A Christian Halloween Begins With the Choices Nobody Else Can Make for You
Chapter 1: Two Bags of Candy and One Unanswered Question At six o’clock on a rainy October evening, a woman stands in the party aisle of a discount store with two bags of wrapped candy in her basket. Her apartment building has announced a hallway treat walk for the children who live there. The manager has asked residents to leave a light on if they want visitors. This woman likes the idea of meeting families whose names she still does not know, but the advertisement includes frightening decorations that she would never choose for her own door. Her phone is open to the building’s message. She has been staring at the words “Count me in” without pressing send. What troubles her is not the price of candy. She wants to know whether joining part of the evening means agreeing with all of it. That hesitation deserves a thoughtful answer, not a lecture. Christians are often asked whether Halloween is good or bad as though every person celebrates it in exactly the same way. But an evening ...