So "re-purposing" a false religious event is acceptable to you....? But is it acceptable to God?...to believers this should matter....Why?
2 Corinthians 6:14-18 explains why....
"Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? 15 What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? 16 What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said,
“I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them,
and I will be their God,
and they shall be my people.
17 Therefore go out from their midst,
and be separate from them, says the Lord,
and touch no unclean thing;
then I will welcome you,
18 and I will be a father to you,
and you shall be sons and daughters to me,
says the Lord Almighty.” (Exodus 23:32-33)
The message is clear.....don't touch what is spiritually unclean......I can see that from God's perspective, Halloween is spiritually filthy.
It promotes all kinds of evil. It glorifies satan and witches, ghouls and goblins, blood and gore....and all things spiritistic. If that is harmless fun then I'm afraid that the scriptures have not had much impact on your 'theological thinking.'
Do you never wonder why Christendom never invented festivals and spiritual events of their own to celebrate? Every single one of them is 'borrowed' from false religion and given a thin veneer of "Christian" acceptance, and a new name to pretend that they are all OK for Christians to celebrate. 2 Corinthians 6:14-18 says otherwise.
Could it be that your beliefs are out of harmony with the rest of Christendom....and you say that with such confidence...like God hasn't clearly demonstrated that he is
NOT "okey-dokey" with any beliefs or practices associated with false religion. I think you kid yourself....but hey, you don't have to answer to me.
You don't even know how funny that statement is....the poster you are addressing is as sincere as you appear to be....yet 'smugness' taints what you say too. Are you not aware of it? There is a difference between smugness and confidence.....
God's mercy has to be warranted or it is not offered.
His patience has limits however, or else the final judgment means nothing. For many it will be a shock to have to account for the life they were given and treated as if were a free gift to do with as they please...not so. Life is conditional...it always has been.
The parable of the prodigal son has nothing to do with how long the father waited...it doesn't say. The point of the parable is the return of the son and what prompted it.....and the father's response when he saw his son afar off and ran to meet him. Was it a year....2 years?....10 years?...40 years? It simply doesn't say, because it is irrelevant.
You think the father went looking for his wayward son? Did he send servants to find him? Would the son have been welcomed home if he had not had a complete change in his attitude? The door was closed until the son came back and 'knocked' with his heart. There is so much in that parable that you seem to miss.
You say that as one who is just as indoctrinated....who taught you your slant on scripture? Or did you make it up as you went along?
You seem to want your cake and eat it too.....the Bible is God's word because it is inspired by his spirit...the writers are speaking God's thoughts in their own words....but none of it is real....its "myth" because you think so.....who are you?
But of course, you don't do that? In fact you are rather short on scriptural backup for most of what you say.....are you your own authority somehow? Do you not judge others by your own criteria? Do others not judge you by theirs?
How is your view superior?