Happy Reformation Day / Halloween to you all. Why not check out some Mac-O-Lanterns? Or if your conscience lashes out against the trappings of Satanic idol feasts, then amuse yourselves with a Martin Luther Bobblehead.

El Caballo Muerto, fresh from a pagan demon frolic, has taken issue with Mark Byron’s reflections on Christians and Halloween.

A verse often quoted in situations like this is Paul’s admonition concerning meat sacrificed to idols:

But food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do. Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak.”

Going along those lines of thought, the believer who has put his faith in Jesus is no longer under the sway of sin, and if he enjoys a Halloween party with the full understanding that its old cultural connections do not have power over the victorious life in Christ, then he is not condemned for it. Have a care, however, for: (1) the more tender sensitivities of those who still have problems with the pagan connotations of the holiday, and (2) going beyond costumes to Ouija boards and tarot cards. I think that necromantic paraphernalia are over the edge.

(Personally, I have concerns over whether a passage about food and idols can be so liberally applied to almost any context where Christians meet culture, from Halloween to computer games. More on that some other time.)