together stays together.

Being blessed with a wonderful wife doesn't hurt either. I pray each day to be a loving and faithful husband to her too for this is of utmost importance for me.

If you don't care about the timing or leave near the suburbs you can drive around on Jan. 1st or maybe even the 30th and lots of people throw them out like I said...free trees and you can have like 5 lol.

One fits in a midsized car pretty well or you can twine it on top of a small car. Just an idea. Trees aren't cheap.

Or if you have some land you can plant one. Much cooler that way because the first year it'll be Charlie Brown (ish) and so on.

My dad had a fir tree that was a small as me at 5 or 6 and then eventually was 20 feet tall. Pretty cool because the trees are nice even without lights and you can bury a light cable so that when it snows you can plug it in

I can't stand fake trees. Just not the same. It's something if people want to decorate it...my mother uses a fake tree because it's free (got from her mother) and there's no cleanup but they don't smell. Something though.

I had a dinky one in my apartment like 2 feet tall I got at Walmart or the dollar "tree" and it was "something" but I wouldn't put it up again.

Not sure if you know what the bonsai process is but you can miniaturize many different types of trees and since the roots need heat you'd have to bring a fir bonsai indoors in winter anyway.

I dunno... if I have a pet I have to bring indoors when it's cold, I'm gonna get a dog or cat. Trees don't cuddle on the couch very well.

Yes, many Christians love the law and forget that intent matters. Unless you're struggling with lust, then out comes scripture supporting the idea of intent. *eye roll

There will always be people to criticize your choices. But they don't have to live with them, you do. If your conscience is clear, then fine. And if God isn't dealing with you then it's not the right time.

Yeah, real trees are way better, the only reason my mom convinced me to get a fake one is because of money, I was spending $30 to pick up a small tree and I was living on my own, so money managing was hard for me to do, plus my job was bad, eventually I ended up having to use Food stamps for a year. I know I could have found a new job, but I have this really bad habit of: “I’ll say I will do something, but never do it”.

Actually we could grow a tree, but I honestly don’t know how well it would do, we are in Texas, and we also have a ton of deer, so I see the deer eating the tree before it’s big enough. Also, we have root eating animals like wild hogs and armadillos too. Apparently we have to kill 8 armadillos in the last few months, I don’t want to kill animals, but my mom was tired of them eating her plants, so she and my stepdad have been setting out traps and nets to cover over the tiny plants.

Because of all of those factors, we can’t grow anything that deer will eat, my mom misses having roses and hibiscus plants. I miss the hibiscuses too, I’m not really into taking care of plants, but they are really pretty flowers, so are tulips too.

Well that is true though. Jesus was born somewhere in September most likely, according to the Bible. She apparently believes she glorifies God more by not sticking to the unbiblical date, just like you believe you're glorifying Him more by celebrating the birth of Christ no matter the accuracy of the date.
Just like her, you only answer to God, and the amount of people who disagree with you or want to control others will never end.
I am getting so sick with each passing year of religiousness in Christianity and people wanting to control what others think and believe like they themselves are the Mediator and God. You have the Spirit infusing you with conscience of right and wrong who teaches you, and the Scriptures to help out in dry seasons with divine advice, you don't need men.

Yep I live with my choices, and I’m happy with my Christmas traditions we do. I just wish people wouldn’t get so aggressive over stuff like that, it’s my life. Like how a gentleman yelled at me “I don’t give a sh*t what you think!” cause I wasn’t wearing my mask right at work, I even backed off when he told me to, it was probably me saying “I don’t care” when was talking about why masks are important, I really think we as a society have forgotten how to peacefully “agree to disagree” mindset. Like I was in a small shop with my mom, because there are a ton of small shops where I live, and I wanted to take a picture of a Trump hat, cause it was funny and I wanted to send it to my grandfather. But the shopkeeper stopped me, pointing at his sign to not take pictures. I apologized for not seeing it and so did my mom, but the shopkeeper went on to explain how he doesn’t want people to take photos of his merch, cause he believes it is people stealing his merch. My mom said she doesn’t agree but we not be trying to take pictures again. But the shopkeeper got upset and was like “Why don’t you understand?” and it got so bad, my mom walked me out of the store. It’s sad that no “peacefully agree to disagree” doesn’t seem to exist anymore.

I think it’s actually cool that humans are complex and we all are different. It shows how God made each of us uniquely, also I’m pretty sure the movie was “The Equalizer” (I might be wrong) where everyone was the same and it was boring, and that’s no fun. I’m not saying I like conflict, but I think it is through difference in opinions, that we can have peaceful “agree to disagree” discussions and hopefully come out smarter from each discussion.

I’m not changing my Christian views or any my views, but I think since I watch so many online reviews on stuff, I just like hearing opinions, lol

I just honestly didn’t know back then, my mom never knew nor my Dad, she can celebrates how she wants to and I will not judge, I just have never heard that before so it weirded me out.

From what I’ve been reading on Halloween, learning about Jesus’s birthdate, and what others have said on this thread, it’s all complicated because we as humans, are complex things.

Like my mom used to grow up catholic, and seeing how one person on here said that their parents didn’t tell them about Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny, but my mom did, I just find it interesting. My said when she was about 19, was when she decided to stop the Catholic practices and just be Christian. I know others might criticize my family for telling us to believe in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny, but they were young parents, apparently my mom had my sister when she was 18, and people are not perfect. Actually, I’m glad she told me about those characters because it instilled into me this sense of magical sense of happiness I just feel each year on Christmas, because families get together and give gifts, we celebrate the greatest gift, Jesus, at church service, and eat tons of food. I just can’t imagine not being happy on Christmas, yes sometimes the presents can be lackluster, but I’ve learned through giving gifts, it’s the effort to show how important that person is to you and that you are thankful for them.

I've used foodstamps once in my life. Mostly because the place I was staying made it really easy and most of the people there did it and I suppose I was in a financial position to benefit to pay the astronomical rent they charged...

But yeah, with just deer, rabbits, etc. Fencing would be enough. The root "critters" idk about.

Did you know that Greenhouses can be made for less than the cost of a cheap car? 5k/under. That's the only real way that I see with your issues. A greenhouse is for plants what an aquarium is for fish. It is also what a fireplace is for fire

So I'd consider pitching that if they are open to it. I pitch things to my parents and most of them are a no-go but they like the idea usually. It's a money issue and priorities though.

What I take the "No"s as are the Lord's probable answer that it'll be for my own place/land when I have it or to seek out people that those are their priorities like organic farms. People have these and at least I can work for them if nothing else. One of my favorite jobs was helping out on a farm. Nothing "too" hard and places like that need Veterinarians, which is something to consider for myself maybe.



A low effort greenhouse that simply consisted of a sprinkler system? Sure I'd be down. Could maybe even put in a fireplace and some fish tanks lol. Fish farming can be done indoors and is low maintenance also.


I super cool greenhouse that had a fireplace and a small patio to just relax in would cost a good bit if you didn't build it yourself though or didn't know how to weld in windows with super cheap steel/iron (I think they can be cheaper than wood). Even a PVC greenhouse with fencing and plastic would "work" but you'd need a concrete floor at least to prevent your burrowing problem.


Well, ty for letting me think about that at least. Take care.

My wife and I were invited to a Halloween party years ago and showed up as Pirates, but we typically don't celebrate Halloween. It was fun just to hang out and talk with everyone, eat some good food and laugh at all the costumes.

Oh, I saw one of your other posts. Being told about Santa, the EB, Tooth fairy were taught to me also. I didn't quite believe in the EB or the tooth fairy but the Xmas stuff is a different thing entirely.

It's pretty common for young parents and (no offense) immature believers to teach their children that. It's cute and most don't see the harm in it. I see it as lying to them but I also don't judge them harshly for teaching me about it. It's the culture.

I won't do it but I might educate my children on the myths and culture as I have come to understand it but not for the purpose of getting them to "make believe" in something that isn't real. It sort of takes the spotlight away from the Lord in a way I think most could agree if they thought about it but it's pretty serious to me personally. Just because of my own struggles and there are children curious about things that last well into adulthood.

Not every child is that way neither is every adult. Most probably aren't in fact. Everyone has their own salvation to work out to be sure. I'd rather them not be distracted by a fairy tale...but I do plan on explaining what a fairy tale and why vain imagination can be so enticing and pleasurable and how to direct a child's imagination productively by learning about the world around them (like watching chick eggs hatch, etc.) but I also get that holidays mean different things to different people as we are all maturing at different rates and are uniquely and wonderfully made. Learning how to glory in the Lord differently.

If I can have a "dog room" or a "cat chateau" I'd be down for sure. Instead of a dog house a dog room where I can hang out with the dog/cat when the mood strikes but everywhere in the house? Pets invade my personal space at times lol.

Yeah I can definitely see where you are coming from with those opinions, I know I wanna say the last 5 years, my Dad has been trying to stress the importance of Christmas with Jesus’s birth to all of his children, including my step and half siblings. But as you said, everyone is different because my Dad still likes to write gifts as “Being from Santa” on some of the gifts I get. Plus, I gotta be careful around my 7 year old half-sister, because my dad and my step mom told her about Santa and I can’t “spill the beans” as it were and say that he isn’t real, but I honestly don’t see myself doing that because I don’t want to ruin her joy in believing in Santa.

But yeah, I knew I was really stubborn into believing Santa, well into my Middle school years and my dad basically had to convince yell at me that he isn’t real, in a way to grow up and be an adult. So in a way I do understand not telling your kids about Santa and other fictional characters.

I honestly don’t know if I will have children, I’m only thinking of trying to make friends at this point, but maybe I’ll tell them just because I remember liking Santa and still feel this sense of happiness when Christmas time comes around, but if it seems like it might not be good idea, then I might be more cautious, I don’t the future, only the lord knows the future ^_^

I never quite figured out what the Easter Bunny or Easter Egg had to do with Easter. How can one little bunny carry all them huge Easter baskets full of candy and toys. Why would a bunny want to give anyone a chocolate image of himself?

Same for Santa Claus and Christmas. Let's face it, a flying sleigh pulled by flying reindeer, with a fat, white bearded man with enough toys for the world riding it. Then a fat man sliding down a tiny chimney, without getting any smut on him, to deliver toys to every child in the world. Come on, all that in one night. Really! We actually try to convince our children of that! No wonder we have trouble with them ever believing us.

I wonder just how many children today really know why we celebrate Christmas or Easter? I wonder how many parents take the time to tell them about Christ?

I was actually those one few children that loved their parents all the way through school, even in high school. I couldn’t stand kids my age back then just showing so much disrespect to other adults. I was not perfect but some of the ways I saw kids in high school treat the other adults infuriated me. I can say, even though my parents were not the best, because everyone is human and will make mistakes, my mom and dad have taught me very important Christ lessons, stuff I still carry to this day and I feel comfortable talking to my mom and dad about anything Christ related in today’s time.

So I think why parents do it is because it is so culturally ingrained into society, but then again, I’m a grown woman in her 20s that still watches the old Rankin/Bass Ruldoph the Red Nose Reindeer, sometimes I’ve watched it in July when I was younger, so what do I know? LOL

But seriously though, this all comes down to balance, and most things aren’t black and white, but can be gray overall, hard to pick a side, well that’s how my Asperger’s syndrome brain thinks anyway, I tend to overthink everything.