Halloween or Harvest?

So this past October 31st brought back the debate among Christians about Halloween. I commented on a post on Obie's blog so I thought I would try and get some more discussion on it on mine. Anyhow, how do you feel about Halloween? Is it satan's holiday? Should Christians even participate in it?

Here's my view. I think that most kids just think of it as a night they get to dress up in a costume and go door to door and get candy (or throw eggs at houses and cars like I did when I was a kid heh heh heh!). In my opinion, this is totally harmless. I also think it should be left up to the parents in how they bring up their children. I certainly would not criticize a parent for their beliefs and what they allow or don't allow their children to do. I do believe there is a darkside to Halloween that involves witchcraft and the occult and all things evil. But do kids even know that? If they are messing around with this stuff and sincerely believe in it, then yes, I would say that this is wrong.

Where do you draw the line? I belonged to a very legalistic church previously, of which will remain unnamed. But there were parents in this church that thought it was wrong to tell your kids there is a Santa Claus. They said it was lying to your kids. Is it? The same things go for the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy. I guess I can't argue that it is not a lie because they don't really exist. But am I a bad parent for telling my kids they do? I still have some pretty good friends that go to this church and thay had a special event on Halloween. A question was brought up in the board meeting as to whether or not they would allow kids to come if they dressed up in costume. Is that legalistic or what?

What are you going to do when a homosexual comes into your church service? Are you going to tell him or her that they are not welcome because of their sexual preference? Jesus himself sat and broke bread with the worst of the worst. Shouldn't we do the same?

I get sick and tired of the ultra conservative folks coming down on others that don't believe their way. To me, they are just as wrong as the liberals. I am always getting these emails to send off to places to boycott them because they are homosexual friendly or they sell dirty magazines. Why would these people even want to step foot inside of a church if this is how we react to them?

I could go on and on about this but I think I'll stop for now. There is nothing wrong with churches having Harvest Festivals (our church had one...and oh my! I saw some people with some pretty evil costumes on. No one escorted them off the premises or told them to take it off). But I could see where it could happen. But I also see nothing wrong with kids dressing up and going trick or treating. Who's right? Who's wrong? I guess I don't really know the answer to that but I do know where I stand on it.