Halloween - to be or not to be?

Last night we took the kids trick-or-treating and felt so overwhelmed by all the candy when they got home!  We had probably about 6-8 pounds of candy - and that is not an exaggeration!  Now that both Bella and Elias are in full trick-or-treater mode (meaning they are both able to walk and talk well, carry their bags, etc.), it is amazing how much more candy they collect.  I looked at all this candy that we definitely don't need and felt saddened.  I know it is silly, but I did.  I thought about all the money that was spent on all those candy bars and sugar and costumes and decorations, etc. and how it could have went to some better purpose.  Believe me, I like candy as much as the next person and I also believe that there is a time to celebrate and I love to watch my kids get excited about wearing their costumes and getting candy simply by going up to someone's door.  But this year I was really bothered by the whole extravagance behind trick-or-treating and the message it sends to kids.  I just think it feels like I am telling them they are entitled to be treated to food that is damaging to their bodies by strangers, when so many kids in the world don't have enough nutritious food, let alone treats.  We tell them to stay away from strangers and evil, but we walk them up to the door of people they don't know, who sometimes are wearing scary costumes or have gory decorations.  It just all seems so counter-productive.

And I am not even touching on the other part of the underlying Halloween question of whether it is okay to participate in a holiday that is a celebration of the darker side of humanity.  A friend's post on facebook the other day said, "Just because I want to let my kids trick-or-treat doesn't mean I worship Satan."  I chuckled when I read it, but it sure began an intense dialogue of comments.  I have never had a problem with taking my kids trick-or-treating or giving out candy, because I always had very fond memories of it as a kid and I feel it increases a neighborhoods' sense of community.  Carving pumpkins and having halloween parades and parties are fun and can be great family bonding times.  But I know people who feel like it is best to separate completely from the holiday and its conflicting ideals.  I always thought this was over the top, until Elias came home spouting off all the Halloween was "supposed" to be about, based on what he heard at school.  According to him, Halloween is all about scary things like skeletons, ghosts, werewolves, witches, vampires, and stuff like that.  He got very upset when we wouldn't let him carve his pumpkin this year with any of these images.  Before now, we have always had complete control over what he knew and understood about Halloween.  Now that all these new ideas have been introduced to him, we are now trying to figure out where to draw the line and how to explain the conflict of ideas to Elias.  Is it okay to dress up for Halloween, as long as the costume doesn't have evil connotations?  Should we have parties, as long as we call them "Harvest Celebrations"?  Should we let them watch shows that have "good witches" in them and pass it off as too heavy for them to really understand right now or should we not allow any programs that make light of witches and wizards or the like?  Then what about the Lord of the Rings and the Chronicles of Narnia, which are supposed to be allegorical to the plight of good and evil in the world and of God's relationship with us, but definitely include good and bad magic in them?  What about Disney's "Wizards of Waverly Place" (which I have to admit, I like watching myself)?  I have wondered if people who really worship Satan look at trick-or-treating and cutsy costumes and parties the way Christians look at excessive gift buying, decorating, and partying at Christmas - something that just distracts from the true meaning or if they are just glad that people celebrate "their" holiday at all.  Then that makes me wonder how much we should delve into the Americanized version of Christmas and how much it really reflects our celebration of Christ's birth or if it just gives us another reason to party, eat, and get stuff in the middle of the winter. I have found no definitive answers, but I am definitely searching for God's guidance.  Many things seemed so much easier to answer before I had kids! School has definitely caused me to be a lot more proactive about my decision-making.  Elias is learning a lot of new things and he is already weighing it against what he hears from home.  If we aren't proactive now, later might be too late!