“Happy Halloween-Christmas!” That greeting may sound odd to some, even blasphemous. But mixing the two days is a sign of cultural and spiritual decadence. If you haven’t noticed, the two most-celebrated days of the year, Halloween and Christmas, are gradually morphing into one long autumnal observance. Culturally, this may be acceptable, but I want to warn you that this merger is spiritually dangerous. Will many soon welcome the holiday season with the greeting, “Happy Halloween-Christmas?” Here’s what triggered my thinking on this possibility.
A month ago, about six weeks before Halloween and more than three months before Christmas, I went to a big box, home-improvement store. Inside were plumbing fixtures, all sorts of nails and assorted fasteners, various kinds of lighting, cans of paint, yard and gardening supplies, and even appliances. But half of the front of the store was given over to a huge display of Halloween paraphernalia, the biggest assortment of demonic decorations I’d seen anywhere. But what disturbed me even more was the massive display next to it – a huge section of Christmas home and yard decorations. Seeing the two merchandise selections side by side was startling. Granted, the Christmas stuff was totally secular—Santa Claus, trees, candles lights, and such. Totally devoid of anything sacred. Still, the two didn’t fit. One display was about death and darkness, the other about brightness and happiness. This truly was an incorporation born in hell!
Then to top it off, just a few feet away was another section on Christmas featuring, side by side, the Grinch, Mickey Mouse dressed as Santa, and Yoda with his light saber. I remember when Yoda as a “Star Wars” character first came out. George Lucas, the creator of the movie franchise, declared that he was a practicing Buddhist, and that Yoda was intended to be his alter-ego as a fountain of Buddhist wisdom, with backwards speech and erudite manners. Now this demonic little slogan-spotting minion was in the middle of a Christmas display, the ultimate affront to the real meaning of Christmas. It’s not a stretch to say that what I witnessed in this store was a visual representation of a pop culture signaling the existential decline of American culture which was founded on Christian ideals.
In my opinion, there’s no way to redeem Halloween. Everything associated with this holiday is evil and demonic. But Christmas, to the Christian, can still mean the babe in the manger, the angels heralding the birth of Christ, and joy to the world that Christ has come. Whenever Christ was really born, most likely in the spring, as believers we can keep Christ in Christmas by having Him in our hearts and using the day to remind ourselves that Christmas day celebrates the fact that a Savior was born who is Jesus our Lord. But beware of the subtle ways that decadent pop culture and greedy merchandising want to mix the sacred with the profane, Christmas and Halloween.
