Trick, treat and go to Hell
• Cheap Laughs
The fourth collection of pointers to stories of Christian Fundamentalist nutters who think the Halloween holiday is of the devil.
He has called them here, just around the corner from the cluster of Kansas City's haunted houses, to evangelize. To talk about the afterlife to people who've come to see fake demons and devils.
They have come to save souls at the Edge of Hell.
The evangelists have been here as long as the haunted houses have. The street preachers, as they're known, are as much a fixture as Ratman, the guy who sticks live rats in his mouth to scare the bejesus out of patrons.
Group of evangelists preaches about the afterlife at the Edge of Hell
Pastor Brad Fullerton, Cornerstone Assembly of God, Jefferson, believes Halloween was established to celebrate saints and praise God for a good harvest.
“Of course, Satan is a copy cat and turns it to evil,” Fullerton said.
Churches De-emphasize Halloween’s Dark Side
Oolitic Baptist Church is playing host this year to its first Neewollah party for children 12 years old and younger from 6-8 p.m. tonight.
“Neewollah” is Halloween spelled backwards, and organizers say the idea is to “turn things around on Satan.”
Charlie Watkins is Oolitic Baptist’s youth director. Watkins said Neewollah is aimed at taking a non-Christian holiday and putting Christ in the center of the activities.
Watkins said games like “Fishers of Men” and “Biblical Bingo” will help kids focus on Christ while they’re having fun. The event also will feature candy and refreshments.
Some choosing church activities instead of trick-or-treating
Grace Christian School has a similar mission with their alternative event. The school has taken a unique approach with their "Bible Journey," which uses the traditional structure of a haunted house attraction and transforms it into a house of Bible stories. The idea started out as an event that would involve older students ministering to younger students, but soon became oriented towards guiding visitors through sets of Biblical scenes. This is the event's second year.
Christians search for alternatives on Halloween
PARIS (Reuters) -- Saints instead of witches, pop songs instead of hooting owls, "Christian cake" instead of pumpkins -- France's Catholics are trying everything to fend off a Halloween celebration they say is an ungodly U.S. import.
Earlier: Jesus says "Boo!"