I have to go with Boundless on the Halloween thing. Obligatory disclaimer - we took our kids trick or treating last year (albeit to about three houses), I did the whole shebang as a kid, etc.

There seems to be a sort of meme out there that says we *must* pretty much do what the culture does, but in a Christian way, somehow. If we abstain from *anything* (almost), we are “isolating” ourselves, “retreating”, failing to “engage” the culture and “redeem” it’s various elements, etc.

The problem is, I just don’t see much biblical support for this view. I don’t see Christians in the NT “redeeming” the baths, say. Or the arena. I *do* see them being told to come out from them and be separate, etc.

Yes, they aren’t going to mountain monastaries either; they are living amidst unbelievers and coming into contact with them. But it is precisely their *differences* that are the beginning of witness.

I do agree with Dobson that it is a matter of conscience whether to participate in Halloween (on a non-gory, non-morbid level). But in this, as in many other “culture wars” matters, I see an awful lot of people fooling themselves. It’s just as easy to be self-righteous (*and* get to do the popular thing too - bonus!) on the “engage” side as it is on the “abstain” side.

“Well *we* engage the culture, unlike those awful fundies over there. Aren’t we grand?”