Is Halloween a fun, harmless night of children dressing up in cute costumes? Or is participation in the festivities condoning satanic rituals?
These questions are a bit more prevalent here at Gordon than at most public institutions. After all, the majority of students are religious, and from a variety of church denominations and upbringings. Curious about the campus’ perception of the holiday, we reached out to a handful of students about their experiences.
Alec Hansen, a senior, has never been trick or treating. He describes his family as not quite “deeply opposed” to the idea of Halloween, but there was a general feeling of wariness associated it. He recalls his mother saying that there was, “Something kind of evil and scary about it and that we should stay away from going trick or treating.” However, his church community was pretty opposed to the holiday in general. Describing their reaction to it, he said, “There was never anything official from the church, but there was always an “Instead Of” party that a prominent church family hosted. The idea was to go to their safe and holy party instead of Halloween. They even put up construction paper over their front windows so that trick or treaters couldn’t see what was going on inside…kind of creepy!” Currently, Alec does not have strong opinions regarding the holiday.
However, he commented on the spiritual implications of the day, saying, “There’s definitely something spiritual about the holiday, but I wouldn’t condemn the day itself. You just have to be cautious and wise whenever you approach anything that has a deep spirituality to it, whether that’s the sanctuary at church or Salem on Halloween. I think it’s important to be grounded when thinking about anything of significance. At the end of the day, it’s a great excuse to gather in community and have a good time with friends!”
Freshman Olivia Roger’s said: “We don’t think of it as a celebration, but as a fun fall activity. I don’t remember having an interest in it, but my mom didn’t allow me to dress up as anything like a witch or the devil, but zombies and skeletons were allowed as well as an angel.”
Sean Leonard, a junior, also joined in on the festivities growing up, trick or treating and going to Halloween parties with friends. However, his mom did not enjoy celebrating it, specifically hating the haunted houses and horror movies. Describing her opinion on it, Sean said, “She doesn’t think it’s evil, but definitely associates it with evil things.”
Sieun Yang, a sophomore, did not celebrate Halloween for a couple of reasons. When asked about it she said, “Honestly, though, I don’t know much about Halloween partly because my parents don’t approve of celebrating Halloween and also we don’t celebrate it in Korea too.” She explained that there are a few small events in some places, like amusement parks, and there are some decorations in some cities where many people and tourists visit. However, there is not any trick or treating or huge parties. Sieun went on to describe the holiday that is closest in comparison. Toward the end of September in Korea there is a holiday week called Chuseok, where immediate and extended family perform ancestral rites to honor their ancestors. However, some Christian families, including Sieun’s, do not participate due to their faith.
Other students skipped the holiday entirely. One sophomore, who requested to remain anonymous, did not grow up dressing up or trick or treating at all. However, she never felt like she was missing out on eating candy and wearing costumes, just on hanging out with friends. When asked about her personal perspective on it she said, “From a Christian perspective, I think it’s fun for kids to get in costumes and go trick or treating. But the part about Halloween that’s about ghosts and spirits is not fun. I personally don’t believe in ghosts.” She does not plan on celebrating the holiday in the near future. But once she has a family of her own, she is not sure if she will start, “I honestly don’t think I could decide that now.”
Collin Hall, a senior, was also discouraged by his school from participating in Halloween activities. He described his experience of pushing back against his school’s restrictions, “Like you’d expect, Halloween at a Christian high school in Louisiana was a no-no for a lot of people. I went trick or treating with my class every year through senior year because we weren’t narcs, but our professors would often blast “counter-programming” on Halloween. We were reminded that the day is ACTUALLY “Reformation Day,” and the school would host “fall-fest” parties instead to counter the “anti-Christian” holiday. When I was student council president (woop woop) though, I made sure we hosted Halloween parties at school. I remember getting in a lot of trouble when “Highway to Hell” came on.”
Many Gordon students can probably relate to having some restrictions regarding Halloween while growing up, whether they appreciated the added caution or not.