If you celebrate or at least don’t mind Halloween, then you are just like those who watched as people were killed in the Roman Coliseum, at least according to WorldNetDaily’s resident demonologist.

In Karl Payne’s latest column, he warns that Halloween has “destructive” consequences that “can haunt a person for eternity,” contending that people who participate in Halloween are really no different than the Romans who were entertained by people dying in the Colosseum.

To make the observation that things have changed culturally in the 21st century from the post-war innocence experienced by many in this country is an understatement. Today we exist in the midst of the loss of innocence and the joy of age-appropriate discovery. Hedonism, in a context of amoral and ethical relativism, is celebrated and force fed from the womb to tomb through a media that more represents an ideological water cannon than a responsible public trust. The secularization of this once great country is complete. The only real question now is how far it will fall in its depravity before, if or when people in the public square turn their gaze up rather than in.

Today Halloween for many is a horror show providing an excuse for people to glorify the deviance and decadence they watch ad nauseam in movie theaters and on public and cable television screens seven days of the week. Everything is a game that can be reset and started over at the click of a mouse. It’s just harmless entertainment that can be enjoyed or ignored. If you don’t like it, don’t turn it on. Who are you to dictate what is right or wrong for others?

Why am I concerned about the way Halloween, the media and our current culture encourage the celebration and trivialization of spiritism, occultism, Satanism, hedonism, witches, zombies and walking on the dark side with demons? Because the supernatural world is real, and no one is immune to it regardless of their education or worldview. God is real. Angels are real. Satan is real. Demons are real. Real gladiators and real Christians died in the Colosseum and circus even though many Roman leaders and citizens just considered their destruction an evening of entertainment.

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I have witnessed the reality of demonic bondage hundreds and hundreds of times. I have also witnessed individuals being set free through deliverance from demonic bondage hundreds and hundreds of times. Christian missionaries who live in the midst of this reality have thanked me many times for writing this book. Religious academics as well as atheistic secularists are more inclined to ridicule or ignore the subject. Curious.

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Naturalists redefining the subject do not change the reality of the subject. A holiday celebrating the subject, promoting it as nothing more than a day to collect candy, celebrate the dark side, or mock God, does not change the reality of the subject.

The Roman gladitorium and circus were real, but just entertainment that could be enjoyed or ignored. If you don’t like watching men killing each other as people jeered or cheered, or helpless women and children being eaten by animals, don’t go to the Colosseum or arenas. Who are you to dictate what is right or wrong for others?

Will members of the church of God, the body of Christ, make their goal to stand up and speak out or continue to blend in and hide, fearing the rejection or rebuff of the very ones they were commissioned to help? Too many Christians today in North America represent lifeguards who cannot swim and firemen who are afraid to smell smoke or get wet.

Halloween as it is celebrated by many today represents a trick, not a treat, and the consequences of this trick can not only be destructive in time, they can haunt a person for eternity.