Halloween: A Celebration of Evil

Dear Friends,
As Halloween approaches, I think this piece provides a useful reflection.



Modern celebrations of Halloween may appear on the surface to be quite harmless, but the spiritual implications of dabbling with the spirit world are extremely serious.
What must an unfamiliar observer think of Halloween? Parents dress their children as monsters, vampires, devils, witches and ghosts and encourage them to approach total strangers to ask them for candy and other treats. Homeowners decorate their houses with images of black cats, ghosts, goblins and carved pumpkins and sometimes transform their yards into make-believe graveyards. Adults dress in similar strange and outlandish costumes and go to parties in rooms decorated like dungeons or crypts.
Why are such bizarre practices so popular? Why would anyone celebrate a holiday emphasizing the morbid and macabre? Where did such strange customs originate?
As with Christmas and Easter, we can trace the roots of Halloween far back into the pagan past. The Encyclopedia of Religion says, "Halloween, or Allhallows Eve, is a festival celebrated on 31 October, the evening prior to the Christian Feast of All Saints (All Saints' Day). Halloween is the name for the eve of Samhain [pronounced sow-en], a celebration marking the beginning of winter as well as the first day of the New Year within the ancient Celtic culture of the British Isles. The time of Samhain consisted of the eve of the feast and the day itself (31 October and 1 November)" (1987, p. 176, "Halloween").
Besides Halloween, the Celts observed many other holidays including the winter solstice (later transformed into Christmas), spring fertility rites (reborn later as Easter) and May Day as a harvest festival.
Concerning Halloween The Encyclopedia of Religion continues: "On this occasion, it was believed that a gathering of supernatural forces occurred as during no other period of the year. The eve and day of Samhain were characterized as a time when the barriers between the human and supernatural worlds were broken. Otherworldly entities, such as the souls of the dead, were able to visit earthly inhabitants, and humans could take the opportunity to penetrate the domains of the gods and supernatural creatures.
"Fiery tributes and sacrifices of animals, crops, and possibly human beings were made to appease supernatural powers who controlled the fertility of the land ... Samhain acknowledged the entire spectrum of nonhuman forces that roamed the earth during the period" (pp. 176-177).
On this holiday "huge bonfires were set on hilltops to frighten away evil spirits ... The souls of the dead were supposed to revisit their homes on this day, and the autumnal festival acquired sinister significance, with ghosts, witches, hobgoblins, black cats, fairies, and demons of all kinds said to be roaming about. It was the time to placate the supernatural powers controlling the processes of nature. In addition, Halloween was thought to be the most favourable time for divinations concerning marriage, luck, health, and death. It was the only day on which the help of the devil was invoked for such purposes" (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 15th edition, Micropaedia, Vol. 4, p. 862, "Halloween").
Ancient practices continued today
As with Christmas and Easter, church leaders adopted this ancient celebration to serve their own purposes. "Samhain remained a popular festival among the Celtic people throughout the christianization of Great Britain. The British church attempted to divert this interest in pagan customs by adding a Christian celebration to the calendar on the same date as Samhain. The Christian festival, the Feast of All Saints, commemorates the known and unknown saints of the Christian religion just as Samhain had acknowledged and paid tribute to the Celtic deities" (The Encyclopedia of Religion, p. 177, "Halloween").
Several ancient Halloween practices still exist in modern observances. Bobbing for apples was originally a form of divination (fortune telling) to learn of future marriages. The first person to bite an apple was predicted to be the first to marry in the coming year ... The jack-o-lantern ... represent[ed] a watchman on Halloween night or a man caught between earth and the supernatural world" (Jack Santino, All Around the Year: Holidays & Celebrations in American Life, 1994, p. 26).
The Bible condemns the occult
Although some may dismiss the demonic symbolism and divination associated with Halloween as harmless fun, the Bible reveals the existence of evil spirits, led by Satan the devil, whom God holds responsible for great suffering and sorrow inflicted on the human race. Revelation 12:9 speaks of "the great dragon ... that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan ... [who] deceives the whole world ..."
The name given him in the Bible, Satan, means adversary or enemy. The apostle John tells us that "the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one" (1 John 5:19). Satan and the other fallen angels (demons) constantly try to keep humanity spiritually blinded, turning them aside from their awesome destiny as part of the family of God.
As a loving Father, God commands us to avoid things that can harm us. Concerning the spirit world, notice what God says to His people: "Give no regard to mediums and familiar spirits; do not seek after them, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God" (Leviticus 19:31).
In addition to this command to avoid practices that pertain to evil spirits, God warned ancient Israel to avoid any kind of occult practices: "There shall not be found among you anyone who ... practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things are an abomination to the Lord " (Deuteronomy 18:10-12).
God has called His people to a different standard. Instead of superstitions and myths, God tells us to look to Him for our blessings, direction and future.
Modern celebrations of Halloween may appear on the surface to be quite harmless, but the spiritual implications of dabbling with the spirit world are extremely serious. Fortune-telling, Ouija boards, astrology, voodoo, clairvoyance, black magic and the like can all be related to occult, satanic forces or the worship of natural phenomena and are forbidden in Scripture.
Jesus Christ tells us that "the first and greatest commandment" is to love our Creator "with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind" (Matthew 22:37-38). God alone is the giver of life and all good things. To give recognition to false gods, and to imitate practices that honored them, is unacceptable and idolatrous.

Off to Ohio foster CAIR...Update from rifqabary.com

Judge Daniel Dawson has relinquished Florida's emergency jurisdiction and ordered Rifqa to return to Ohio where she will be placed in Franklin County Children Services. It is unclear whether the parents complied with the judges thrice-repeated demand for immigration paperwork.

This order comes the day after the FDLE interview was released in which Rifqa adamently reiterated the horror she lived with in Ohio for years.

This also comes on the heels of a report from Arizona where an Iraqi man is on the run after driving over his daughter for becoming too Westernized. The daughter's name? Noor. Ironic? Or a foreshadow?

Paperwork was due in court at noonRifqa's parents had until noon on Friday, 10/23/09 to submit passports and immigration paperwork to Judge Dawson in Florida. Because juvenile court records are not public, it is currently unclear whether her parents complied with this request.

There are several possible scenarios with this issue.

1. The parents comply and turn over the documentation that proves they are in the U.S. legally. Rifqa would then be sent to a foster care facility in Ohio.

2. The parents can't comply because they are illegaly in the U.S. but submit whatever they have. Judge Dawson could send Rifqa back to Ohio even with incomplete documentation.

3. The parents can't comply because they are illegaly in the U.S. Judge Dawson could decide that Rifqa won't leave Florida until her immigration status is worked out.

4. The parents can't comply because they are illegaly in the U.S. The DHS or INS could decide to deport the entire family to Sri Lanka.

Rifqa should be allowed to apply for amnesty. Contact Governor Crist and plead with him to keep Rifqa in Florida. Contact information is on the 'How To Help' tab.

'He would beat me'
The transcript of Rifqa's interview with FDLE was released. She gives details of her life and the fear of her father. Notably, she asked for a lawyer and was denied; the interviewer validated this denial by saying that only susptects, not victims, get lawyers.

To listen to the interview, click here.

To download the full transcript, click here.

For more coverage of this interview, click here.

Rifqa will be returned to Ohio
Judge Daniel Dawson decided that Ohio holds the proper jurisdiction in this case and will send the girl to Ohio into a foster care facility. He retains Florida's emergency jurisdiction.

However, the judge has demanded that the family turn over the immigration paperwork that he has requested at the last 3 hearings that the family has refused to disseminate (thus placing the parents in contempt of court). He said Rifqa will not leave Florida until the immigration status of the entire family is resolved.

Pamela Geller was in the courtroom for the hearing. Click here for her report.

Click here for the CBN News report.

Update on Rifqa

The Few

The Few from I'll Be Honest on Vimeo.

The fire

Is it worth loosing your family over your career? Pt2

This often unappreciated and underrated woman is the one who draws up the budget, does the shopping, decides what meals to prepare and sometimes even rushes the children to hospital when they fall sick. And it is she who helps them cope with the unsettling changes that take place during teenage.
It is no wonder, then, that some mothers don't even know when her daughters had their first period, and that would be shocked to learn that they have actually reached this milestone.
The result is that such children grow up to be comfortable with their house-helps and prefer to go to them for advice rather than to their own mothers, since they have not formed a close bond with her.
Under their noses
It is these same house-helps who wait on their husbands, take their bath water to the bathroom, make their tea just the way they like it and have since discovered what makes them tick, what makes them happy and what sets them off. Yet wives are surprised when they discover that their husbands are having an affair with the house help right under their noses.
One of the women Saturday magazine talked to, a lecturer and professional counsellor, confessed that two years ago, her marriage was almost broke up because of the amount of time she was spending at work.
"Between my clinic and lectures, I did not realise just how little time I spent at home because I was always rushing somewhere," she recalls.
It wasn't until she overheard her house girl of two years asking her husband whether she should prepare for him "the usual tangawizi and lemon" to treat his cold that the alarm bells went off.
"My husband had never asked me to make him anything for his cold and, worse still, I had not even noticed that he was unwell," she says, adding that this is what jolted her to take action.
The following week, she gave up three classes, which meant that she could get home early at least three evenings a week to prepare the evening meal and have some quality time with her husband.
"I don't think there is any married woman who believes her husband can have an affair with the house help, or worse, leave her for one, but what we forget is that she, too, is a woman and that human beings are naturally drawn to those who treat them well and show them that they matter," she says.
She says that since then, she has been doing more for her husband, including serving him food, preparing his meals once in a while and spending more time with him.
"Our relationship has improved, and although I am earning less than I used to, I am more relaxed and have more time for myself," she observes.
Which brings us to the question - is it really possible for women to have the best of both worlds? Is it possible for women to have outstanding careers as well as happy and contented families?
Kenyan women have been fighting for equality for quite some time now, and they are getting it. They are rising to positions once reserved for men and earning as much as, if not more, than them. But at what price?
According to an article published in the The Mail of UK recently, women may have won the fight for equality, but "It has left many of them imprisoned and exhausted". This is according to Erin Pizzey, a British women's rights activist and author. Pizzey adds that the idea of women happily combining career and a family has turned out to be a myth.
In the article by Paul Revoir, she observes that women's freedom of choice to have both has left them with less spare time than they had before, and as a result, lost something very important.
"Many women don't have a choice now, they have to work, they have to work hard, and I just see an exhausted generation of women trying to do it all."
Pizzey's views are supported by Helen Fielding, author of the popular Bridget Jones series of novels, who criticised women who aspire to "have it all".
In an article published in a recent issue of The Daily Mail of the UK, Fielding is quoted as saying that many young women today struggle to have successful careers and families in an idealistic society that expects them to balance these roles perfectly, a battle that leaves them "confused".
"They feel they should be getting up at six in the morning and going to the gym, then doing a full day's work, coming back late and feeding 12 people for dinner. It's a modern disease," she is quoted as saying.
Explaining why it is not possible for women to have it all, she argues that there are only so many hours in a day and as a result, you either spend most of them at work, or at home raising children and making a home.

Is it worth losing your family for a career?

Ladies,
Take heed!!!LLLLLLM

By CAROLINE NJUNG'E Posted Friday, June 5 2009 at 16:19
In Summary

Today's career woman seems to have it all; a good job, nice car and beautiful house. But behind this façade of success could be an unhappy husband and neglected children.
It is a controversial, even taboo subject among some, but the fact is that a number of career women are losing their families and homes to their house helps. In their quest for impressive academic credentials a successful career and enviable social network, they forget to nurture what is probably the most important part of their lives - their families.
The result is that they wake up several years later to find that they have lost their families. Their children have developed into secretive, broody and rebellious teenagers while their husbands, whom they long stopped giving serious thought to, have become emotionally withdrawn and carved out a new life for themselves.
Women who have found themselves in such a position will probably relate to Margaret Mwangi.
Two years ago, 41-year-old Margaret Mwangi (not her real name), a senior manager in one of the largest banks in the country, thought she had it all. Already a Masters degree holder, she was a year into studying for a PhD in financial management and had won several awards for her outstanding performance.
She was earning good money and had extensive contacts. But as she rode the wave of her success, she forgot to channel the same effort and energy she directed at her career towards her husband of 14 years and three children.
Margaret would be up by 4 a.m. to get ready for the day's numerous strategic meetings and for mandatory 30-minute jog around her upmarket neighbourhood.
She would leave the house at 6a.m., as her husband and children were waking up to prepare for the day. Thanks to Martha, the efficient and capable house-help she had had for eight years, Margaret knew that her family was in good hands.
Martha would prepare a healthy breakfast, ensure that everyone's clothes, including her husband's, were ironed and laid out and that their shoes were polished.
Given Margaret's busy schedule, including her daily evening classes which ended at 8p.m., she usually got home at around 9 p.m., tired to the bone. By then, the children were in bed, having had supper and completed their homework with Martha's help. In Margaret's mind, she was a good mother and dedicated wife since she ensured that her family was well taken care of.
But due to her constant absence from home, her once close and loving relationship with her husband faded, to be replaced by a cordial one, devoid of emotion and passion. Their conversations were perfunctory and usually, after asking about each other's day, she would take a shower, have a quick meal then collapse in bed, exhausted, with things that needed to be done at work the next day going in her mind.
She could not even recall the last time she and her husband had been intimate, but this did not really bother her. According to her, all marriages lost the initial fire they had after a couple of years. After all, hadn't her friends confessed that they were going through similar experiences?
That's why Margaret was shell-shocked when her 45-year-old husband announced that he was marrying another woman last year. But nothing could have prepared her for the bombshell that he dropped shortly thereafter - the other woman was Martha!
How could he do this to her after she had worked so hard so that they could all have a good life and a secure future? It is not like he or the children had been neglected - they lived in a clean home, had healthy, wholesome food everyday and led organised lives, she argued, as she tried to come to terms with the shocking news.
But when her husband pointed out that it was their live-in house help who did all these for the family, the argument instantly fizzled out.
During the last five years of their marriage, Martha had practically usurped Margaret's roles of wife and mother. She cooked for and served the man of the house, washed, ironed and laid out his clothes and dutifully cleaned and polished his shoes everyday. She even made the couple's bed, as well washed and changed the linen because Margaret often left early in the morning and returned late at night.
But more important, Martha had raised the couple's three children almost single-handedly. When they were young, she would wake up in the middle of the night to lull them back to sleep or warm them a bottle of milk because their mother would be too exhausted to do it. And when they started going to school, she walked them to the bus stop, picked them up in the evening and helped them with their homework.
"How then can you claim that you are my wife and mother of my children if someone else has been doing what you should be doing?" her husband had retorted when she asked how he could embarrass her by having an affair with their house help right under her own roof.
Not ready to live in the same house or share her husband with Martha, Margaret walked out of the marriage with the children. Although she can offer them the comfortable life they were used to, re-learning how to be a mother to her children is proving very difficult.
The older two, a boy and a girl, are teenagers. Sulky, disobedient, and disrespectful, they are constantly getting into trouble at school. The other, now eight, is clingy, teary and has not stopped asking when they will move back home to "daddy and auntie".
Margaret recently learnt that her former house help, a single mother of two, had given birth to a baby girl, who had been named after her husband's mother.
Margaret's case clearly demonstrates the situation in which many women find themselves after entrusting their family's welfare and the running of their households to their house- helps.