'Jesus Ween': Christian Group Promotes Godly Alternative To Halloween

It's got costumes, it's got candy, but for some, what Halloween appears to be lacking is Christianity.

To combat this apparent imbalance, one Christian group is promoting what it calls 'Jesus Ween', a faith-based alternative to the holiday.

The group's website says: "We are focused on helping people live a better life... Throughout the year and especially from October 31st till November 15th we hold several seminars on various helpful topics."

Jesus Ween participants are expected to hand out Bibles and other Christian gifts in "a friendly way", according to a promotional video. Instead of costumes, participants are supposed to wear white, to symbolize righteousness.

Gawker spoke to the event's creator, a Pastor Paul Ade, who runs a congregation in Calgary. He described the motivation behind it:

"Halloween is not consistent with the Christian faith. Many people say they feel uncomfortable on that day. We think people should choose an alternative activity."

The group's Facebook page also makes similarly lofty predictions of success, stating that the day "is expected to become the most effective Christian outreach day ever."

Satirical website The Onion has a different take on the proposed new holiday:

What they forgot to take into account, though, is the fact that those heavy Bibles are going to be hard to carry around all night. Many a child's candy sack will break. WON'T SOMEONE THINK OF THE CHILDREN?!

Comments

[edejan]

01:46 AM on 11/10/2011

"Jesus-ween?" Seriously? Do these people WANT their children to be wedgied to death?

[Ethawyn]

03:06 PM on 11/02/2011

This is so frustrating. When people ignore church history, theology and all common sense simply to promote an idea that goes with their gut. This is just a new version of the "Harvest Festival" business, which is also wrong (wrote about that on my blog at http://ethawyn.blogspot.com/2011/11/your-harvest-festival-is-pagan.html).

[mrjacobovich]

01:07 AM on 10/30/2011

You know that is the Pagans or someone else were to do something on Christmas or Easter to promote their religion, Everyone would be telling them that they are not right and that they need to respect the Christians. So don't be surprised if another religion starts outreaching on Christmas.

[sticks n stones]

03:50 PM on 10/28/2011

Does the video include tips on cleaning houses after they've been egged?

[Samb Hicks]

11:16 AM on 10/28/2011

I am a Believer, and I think Jesus Ween is the most idiotic thing I've heard lately. I have the unsettling feeling this stems from those ludicrous Chick Tracts in the 80s that pronounced Halloween as 'Satan's Birthday'. Anyone with half a brain in their head will recall the Bible doesn't contain any reference to 'Satan's Birthday' or Halloween in it. Okay Halloween started as a Pagan Holiday worshiping seasonal gods, but the key word there is STARTED as. How exactly are kids running around dressed like SpongeBob and getting free candy maintaining the origins of All Hallows Eve? And wait, what's THIS? How could they be CHURCHES with so many bones? That seems like...oh i dunno...HALLOWEEN maybe. I love God and I even love hypocrites, but MAN do they get on my last nerve.
http://inhabitat.com/6-creepy-churches-made-of-bones/

[n6fb]

07:17 PM on 10/27/2011

This has to be the dumbest thing the Christian right has thought of yet!!! I suggest you all keep your kids at home, and have them read a good book about scientific discovery, which is day by day disproving alll tenants of all faiths.

One of these days even you will wake up to the real world of the 21st century

[Chayne Lynx]

05:30 PM on 10/27/2011

so, um, are they gonna take a shot at disemboweling X-mas? after all, it has pagen roots as well? and what about Easter?

[Norm K]

02:36 PM on 10/27/2011

Jesus Ween?!? SERIOUSLY? from the people who brought you the argument "Everything has to be about Jesus, or it might occur to someone somewhere that nothing is about Jesus?"

The CULTURAL holiday called Halloween is about dressing up (mostly in skimpy costumes), trick-or-treating, and having fun. If Christians are that BENT about the Pagan & Death aspects, why not just MOVE HALLOWEEN? Create a holiday called "National Dress Up Fun Day" or "Bob", and move it to a Friday night in JULY. No school, so easier trick-or-treating, and the Sun will still be up at 9 p.m., so less dangerous. And the costumes could be even skimpier (theoretically) because it's warm outside. Problem Solved.

[CharlieTuba]

02:05 PM on 10/27/2011

To the Jesus Ween people:
Just make a donation to UNICEF, and let the kids have their "make-believe" fun.

[Toby Guinea]

01:53 AM on 10/27/2011

so many things wrong with this article. Stupidest idea I have ever heard

[Zombie Goddess]

01:32 AM on 10/27/2011

If you don't like Halloween,fine.DON'T OBSERVE IT.It's as simple as that.You don't have to do your best to ruin it for those who enjoy it.I don't observe Christmas,but I don't tell my neighbors they can't celebrate it.Stop trying to push your evangelism on others in a free country.No one is forcing you to observe Halloween,so stop trying to force the rest of us to observe something we don't want to.

[Dustin Guest]

02:56 PM on 10/25/2011

Y'know, I'm all for having faith in a higher power and feeling inspired by it...but Jesusween? Really? Using halloween to try and peddle your RELIGION on people? That's a good way to get your ass kicked! Tell you what, religious folk...celebrate it, live it, believe in it, but for the love of god, please don't push it on everyone else.
I grew up Catholic, went to Catholic school, served in my church's teen group, the whole bit. It's just not something I subscribe to any more. Believe what you want, just don't try to "fix" me with something I don't believe. I'm not broken.
I don't believe in Christ's divinity, and you know what? I don't feel empty. I don't feel like I'm missing something. I feel pretty darn good about it!
I mean, come on! From their site: "INDIVIDUALS can participate by giving out several Christian gifts on Oct 31st and especially when someone knocks on your door expecting candy, we prescribe you give a pocket size bible, Christian musical or teaching CD, Tracts, Poems, etc." Can you imagine being a child on Halloween and this happens? How disappointed would you be? How fast would you throw that to the side? And some of us...how HARD would that house get egged? Because I'm preeeeety sure that house would have been 95% egg by the time we were done.

[Toby Guinea]

01:55 AM on 10/27/2011

Hahaha, you and I think the same, my friend.

[Danial Woo]

08:47 PM on 10/23/2011

We really need a Jesus Wean.

[TomTheChalupa]

08:47 PM on 10/27/2011

I see what you did there XD

[Sean Robsville]

10:23 AM on 10/23/2011

Happy Buddhaween... http://seanrobsville.blogspot.com/2009/10/buddhist-halloween.html

[John Dunphy]

10:02 AM on 10/23/2011

This is the the most tragic thing I have ever heard... awful. awful. awful.