Posts tagged children
Halloween: A Celebration of Evil Boulder at center
Oct 29th
Halloween: A Celebration of Evil
Boulder celebrates all forms of evil, torture, murder and spiritual decrepitude this weekend. It is our largest most drunken holiday. 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).
Civilized peoples condemn the occult
Although some may dismiss the demonic symbolism and divination associated with Halloween as harmless fun, the Biblical teaching 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.
JonBenet SACRIFICIAL MURDER
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.
Halloween was the celebration of the beheading of children, carving their skulls and leaving them in front of homes with candles to appease evil spirits. Today this is symbolized by carved out pumpkins.
This is akin to celebrate the Nazi slaughter of Jews during world war II , yet the community does not celebrate that. It sound too horrible, yet Boulder celebrates an equally evil holiday by acting out chilling events on the Pearl Street mall. One has to question. BOULDER SHOULD BE ASHAMED
Boulder Public Library celebrates 25th anniversary of BoulderReads! program Friday Oct 14
Oct 15th
Boulder Public Library celebrates 25th anniversary of BoulderReads! program
Boulder Public Library will commemorate 25 years of the BoulderReads! literacy program on Friday, Oct. 1
4, with a community celebration, from 4:30 to 6 p.m. in the Canyon Gallery at the Main Library, 1001 Arapahoe Ave. (north wing).
Twenty-five years ago, Boulder Public Library created a new program to help adults improve their reading and writing. At that time, ABC and PBS were running a two-year campaign to raise awareness about how many adults in America were unable to read and write at the level needed to be fully functional as parents, employees and community members.
“One of the best benefits of that campaign was that adults who struggled with reading realized that they were not the only people with that difficulty,” said BoulderReads! Director Diana Sherry. “Another benefit was that they learned that community programs existed or were being created to serve them.”
Libraries were one of the front runners in this effort, and BoulderReads! was one of those new programs. Since 1986, BoulderReads! has grown to serve around 300 adults and children every year. Its core services include free, one-on-one tutoring at four public libraries and the Boulder County Jail, GED classes and testing, a Reading Buddies program for children, and numerous support activities for these learners, as well as the general public.
This 25-year milestone will be celebrated by the BoulderReads! students, volunteers and funders, as well as other interested community members. To attend, please RSVP to Laurie Watkins at 303-441-3151 or via email to: watkinsl@boulderlibrary.org.
–CITY–
Boulder County to invest $1-million in community health
Sep 27th
Beginning Oct. 1, Boulder County will invest more than $1 million throughout the next two years in community-based mental health and substance abuse services, community resource centers, dental care, and access to quality child care.
Later this year, funding will include additional resources for emergency services as well as community-based transition age youth services, crisis housing services, parent education and life skills services, and job training and employment support.
Boulder County is investing in priority areas identified through a collaborative, community-wide process built on past strategic planning efforts that will support the community’s safety net by preventing greater dislocation and costlier services for community members.
Agencies receiving funding are: Mental Health Partners ($400,000 for mental health and substance abuse services), Sister Carmen Community Center ($200,000 for Community Resource Center Services), City of Boulder Family Resource Schools ($170,000 for Family Resource School Services), Clinica Family Health Services ($35,000 for dental health services), Dental Aid ($35,000 for dental health services), and the Early Childhood Council of Boulder County ($60,000 for quality child care).
This is the second round of funding provided by the Boulder County Temporary Safety Net tax initiative, or Ballot Initiative 1A, that was passed in last November’s election. The five-year property tax back fills deficiencies in state funding for county human services programs and supports contracts with nonprofit agencies maintaining a safety net for families and children in Boulder County.
“We are fortunate to have the support of the community to deal with the significant impacts of the economic downturn,” said Frank Alexander, Director of Boulder County’s Department of Housing and Human Services. “Only by funding critical services that have suffered serious cuts and simultaneously addressing these critical safety net gaps that prevent greater family crises can we deal with the increased need in community programs with very limited funding.”
Just as human services agencies throughout Boulder County are experiencing tremendous growth in caseloads and increased demand for services, state and federal funding sources have been declining significantly. The funding ensures these critical services continue and that community members are served.
The first round of funding – $503,000 deployed in February – has increased the availability of supported child care, provided support to local nonprofit organizations that provide family and individual crisis services, supported child welfare, child protection and early intervention practices, and has ensured timely access to food assistance, medical care, and essential benefits.
“As human service agencies throughout Boulder County have been stressed to meet the demands of our community during this economic downturn, the Temporary Human Services funds have been essential in our efforts to support families and prevent the need for costlier, future interventions,” County Commissioner Cindy Domenico said.
