Halloweenies 2: Revenge of the Tracts

The Evangelical Outpost has some strong commentary on the infamous Chick Tracts. Joe Carter, who wrote the aforementioned commentary, expresses his displeasure regarding Halloween Chick Tracts using no uncertain terms:

I think it's safe to say that if the Lord hates Halloween then he must despise Chick tracts. When a well-intentioned but overzealous Christian gives these "comics" to a child it must be, as Chick would say, a "slap in the face." If you are the type of person who does this on Halloween I only have one word to say to you: repent.

Irrational fear is an overrated motivational tool, especially when you're trying to win the hearts and minds of children. Just look at my example. Twenty years later I'm still creeped out by the thought of the Chick comics. While they might have had the intended impact -- to scare the living hell out of me -- they did so by appealing to an unncessary fear of Satan. [Read the full post]

I'm all for redeeming Halloween. I'll even be dressing up as yon mountain hillbilly to give out candy to neighborhood kids at our church's Trunk-or-Treat event. I don't even mind folks passing out tracts (although I generally question their effectiveness.) Perhaps Joe's statement above runs a little hot, but this article does make a good point; these Halloween tracts sensationalize fear, and I don't think that's the way to win children to Christ. At least I know I wouldn't care much for my son getting one of those.

[HT: Between Two Worlds]