AUSTRIA - A Move to Deport Halloween
It’s almost Halloween—and all those ghosts, goblins, tricks and treats are giving Hans Kohler the creeps.
So the mayor of Rankweil, a town near the border with Switzerland, has launched a one-man campaign disparaging Halloween as a “bad American habit” and urging families to skip it this year.
Although Halloween has become increasingly popular across Europe—complete with carved pumpkins, witches on broomsticks, makeshift houses of horror and costumed children rushing door to door for candy—it’s begun to breed a backlash.
Yet, Halloween is big business in Europe.
In Britain, where Halloween celebrations rival those in the United States, it’s the most lucrative day of the year for costume and party retailers.
“Without Halloween, I don’t think we could exist, to be honest,” said Pendra Maisuria, owner of Escapade, a London costume shop that rakes in 30 percent of its annual sales in the run-up to Oct. 31. The Metropolitan Police, meanwhile, hasn’t logged any significant increase in crime.
-Associated Press, 27 October 2005
Arno's Commentary
This article is not news, for it was published in the Kansas City Star on 27 October 2005.
Why has Halloween succeeded? Because it is “big business.” The New York Public Library reveals some history:
All Hallows’ Eve, or Halloween as it is commonly referred, is a global celebration on October 31. It developed from the ancient Celtic ritual of Samhain, which was, in the simplest terms, a festival celebrating the changing of the seasons from light to dark (summer to winter). This would usually take place around November 1.
Traditionally, a bonfire would be lit, sweets would be prepared, and costumes would be worn to ward off evil spirits as the ancient Celts believed that, at this time of year, the veil separating the worlds of the living and the dead was at its thinnest.
Despite the best efforts of the church, people still continued to celebrate Halloween with traditional bonfires, costumes, treats, and a focus on spirits of the dead.
-www.nypl.org, 26 October 2018
What is of interest is that according to a Google search, substitutions for Halloween celebration are common in churches. An article appears titled, “13 Creative Ideas Your Church Can Do During Halloween.”
Fresh Halloween Ideas for Today’s Church
• Trunk-or-Treat with a Twist
• Harvest Festival with Prayer Booth
• Movie Night with Seasonal Films
• Community Service Day
• Pumpkin Carving Bible Stories
• Scripture Scavenger Hunt
• Christian Music Concert
• Family-Friendly Movie Character Walkthrough
What about doing nothing? Or better yet, follow Scriptures such as: “Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel” (Philippians 1:27).
Arno Froese is the executive director of Midnight Call Ministries and editor-in-chief of the acclaimed prophetic magazines Midnight Call and News From Israel. He has authored a number of well-received books, and has sponsored many prophecy conferences in the U.S., Canada, and Israel. His extensive travels have contributed to his keen insight into Bible prophecy, as he sees it from an international perspective.
