!!! Halloween !!!

I'm just wondering if the friends in your area get involved with Halloween and, if so, to what extent?

When I first professed back in the mid 70's I recall that the friend's children did NOT go out on Halloween--just wasn't done! I think they did hand out candy at their doors though.

If Halloween fell on a Wednesday the Wednesday meeting was moved to Tuesday or Thursday. A sensible idea of course what with the door bell ringing all evening.

I remember one Halloween there was a "traveling supper" for the teens. They drove about to various friends' houses and had salad here, meat there, corn somewhere else, etc. until they had a full course meal. They dressed up too!

Sometime in the late 80's I noticed a big change in that the little kids began to dress up and go door to door too. All of a sudden there didn't seem to be any problem with Halloween.

I don't know why this changed. 6/97

When I was a child we always went out for Halloween. In fact I wore a witch costume one time that my professing mom made for me! My sister (who is a worker now) won first prize for the Robin Hood costume my mom made for her. I was unaware of what other professing people did on Halloween. I do remember once having to go out 'trick or treating' at about 4 o'clock, because it was meeting night. I was very disappointed, because none of my friends were going out until about 6 o'clock. Anyway, it was always fun, and if my folks frowned on it, it would be a surprise to me.

While I studied with Jehovah's Witnesses, I was taught that Halloween was a definite No No. I remember turning off our lights, sitting on the floor and pretending to be away when the door bell rang.

After I professed, having had the J.W. experience, I decided to avoid celebrating Halloween. We took our family to a hotel one year, spent the night hot tubbing etc. Took our own candy....Another year we went out hiking instead of trick or treating. Then I noticed that most of the other friends were allowing their children to go out. I did struggle with it, but I remembered all the fun we had as kids, and well, from then on my children have had a blast!!

We don't celebrate devil worship or evil or morbid things...no...we just have a great time dressing up, visiting neighbors and family and friends! 6/97

I remember as a younger child that one family did have a 'party' that even included bobbing for apples which I remember the workers speaking out against, so it stopped but another family started an annual bonfire the weekend closet to Halloween. This was during the mid to late 80's.

I had another problem with Halloween though. I was blessed to have been born on that day. I vaguely remember ever celebrating it on Halloween. It was always celebrated on another day. Birthday celebrations, too though were frowned on by the workers in our area. I never understood why. 6/97

I was not allowed to trick or treat as a 2x2 kid in the seventies, though I sometimes had a costume for the school party, and we did hand out candy. I remember resenting it quite a bit too! ! ! Free candy is a much stronger argument than theology to a seven year old. I don't know if it changed in the eighties or not as by that time I was a teenager and lived out in the country. 6/97

Halloween was time for pumpkins, and carmeled apples, games, etc. We dressed up and went tricker-treatin’ even until we were pre-teenage years. One of the families hosted an annual Halloween party. We watch Abbott and Costello movies, Woody Woodpecker, etc., played games, told stories, this included parents and kids together. It was really a fun time, we looked forward to it every year. My worker aunt has dressed up at Halloween parties with the friends quite a few times over her many years in the work, just recently in Idaho at a Halloween party a few years back. 3/97

<____, you wrote> Sometime in the late 80's I noticed a big change in that the little kids began to dress up and go door to door too. All of a sudden there didn't seem to be any problem with Halloween.

I don't know why this changed.<

My observation...The first early generation (under 40 years of age) 2x2 ministry found reception. That reception for the most part has appeared to me to be of THEIR generation or younger. The next generation of children born to 2x2 faith believers was not existing until the late teens and twenties. Their children were not until the 40's, and theirs until the60's, theirs then in the 80's.

My point? Successive generations have had so many conflicts to resolve that many have just simply given up, having forgotten, ignoring or NEVER knowing previous teachings. We were allowed as children to go trick'r treating in the late 40's early 50's as small children to a few nearby "worldly" friends and neighbors.

Later, for my generation (remember I am now 54) there were gatherings of 2x2 children, but NOT costume parties! We had one such gathering in our home, and every care was taken that we NOT follow the "customs of the world", but rather enjoy each other, play some innocent group games, bob for apples, etc.

After I left the work, and married (into the late 70's and early 80's) we observed some younger folks including married couples continuing the custom of getting together. Some began the wearing of costumes (HORRORS! As "good" 2x2ers, ____ and I and our children did NOT! Smiles!) However, workers in our "field" at the time, and at the direction of their "handlers" (being in good standing then, we were told so!) began to "crack down" upon such activities!

Some were YOUNGER workers who I KNEW had done such things (or worse) in their youth, and were forgetting or ignoring that fact. They began laying down "standards of righteousness" for themselves and others they themselves had NOT followed earlier in their lives. 6/97

Halloween has only come into New Zealand in recent years. Most Christians are opposed to it seeing it as evil....The 2x2s, I guess would not be opposed to it here. I liked what ____ said, that they would dress up and visit people.

In New Zealand we celebrate Guy Fawkes on November 5th with crackers, sky rockets and bomb firers. The friends always got together and celebrated around a bomb fire, everyone was invited. Probably the only social function that the workers never came and broke up. At times the fire engines came and did that because the fire was too big or did not meet fire standards. Crackers and sky rockets were banded in N.Z a year or two ago because of all the accidents and fire works displays are held by local councils now. Other fire works are still sold. 6/97

When we were kids (in the 60's) my family regularly participated in Halloween celebrations. My earliest memories of the day are of 2x2 costume parties for the entire families... my most usual costume was Casper the Friendly Ghost!!?! These parties were BIG... lots of people, lots of food, lots of activities! They were generally a lot of fun... something we anticipated with excitement and a lot of planning of costumes, etc, but I can also remember being VERY scared at times with some of the spooky costumes because I didn't know WHO was inside them until when "masks off" time finally arrived. This wasn't an annual event, but I can remember several of them. Interesting, now, to think that I was never aware of ANY thought that there might be a problem with Halloween (unlike the controversy I was fully aware of which surrounded the "Christian" holidays of Easter and Christmas?? Also, unlike the stir in the entire valley over Mom allowing my sisters and I to wear slacks to the 2x2 summer holiday picnics in the woods... I was too young to remember, but apparently one of my Dad's relatives sat in her car through most of one of the picnics crying she was so upset. After that, we wore dresses to those picnics "to keep from offending anyone"!?)

We also went trick-or-treating every year when I was young... can't remember anything about Halloween celebrations after I was about in 6th grade, though?? When we were college-age, I don't remember any 2x2 costume parties... we kids used to get together for games and eats... not much different than all our other get-togethers... have I just forgotten something???

When our own kids were in pre-school, early years at school and we were still in the 2x2 group, the kids got costumes every year for school and for a jaunt around our little neighborhood. After we started going to our current church, they still had costumes and the trip around the neighborhood... and/or a trip to the "carnival" at the church.

Now, however, we generally DON'T celebrate Halloween much. (Maybe an old fashioned taffy-pull at Mom and Dad's or something!?) We have two teenagers in the house now... they're a bit old for trick-or-treating, anyway!! I take our kids to the store to pick out theirown "Halloween" candy.. As a parent, the kids' safety has become a HUGE consideration... BUYING our own candy does away with MOST (?) of the potential for pins and razor blades and poison in the goodies our kids eat. In addition, I think the attitude toward things occultic has so changed (and escalated) in our culture since we were kids. Halloween has become much more a celebration of the macabre and the satanic than it used to be... I'm not convinced it's something I want to put my personal "seal of approval" (?) on!! ____ made a "jack-o-lantern" last year by carving a cross in her pumpkin... generally, we just put out pumpkins for the fall holidays and don't do the jack-o-lantern thing at all. We DO have candy available to give to those who come to our door, if we're home that night. 6/97

We didn't do much for Halloween when I was a kid. I can remember dressing up a couple of times, once to go trick or treating, and once to go to a party. (non 2x2) When I was in California for a year, we had a big party. We all dressed up, (not the adults, just the kids, collage age included!) and some of us went to a few houses. They boys moved some poor persons (small) car about 5 feet from where it was parked. Guess that was the trick. Later at the party an elderly couple no one had ever seen wandered into the house and just kind of stayed. The adults were funny to watch because they didn't really know what to do with them. They kept making polite conversation all the time trying to find out exactly who these people were. The funniest part was one of the ladies said "I have a dress just like that at home". It was her Dress! Her son and a friend had slipped out and dressed up to play a trick on everybody. Everybody eventually caught on, except this guys mom!

I have to agree with _____ on the emphasis Halloween has taken in the past few years. It may be worse in our area. Supposedly the occult, satanic worship, etc are bad here. I like the idea of carving a crossinto a pumpkin! I heard that suggestion some place not long ago. Much happier alternative than ugly, scary faces! Yes? 6/97