Kirk Cameron denounced as 'pagan' and 'papist' for encouraging celebration of Halloween

The Christian News Network reports that Kirk Cameron is coming under fire from other evangelical priests for his claim that Halloween is a holiday that Christians should take back from the pagans.

"When you go out on Halloween and see all people dressed in costumes and see someone in a great big bobble head Obama costume with great big ears and an Obama face, are they honoring him or poking fun?” the actor asked last week. “They are poking fun at him.”

Cameron further claimed that the holiday entailed Christians dressing up "in costumes as the devil, ghosts, goblins and witches precisely to make the point that those things were defeated and overthrown by the resurrected Jesus Christ. The costumes poke fun at the fact that the devil and other evils were publicly humiliated by Christ at His resurrection. That’s what the Scriptures say, that He publicly humiliated the devil when He triumphed over power and principality and put them under his feet."

He encouraged listeners to throw "the biggest party on your block [to] show how Christians celebrate the day that death was defeated, and you can give them Gospel tracts and tell the story of how every ghost, goblin, witch and demon was trounced the day Jesus rose from the grave."

But Mike Gendron, of ProclaimingtheGospel.org, told Christian News Network that Cameron is gravely mistaken, because historically the rituals of Halloween are connected to the "pagan" practices of Roman Catholicism, and are therefore not consonant with biblical Christianity.

"The two faiths are diametrically opposed to one another,” Gendron said. “I strongly disagree with Kirk Cameron and would encourage him to avoid celebrating anything that has to do with the pagan practices of the apostate Roman Catholic Church."

"The reason Martin Luther posted his 95 thesis on a church door on Oct. 31, 1517 was because the very next day, All Saints Day, Catholics would be coming to the church to venerate the bones and relics of dead ‘saints’. The Castle Church of Wittenberg had over 1900 relics of dead ‘saints’ on display. Catholics were granted indulgences for the remission of sins if they venerated the relics and made confession of their sins. This practice of necromancy is strictly forbidden by God," he continued.

"Kirk Cameron needs to repent of his message that urges Christians to participate in this dark holiday that glorifies the devil, ghosts, goblins and witches," he added. "On October 31st while Kirk Cameron is urging people to celebrate Halloween, our ministry will be encouraging people to remember the Reformers who were brutally tortured, murdered and burned at the stake by the Roman Catholic Church for defending the Gospel of Jesus Christ."