Mom Wearing Costume Says 'As Christians We Don't Celebrate Halloween But We Like To Dress Up And Have A Little Fun'
She claims not to celebrate Halloween because she's a Christian, yet still celebrates Halloween.
@hannah_harpist / TikTok; @nicoleweider / TikTok Now that the 4th of July is over, it’s time to think about the next major holiday: Halloween. It's common knowledge that Halloween stems from the Celtic holiday Samhain, a day that represented the end of summer, and the harvest and beginning of winter.
The Celts believed that the veil between the world of the living and the world of the dead was extremely thin on this day and, because of that, it was easier for Druids, or Celtic priests, to make predictions about the upcoming winter. To make these predictions, the Druids dressed up in costumes of animal heads and furs, and built sacred bonfires where people burned crops and sacrificed animals to Celtic deities to receive these predictions.
Because of the ancient rituals and its association with the occult, some Christians believe it is unholy to celebrate Halloween.
In a TikTok that has since been deleted, user Nicole Weider made a video with her and her infant daughter dressed up as Dorothy from "The Wizard of Oz" back in 2020. In the video, she said that, as a Christian, she does not celebrate Halloween, but they still like to dress up and have fun.
The video resurfaced and Weider has received backlash for partaking in one of the Halloween traditions while still claiming “not to celebrate” the holiday.
TikTok user Hannah Harpist posted a video contradicting Weider’s original TikTok. Harpist mocked Weider by saying, “We don’t celebrate Halloween, but we’re celebrating Halloween by doing things that you do to celebrate Halloween. Like dressing up and having pumpkins in our decor for our house.”
Harpist was not the only creator to comment on Weiber’s video. TikTok user Matt Will Post also created a video speaking on Weider’s original TikTok. He said, “There’s literally nothing else to the holiday. What you’ve just described is Halloween,” in response to Weiber’s TikTok.
Users in the comments of both vidoes made fun of Weider and agreed with Post and Harpist. One user wrote in Matt’s comment section, “We don't celebrate Christmas but we do like to decorate an inside tree and give gifts in socks we put over the fireplace,” to further Post’s point that Weider’s views are a bit backwards based on the video she posted.
A user in Harpist’s comments wrote that they do celebrate Halloween as a Christian because “it’s not that deep.” And few users in both comment sections asked what she thought everyone else does if she dresses up and doesn’t celebrate. Another user mentioned that Halloween is a Christian holiday stemming from All Souls Day.
Modern Halloween traditions stem from the Christian holidays All Souls' Day and All Saints' Day.
In 1,000 A.D., the church made November 2nd All Souls' Day, a day to honor their dead. It was celebrated by lighting bonfires and people dressing up in costumes, similar to Samhain. All Saints' Day, celebrated on November 1st, is called All-hallows. October 31st, the night before All Saints' Day, is called All Hallows Eve, and modern-day Halloween.
The tradition of trick-or-treating came from a Medieval Christian tradition in which the poor would go to the homes of the wealthy and exchange prayers for food and beer.
Weiber eventually posted a follow-up video to defend her point.
In her follow-up video, she acknowledged the backlash she received and mentioned that some of the comments were actually funny. “What I meant to say was because of my faith, I’m not into the creepy, scary, demonic stuff,” she amended. But users in the comments were not buying it.
One user said that Weiber was still celebrating Halloween, and another agreed and added that dressing up was still participating. “Easter is Pagan, Halloween is Pagan, and Dorothy is friends with witches,” another user commented. A different user mentioned that Halloween is not about demons.
Where did the belief originate that Christians aren’t supposed to celebrate Halloween?
Christians began to fear occult themes in the 1960s and 1970s when rock culture and psychedelic drugs were popular, and eventually associated these "controversial" occurrences with Halloween. Evangelical Christians were the main source of these beliefs.
Televangelist Rev. Jerry Falwell believed that Halloween could be used to teach about devil worship and temptation. Falwell said if you could “win” against Halloween, you could make a strike against all other “ills of culture,” such as sexual promiscuity and drugs. Another televangelist, Pat Robertson, warned that Halloween was a day when millions of children “celebrated Satan.”
However, this is a far cry from what the actual holiday is about. Most people just dress up in fun costumes, go trick-or-treating, go to a party, carve pumpkins, or possibly tour a haunted house. According to a survey, “3 in 5 Americans believe Halloween is ‘all in good fun,’ but 21% refuse to celebrate the holiday and another 14% avoid the pagan elements.”
Ultimately, you can choose to celebrate or not celebrate whatever holidays you want in whatever way you see fit, but it is never okay to believe that you are better than someone else because of your beliefs.
Tarah Hickel is a Washington-based writer and a frequent contributor to YourTango. She focuses on entertainment and news stories including viral topics and human interest pieces.