Halloween: Is it worthy to be celebrated?

When we hear of October, what usually comes first into our mind? what event do we usually remember every October? It's Halloween right? Halloween became one of the most popular holidays, it originated from the West and eventually, became popular also in Asian countries (and that includes the Philippines). I know that October 31 has passed already (but it's still Halloween in other countries though) but I could still see on TV some Halloween-themed shows and also in Facebook wherein many people are posting about Halloween, so its really important to discuss about it.

How did it become so popular? What are the origins of it? Is is it really worthy to be celebrated? Let as all know as we list down everything related to Halloween. Let us examine very carefully each element in Halloween and realize what Halloween is really about......

1. Halloween

Let us first define what Halloween is...

Halloween (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)- (a contraction of All Hallows’ Evening), also known byHallowe’en or All Hallow's Eve, is an annual holiday observed around the world on October 31, the night preceding All Saints Day. Much like Day of the Dead celebrations, the holiday has origins in Christianity, as well as festivals of harvest time and festivals honouring the dead, particularly old Celtic and Druid ones. Typical Halloween activities include trick-or-treating (also known as "guising"), attending costume parties, carving jack-o'-lanterns, lighting bonfires, apple bobbing, visiting haunted attractions, playing pranks, telling scary stories, watching horror films, as well as praying and attending vigils or church services

So Halloween came from the term "All Hallow's eve" or "All Hallows' Evening" which means, it is a day before "All Hallow's day" or "All Saints day". It's supposed to be "Hallow" or "Holy" but how did it end up to be filled with trick-or-treating, attending costume parties, visiting haunted attractions, etc. which has nothing to do with being Holy?

"The origins of Halloween are Celtic in tradition and have to do with observing the end of summer sacrifices to gods in Druidic tradition. In what is now Britain and France, it was the beginning of the Celtic year, and they believed Samhain, the lord of death, sent evil spirits abroad to attack humans, who could escape only by assuming disguises and looking like evil spirits themselves. The waning of the sun and the approach of dark winter made the evil spirits rejoice and play nasty tricks. Believe it or not, most of our Halloween practices can be traced back to these old pagan rites and superstitions."

-Should Christians Celebrate Halloween?

by Elliott Watson, CBN

So Halloween is of Celtic and Paganistic origin, it was a tradition of the Celts to offer sacrifices to gods during this time. They also believed that during this time, Samhain, the lord of death, sends evil spirits to attack humans and the Celts believed that they could escape these evil spirits if they could disguise themselves as one of the spirits (and that is also the origin of wearing scary costumes which we will discuss later).

Aren't you surprised that the Halloween you know is not as plain as you thought it is? Isn't it surprising to find out that it's all about spirits and wearing scary costumes just to fool them? Isn't it silly wearing scary costumes to drive away evil spirits? assuming that they will fall for it and they will leave you alone? It's what the early Celtics thought as a way of warding of these spirits.

Now, as Christians (and as the Philippines being a Christian nation), why are we celebrating this kind of festivity? here's an explanation:

"But what about today? Perhaps we can still learn from history. In the fourth century, Christians attempted to co-opt the holiday by celebrating the lives of faithful Christian saints the day before Halloween. This was a conscious attempt to provide an alternative and re-focus the day away from ghouls, goblins, ghosts, witches and other “haunted” experiences."

-Should Christians Celebrate Halloween?

by Elliott Watson, CBN

Early Christians tried to change this tradition into a day wherein lives of faithful Christian saints are celebrated. It was an attempt to change Halloween from a horrific look into a more holy one, but eventually, it didn't succeed and ended up back to what it was...

It was traditionally believed that the souls of the departed wandered the earth until All Saints Day, and All Hallow's Eve provided one last chance for the dead to gain vengeance on their enemies before moving onto the next world. To avoid being recognised by a soul, Christians would wear masques and costumes to disguise themselves, following the lighted candles set by others to guide their travel for worship the next day. Today, this practice has been perpetuated through trick-or-treating.

-Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Now its back to spirits and wearing costumes again! this time, the belief is that souls are thought to wander on All Hallow's Eve (Halloween) and they have the chance to take vengeance against their enemies and this time, early Christians have to wear masques (masks) and costumes just not to be recognized by a wandering soul! then it was followed by lighting candles and trick-or-treating.

Don't you find it crazy and ironic? the early Christians who tried to change the face of Halloween ended up following the former pagan tradition of wearing scary costumes in order to scare off or not to be recognized by a soul! it's really weird isn't it? and yet, we continue to follow this kind of tradition just for the fun of it.....it's really getting worse!

Now let's take a look of what the Bible has to say. Let us look at these biblical truths:

• The world is composed of the seen and unseen, meaning there is the physical world of which is composed of things we can see, and the spiritual world filled with things we cannot see but we could feel its existence. Now, let's talk about the spiritual world, it is composed of goodness coming from God and evil coming from Satan. First of all, we must remember that God Himself is Spirit and as well as His angels. We may not be able to see God but we could feel His presence. Now if there are good spirits, there are evil spirits as well and they came from no other than Satan, these evil spirits are the ones trying to tempt and hurt us and they are spread everywhere here on earth and sadly, they are the ones being imitated in Halloween costumes, thinking that they will stay away if one will look like one of them.
• But we mustn't be afraid, for if we live in Christ, we have power to overcome these evil spirits. (1 John 4:4) We can rebuke these spirits through the name of Jesus our Lord. We need not to wear scary costumes to ward them off (actually, they are more likely to come than to stay away) God has given us the power through Jesus our Lord.

With these things in mind, we should not be fooled into following these kinds of practices and we should be convinced not to celebrate Halloween. Now that we know the truth, we should be free from celebrating this kind of holiday which is not from God

People like the Celts uses Halloween to worship Samhain (the lord of death) and acknowledge that during Halloween is the time that spirits come into the world. Followers of Wicca, the official religion of Witchcraft, considers Halloween as a sacred day for them:

"those who believe and follow the practices of witchcraft, Halloween represents an opportunity to embrace the evil, devilish, dark side of the spiritual world."

-Should Christians Celebrate Halloween?

by Elliott Watson, CBN

These people uses this season to worship and welcome the evil spirits which came from Satan.

Now as Christians, what should we do?

• First of all, we should not celebrate and be involved in these Halloween practices, we should no longer go out there and wear scary costumes. We should not associate ourselves with things like these.
• Secondly, we should use this day as a day to be aware that there are evil spirits around us but at the same time, we should acknowledge that God's power over them.
• Third, we should tell and inform everyone that about the truth about Halloween, so that they will no longer be deceived and they will no longer celebrate it.
• Lastly, we should always pray to God for protection against evil and read His word so that His truth will remain in us.

I hope this has helped you understand Halloween Now, I leave the question to you, now you all about these things about Halloween, is it worthy to be celebrated or not?

This is just the first part and next is about other symbols and practices related to Halloween. Feel free to comment if you want to clarify something or anything you want to suggest.

Thanks for reading and may you continue to live for God and obey what is written in His word.

God bless! :)

Credits:

http://www.cbnasia.org/v2/devotional/should-christians-celebrate-halloween

-Should Christians Celebrate Halloween?

by Elliott Watson, CBN

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween

-Halloween definition

What is United Nations?

The United Nations is an international organization founded in 1945 after the Second World War by 51 countries committed to maintaining international peace and security, developing friendly relations among nations and promoting social progress, better living standards and human rights.

The work of the United Nations reaches every corner of the globe. Although best known for peacekeeping, peacebuilding, conflict prevention and humanitarian assistance, there are many other ways the United Nations and its System (specialized agencies, funds and programmes) affect our lives and make the world a better place. The Organization works on a broad range of fundamental issues, from sustainable development, environment and refugees protection, disaster relief, counter terrorism, disarmament and non-proliferation, to promoting democracy, human rights, gender equality and the advancement of women, governance, economic and social development and international health, clearing landmines, expanding food production, and more, in order to achieve its goals and coordinate efforts for a safer world for this and future generations.

Due to its unique international character, and the powers vested in its founding Charter, the Organization can take action on a wide range of issues, and provide a forum for its 193 Member States to express their views, through the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council and other bodies and committees.

The UN has 4 main purposes

• To keep peace throughout the world;
• To develop friendly relations among nations;
• To help nations work together to improve the lives of poor people, to conquer hunger, disease and illiteracy, and to encourage respect for each other’s rights and freedoms;
• To be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations to achieve these goals.

History

The League of Nations failed to prevent World War II (1939–1945). Because of the widespread recognition that humankind could not afford a third world war, the United Nations was established to replace the flawed League of Nations in 1945 in order to maintain international peace and promote cooperation in solving international economic, social and humanitarian problems. The earliest concrete plan for a new world organization was begun under the aegis of the U.S. State Department in 1939. Franklin D. Roosevelt first coined the term 'United Nations' as a term to describe the Allied countries. The term was first officially used on 1 January 1942, when 26 governments signed the Atlantic Charter, pledging to continue the war effort. On 25 April 1945, the UN Conference on International Organization began in San Francisco, attended by 50 governments and a number of non-governmental organizations involved in drafting the United Nations Charter. The UN officially came into existence on 24 October 1945 upon ratification of the Charter by the five permanent members of the Security Council—France, the Republic of China, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and the United States—and by a majority of the other 46 signatories. The first meetings of the General Assembly, with 51 nations represented, and the Security Council, took place in Westminster Central Hall in London in January 1946.

The organization was based at the Sperry Gyroscope Corporation's facility in Lake Success, New York, from 1946–1952, before moving to the United Nations Headquarters building in Manhattan upon its completion.

Since its creation, there has been controversy and criticism of the United Nations. In the United States, an early opponent of the UN was the John Birch Society, which began a "get US out of the UN" campaign in 1959, charging that the UN's aim was to establish a "One World Government." After the Second World War, the French Committee of National Liberation was late to be recognized by the US as the government of France, and so the country was initially excluded from the conferences that aimed at creating the new organization. Charles de Gaulle criticized the UN, famously calling it le machin ("the thing"), and was not convinced that a global security alliance would help maintain world peace, preferring direct defence treaties between countries.

UN is an international organization that really strives to achieve peace and unity among nations. UN, through their agencies, helps countries in times of crises and natural disasters just like the earthquake in Haiti, earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan and even during the typhoons "Ondoy" "Pepeng" and "Pedring" in the Philippines. UN has been consulted ever since when it comes to country issues like the separation and independence of South Sudan from Sudan, separation of Palestine from Israel (wherein Palestine wants to be an independent country and it hasn't been decided yet) and also the issue of Spratly Islands (wherein it is regarded as a territory of the Philippines but is being claimed by China and various Southeast Asian neighbors). UN strives to achieve peace and democracy in all countries that's why they supported Egypt and Libya in their desire for freedom and peace.Peace and Democracy is also the theme of the UN's International Day of Peace: "Peace and Democracy: make your voice heard". It is celebrated every September 21st to promote and celebrate Peace and is to be observed by UN member countries.

Many Filipinos have been part of UN just like Carlos P. Romulo, who became President of the UN General assembly during 1949-1950 (he was also an inspiring Filipino because of his achievements and his love for his country, he made the Philippines well-known while he's in office in UN) ,KC Concepcion as Ambassador of Goodwill against Hunger of the UN's World Food Program, Lea Salonga as Ambassador of Goodwill of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the recently Kris Aquino, Ambassador of Goodwill of United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNCHR).

Recently, UN marked October 31 as a day to mark and celebrate the arrival of the world's 7 billionth baby. Although there other babies around the world born on that day, Danica May Camacho of the Philippines is the one who received the title of World's 7 Billionth baby. The parents and the baby were met by top United Nations officials in the Philippines, who presented the child with a small cake marked with "7B Philippines. The baby also had a gift certificate for free shoes.

Dr. Eric Tayag of the Philippines' Department of Health says that 7 Billion is a number we should think deeply, he claims that it's a time to think if the needs of every child could be supplied, if not, well it's time for the people to help lessen the population. Health secretary Enrique Ona says that the arrival of the world's 7 billion baby as a time to assess population related issues.

According to the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) State of the World Population Report, the Philippines is the 12th most populous country in the world with 94.9 million people.

China continues to have the biggest share of the population at 1.35 billion, followed by India at 1.24 billion.

UN is of really great help to all nations and it believes that unity and peace is for everyone, here is the United Nation song which shows the message that UN wants to present:

Reference links:

http://www.un.org/en/aboutun/index.shtml -United Nations

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations -UNited Nations

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Day_of_Peace- International Day of Peace

http://news.yahoo.com/various-7-billionth-babies-celebrated-worldwide-064439018.html -World's 7 billionth baby

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2055667/World-population-Philippines-baby-Danica-7-billionth-human-born.html -World's 7 billionth baby