A duo portray evil and good as a demon and an angel. Photo by Jennifer Williams.
Blood, guts, cleavage and tiaras are all things people are sure to see on Halloween night. Many people choose Halloween as a time to dress up as ghosts, vampires, monsters, witches and even the devil. With these scary costumes and the creepy feeling of Halloween as a whole, there are people who have come to believe that Halloween is “evil.”
According to the website “The History of Halloween,” Halloween got its start as an ancient Celtic festival called Samhain. This holiday was celebrated by pagans to take stock of supplies and prepare for winter. Oct. 31 was supposedly the day that the worlds of the living and dead overlapped and the dead would come to cause havoc. But that does not mean that Halloween is evil.
“In the same way that splitting the atom can be used for good or for ill, Halloween can be used as an excuse for harmful and fear-inducing activities or for fun and even Christian celebration,” says John Wesley, the pastor for Saint Andrews Episcopal church.
Emily Phillips, sophomore elementary education major, said that “There are two kinds of Halloweens. There is the one where you take your kids for trick or treat and there is the one where you get really drunk.”
John Dyess, a sophomore theatre major, said “I never thought of it as evil. I was told about the evil side, but just never looked at it that way.”
“I see Halloween as a cultural event and believe it is certainly appropriate for Christians to participate in that event as long as the activities they are engaging in do not compromise their Biblical convictions,” says the Director of Montevallo Baptist Ministries Sean Thornton.
“It seems like most people on this campus find Halloween more fun,” Xavier Lawrence, a freshman music performance major said. “You get to be an alternative self. You get to be someone else for a day and that’s fun.”
Now, if there are people who still feel like this is “evil” and do not want to get involved, there are some alternative, church-sponsored events to attend. The Episcopal College program participates in a carving pumpkin contest. There are “Trunk or treat programs” at most of the churches.
As Wesley stated, “Like Halloween itself, carving a pumpkin is not inherently evil. The face can be scary or playful and fun.”
