Faith Driven Consumers and Halloween

October 19, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Good stewardship tips for this tricky holiday    

Pumpkins, candy, and costumes take center stage for Halloween festivities across America every year. As this particularly tricky holiday for Faith Driven Consumers rolls around again, our kids will clamor to hit the streets with masked faces in the quest for a bag-full of candy and the thrill of shouting “Trick-or-Treat!” to their neighbors and friends.

Despite the seeming fun and playfulness of Halloween, have you considered the deeper spiritual implications Halloween carries in our increasingly secular culture? Do you ever feel spiritually oppressed as a Christian during Halloween and wish your children weren’t exposed to costumes and occult-based themes celebrating ghosts, demons and witches?

According to this article, a 2012 National Retail Federation survey found a record 170 million Americans plan to celebrate Halloween this year. More than seven in 10 Americans (71.5 percent) will get into the Halloween spirit – up from 68.6 percent from last year, and the most in NRF’s 10-year survey history.

Consumers are set to spend nearly $80 this year on Halloween decorations, costumes and candy – up from $72 in 2011. Total spending on this holiday alone is expected to reach $8 billion.

According to a recent opinion article by Bloomberg, “People value Halloween, like Valentine’s Day, because they can tell themselves that it’s not merely secularized, it’s secular, which is to say not Christian, Jewish, Hindu or Muslim.”

So while Halloween is little more than a night of innocent fun and trickery for most Americans, many Christians who are Faith Driven Consumers are increasingly concerned about how this holiday has morphed into a cultural orgy of demonic themes – including the requisite Hollywood movie offerings of box-office hits focusing on the supernatural and paranormal.

And then there are the darker and more sexually oriented trends seen in recent years with Halloween costumes. The increased demand for “sexy women” costumes are marketed not just to women, but teenage girls as well.

These cultural shifts are causing many consumers who hold to a biblical worldview to reconsider their participation – and their children’s – in Halloween.  As with most consumer product options, Faith Driven Consumers are able to proactively make choices that align with their deeply held faith and values – all while sending a message to the marketplace that a more wholesome and family-friendly Halloween is what most Americans want for themselves and their children.

This link is a good resource for Faith Driven Consumers who want to consider alternative ways to celebrate Halloween. Also, check out company reviews by clicking here.

As Halloween quickly approaches, be a wise, discerning and prudent consumer and keep in mind how this holiday has deeper spiritual implications on us and our families.  Find new ways to steward well this festival and still uphold your values and worldview.

And in doing so, we can let retailers know that we care how they promote Halloween in our culture and in their stores.

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How to Handle Halloween as a Faith Driven Consumer

October 26, 2011 by 2 Comments

Pumpkins, candy, and costumes–these things may come to mind when thinking about the Halloween holiday. Next Monday night, kids will be lining the street with masks on their faces and bags full of candy in their hands uttering the words “Trick-or-Treat”.

But have you ever thought about the deeper implications that this holiday brings? Do you ever feel oppressed as a Christian during Halloween and wish your children weren’t exposed to seeing specific costumes or celebrating ghosts, demons and witches?

According to an opinion article by Bloomberg, ‘People value Halloween, like Valentine’s Day, because they can tell themselves that it’s not merely secularized, it’s secular, which is to say not Christian, Jewish, Hindu or Muslim.’

For many Americans, Halloween is a night for trickery and innocent fun, but as Christians we should be concerned with the way this holiday has developed throughout the years.In recent years, we can see the gradual shift from the fun of Halloween to a darker, more demonic focus. It is inevitable that there will be two or three box office hits centered on demons and the supernatural at Halloween time. Movies like t he ‘Paranormal Activity’ trilogy have set the tone for scary movies by hitting number one at the box office.

Continual Trend with Halloween Costumes

The darker side of Halloween has also taken over the costumes we can purchase. There is now an increase in demand for the ‘sexy’ women costume. And they are not just marketing to women, but teens girls as well.

This shift has caused discomfort for many with a Biblical worldview, and being subjected to explaining some of the things that come with Halloween to children doesn’t help.

The Bloomberg article mentions a child who dresses up as Aslan, to which it says ‘Lewis was on to something: People can keep children away from religion, but they can’t stop children from believing in something.’ And that ‘there’s something unsettling about the education of a child who comfortably enumerates the rules for surviving zombie apocalypse but finds it uncomfortable to enumerate the rules of his grandparents’ faith, if he knows them.’

Further, the article says, ‘you don’t have to reject Halloween to ask what it may be replacing’–it may be replacing the belief in God.

As Christians, this should be concerning for us. As everyday retailers are selling things from the darker side of Halloween, consumers are purchasing these things now more than ever.
Faith Driven Consumers have a choice, though:


This link is a good source for Christians who want to celebrate an alternative Halloween.
As you approach Halloween on Monday, remember how this holiday has implications toward the dark side, and how we need to be careful what our families are exposed to. Find a way to celebrate and still uphold your values. Let’s show companies that we care how they promote Halloween in our stores!

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