Halloween clashes with some religious beliefs

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Three-year-old Jaxson Larsen of Elburn chooses a lollipop out of a pumpkin to win a prize during Hallelujah Fest at Lord of Life Lutheran Church in Elburn. This is the third year of the event, where members of the congregation and their guests are invited to dress up in a non-gory costume, play games, paint pumpkins and go on a hayride. The evening ends with "trunk or treat," where they can collect candy from other congregation members out of the trunks of their cars in the parking lot. "The whole objective is to be creative," said organizer Greg Lamore. (Sandy Bressner – sbressner@kcchronicle.com)

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When October rolls around with its plethora of goblins and witches and toothy jack-o’-lanterns, the nine children of Matthew Norville Sr. never participate.

With his oldest at 27 now and his youngest a third granddaughter, he always sent a note home to Batavia school officials to excuse his children from observing the dark holiday of Halloween.

“What’s wrong with Halloween? It’s the witches’ sabbath,” said Norville, who pastors a non-denominational Christian church in his Batavia home. “The devil and his power are very real. On that particular day, when [the] school has parties and costumes, our children do not even go to school that day and they do not do any art projects connected with Halloween.”

While many seem to enjoy all aspects of Halloween – running the gamut from ghoulish zombies to cute little fairies – some refuse all aspects or restrict how the pre-Christian holiday is observed.

Norville’s church, Batavia Christian Center, does not do an alternative activity on Halloween.

“If we did something different on Halloween, we would be would be acknowledging or honoring the day,” Norville said. “We put a sign on the door, ‘No trick-or-treating,’ and keep the porch light off. Nobody comes knocking at the door. People know we’re Christians.”

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For the Rev. Phil Ressler, pastor of Lord of Life Lutheran Church in Campton Township, the Halloween conundrum is not so cut-and-dried.

The ancient holiday, originally called Samhain, was a pagan festival celebrated by Celts of Ireland and England, Ressler said. When Christianity was introduced in that area of the world, the Roman Catholic Church established Nov. 1 as All Saints Day.

“All Saints Day is a day where the all the departed in Christ are remembered and those of us who are left behind in this world celebrate their new life in Jesus,” Ressler wrote in a blog about it. “As a result, Oct. 31 became known as All Hallow’s Eve, the Eve of All Saints Day.”

Ressler said people would go to church on Oct. 31, just as they would on Christmas Eve.

“And that is why Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses on the Wittenberg church door in 1517,” Ressler said. “He knew he was posting it to a large audience.”

Lord of Life celebrates Hallelujah Fest on the last Wednesday of October. It is the church’s regular children’s program day and when it falls on Halloween – or near it – the children can participate in wearing costumes and decorating pumpkins at church, he said.

“We just ask the kids not to come in gory or scary costumes,” Ressler said.

In general, Ressler leaves the question of observing Halloween and its pagan origins up to individual parishioners – but he requests that they refrain from portrayals of gore, evil and fear.

“Keep it friendly,” Ressler said.

• • •

Iris Ware, 48, of Batavia, has never worn a Halloween costume in her life. As a Jehovah’s Witness, she disavows all holidays associated with paganism.

“We definitely had parties and played dress up when I was growing up,” Ware said. “But it was not a special day. It was spontaneous. I do not feel like I missed out on anything.”

Ware acknowledged that her Irish immigrants, descended from the Celts, brought traditions of Halloween to the U.S. when they escaped the potato famine in the 1840s. But she still won’t participate.

“Scriptural principles is why we don’t celebrate Halloween,” Ware said. “It is all rooted in this idea of the dead coming back to life. We usually turn our porch light out. We would welcome children back any other day and be happy to give them candy, but I refuse to participate in Halloween.”

• • •

Marc Healy, who teaches history and anthropology at Elgin Community College, said all over the world, local customs and beliefs get mixed in with religious doctrines, and Halloween is no exception. Many Christian holidays have pagan roots.

“Satan is not a pagan concept,” Healy said. “Satan is a Judeo-Christian concept.”

This blending of cultural and religious beliefs is what anthropologists call syncretism, Healy said.

“That is just the way of culture, to bob on a sea of change. Cultures are always in the midst of changing, but there is always continuity as well,” Healy said.

He was not surprised to find a variety of viewpoints on Halloween.

“There is social space for people who choose not to participate, but it’s hard for them to avoid it,” Healy said. “And that’s where they sometimes push back.”

• • •

Leslie Hammack, a member of Holy Cross Catholic Church in Batavia, home schools her three children – ranging from 10 to 16 years old – and observes Halloween.

“Nothing gory, nothing devilish,” Hammack said of their costume choices. “There are restrictions against anything that would elicit a connection with hell or makes you think of the devil.”

But, they can go as saints or martyrs.

“St. Sebastian was shot with arrows,” she said. “St. Lucy had her eyes plucked out. St. Paul had his head cut off. It’s kind of gory, but you are reminded by the very things that actually happened to people that showed exactly how much faith they have and the pains they were willing to accept for Jesus.”

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