A Look At GALATIANS 4:16

     The speaker, a tall man who could not pronounce the word "archeological" to save his life, took the podium and began with an overview of GALATIANS 4:16. He told the gathered assemblage that the main purposes of the group was to be a source of information as to the occult phenomenon, to keep those not involved in the occult from becoming so, to lead those who are in the darkness of the occult into the light of Jesus Christ, and to inform believers of the real enemy and the Satanic devices used in spiritual warfare. He never told us his name, nor did any one there reveal their identities. This was due to the "persistence of hate mail and death threats" they receive from the Pagan Community and the followers of Satan who seek to stop them from telling God's truth. "We've never attacked anyone, but we have been repeatedly attacked by occultists, Satanists, and misguided innocents who have been led astray by lies. We have been attacked, but we have survived." The speaker said, triumphantly. Paranoia seems to run high with them, starting with their name. The passage from the Bible from which it is taken from reads: "Am I therefore your enemy, because I tell you the truth?"

     The truth we were told was that Halloween is now the third most popular "party day" for Americans to enjoy hedonistic excesses, following only the Superbowl and New Year's Eve. The speaker said that despite our love of the holiday, most of us are ignorant of its origins and Satanic roots. "You've been told this holiday hurts no one, that it is just a day for children to dress up, but it is impossible to separate Halloween from Satanism."

     Some of the popular Halloween symbols expossed were:

     Jack O' Lantern: This is named for Irish Jack, a "stinky drunk" who tricked the devil into climbing a tree. Once the devil was up there, he cut a cross into the tree and the devil couldn't get down. He made a deal with the devil, and in return for never taking his soul into Hell, he let the old boy down. Because he struck this bargain with the devil, and for his drunkenness, God turned him away from heaven after he died. He had no where to go, so he went to Hell and asked to be let in, but the devil wouldn't take him and started throwing burning coals at him. Jack put one in a turnip and used it for a lantern as he wanders the world in darkness.

     Broomstick: Witches "rode" broomsticks to the coven meetings, but they were also commonly used as a phallus for sexual gratification.

     Black Cat: A common witch's familiar, and symbol of Bast.

     Trick or Treat: He described the ancient pagan rites of the Druids. According to the lecturer, Halloween was derived from an ancient festival honoring the Celtic god of death, "Samhain". Through their worship of this god the "spirits" of the dead returned to earth and had to be appeased by leaving a feast for them, or "treat". If the ghost wasn't happy with the bounty, it would visit a terrible reprisal, or "trick".

     The speaker described the religious festival in honor of Samhain held in ancient Britain on their New Year's Eve, October 31. They ordered all fires put out in the village and built a huge bonfire. Human and animal sacrifices were offered to Samhain to be burned there, and the charred bones were later used to tell the fortunes of each member of the community. Then they took burning sticks from the blaze to light their home fires, so that the whole village would prosper for the coming year.

     Around 43 AD, these tribesman were conquered by the Romans (those famous imperialistic pagans who helped promote the "Whore of Revelations" known as the Catholic Church"). The Romans combined the Samhain celebration with several of their own holidays, so they persisted under Roman rule in a new guise. During the great Christian movement of 600-800 AD, the church established "All Saints Day" to honor dead saints on November 1. This was easily combined with the pagan festival of the god of death and from this combination we get All Hallows Eve, or Halloween. We were told that this should not surprise us, as the early Roman Catholic church incorporated stations for druids and incorporated druidic rites into many of their monasteries.

     The holiday was not particularly popular in the predominantly Protestant US, due to our country's foundation in strong fundamental Christian beliefs, until large numbers of Irish Catholic immigrants arrived in the 1800s. Since this influx of neo-pagans in Christian clothing, Halloween has become more Satanic every year.

     The speaker cited testimony of converts from witchcraft that every year there are great meetings of Satanists on October 31 who offer up human sacrifices, utter Satanic prayers for the downfall of man, curses put upon God and his followers, and placing hexes and spells upon commercially made costumes that those who wear them might more easily be possessed by devils. Poisons, drugs, and razor blades placed in children's candy are the means of delivering those children harmed by them to Satan as sacrifices.

     At this point, one of the delegation from the Riverside Pagan Community raised his hand to interrupt. "I would like to state for the record, that I have not, nor has any member of the pagan community I am familiar with, ever harmed a child in any way, nor have we committed homicide or any of the other heinous and horrible criminal acts you are describing. Also, I do not even believe in this entity you call "Satan", much less do I worship him."

     To this the speaker responded, "I know you M---, and I know you are a gentle person who could not commit a violent act, but I know that what I say is true of other pagans because I have heard their testimony. And it does not matter what you call gravity, it still holds you to the earth. It does not matter what you call Satan, he is still dragging you to Hell. You can call him the Goddess, but that is just Satan in drag. Denying the force which supports you does not cause it to cease to exist. Let me tell you, God looked at me and you and at Jeffrey Daumer, and he saw the same thing. He saw sinners. The only difference is that Jeffrey Daumer and I have accepted Jesus Christ as savior, and you haven't. Jeffrey Daumer did horrible things, but he found God before he died, and he is waiting in Heaven because of it. You are going to Hell, M---, no matter what good acts you have done."

     This led to a heated discussion on the merits of a God who would elevate Jeffrey Daumer and throw decent people into Hell, but the speaker persisted in the idea that all morality comes from God and if you are decent, you ought to reap the benefits by rejecting Satan and adoring the source of all decency. "M---, the real difference between us is that I know the rules, God wrote them down. They're on the top of the box, but you pagans just make them up as you go along. This is what God says about witches!" With that, the Speaker cited biblical evidence of God's hatred of witches and pagans.

     I Sam. 15:23: "For rebellion is the sin of witchcraft"

     Deuteronomy 18:10-12: "There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee."

     II Chronicles 33:6: "...also he observed times, and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger."

     At this juncture I was moved to ask, "The word of God in the Bible is to be believed and to be obeyed?"

     "Without question," he answered.

     "Then you advocate a strict observance of Exodus 22:18?"

     He blinked, and asked me to refresh his memory of that passage. I reminded him that it says rather plainly, "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live." This caused him to blink a bit more and gave rise to satisfied chuckles from the Riverside Pagans.

     "Well, I don't advocate the murder of witches, no."

     "Why not? God clearly does."

     "That is the Old Covenant, since Jesus came to us, there is a new covenant and the Mosaic laws no longer apply."

     "Then why are you citing them as evidence in this forum? Or are you saying that it is even worse for Jews to observe Halloween?"

     "Well, now, I am not speaking to, for, or about the Jews this evening. I am here to talk about Jesus and what he had to say about witchcraft."

     "Jesus himself never mentions witchcraft or sorcery, but he said in the book of Matthew that he came not to bring peace on earth, but to bring a sword."

     "He did, a powerful weapon, but the sword he brought was not a literal sword, the sword was symbolic of God's word."

     "Then you're saying the Bible is to be taken literally, except the obsolete Old Testament and the largely symbolic discourse of Jesus in the New Testament?"

     The discussion fell apart about then, ending with some verbal volleys between the pagans and the speaker. Then the library closed and we all had to leave.