Jesus Ween. Â Let it sink in. Â Jesus Ween. Â 
Here is the from Tamara Gignac of the . Â Please know, it isn’t the heart of what Paul Ade is doing that is the problem as much as the cheese factor of the naming.
CALGARY — Tiny ghosts and goblins hoping for sugary snacks may find something odd in their loot bags this Halloween: a bible.
A Calgary pastor is promoting Jesus Ween, a faith-based alternative to the traditional holiday fare of candy and spooky garb.
Instead of chocolate bars and gummy bears, he’s asking people to shun demonic costumes and instead dole out pocket-sized bibles or other “Christian gifts.”
The idea has caught on in communities across North America, according to Jesus Ween creator Paul Ade. He’s hoping it will bring a new perspective to an otherwise pagan festival, he said.
“I do not associate myself with ghosts, demons, Satan and witches. These are things I want to get rid of,” he said.
“If it’s OK for a child to know about demons, it should also be OK for a child to know about Jesus.”
Jesus Ween has attracted international attention, with media reports circulating as far away as Britain.
The Calgary man’s efforts to reinvent Halloween even prompted parody south of the border, with recent gags from U.S. pop culture satirist Stephen Colbert and late-night television host Jimmy Kimmel.
Ade admits he was surprised by some of the negative reaction from the media, but insists he doesn’t take the criticism personally. “I can take a joke. I can laugh. This is not about saying, ‘Jesus for everybody and nothing else,'” he said.
As of Thursday, Jesus Ween had more than 4,000 supporters on Facebook. Fans of the movement have erected billboards in Toronto and some people have put bumper stickers on vehicles.
The pastor has 200 “kid-friendly” bibles ready to distribute to Calgary children on Monday. “I don’t think we’re ruining anybody’s fun. Getting a bible is not getting a bomb. It’s nothing really bad,” Ade said.
But some local Christians say they see nothing pious about Jesus Ween and wonder why the anti-Halloween movement has attracted followers at all.
The insertion of Jesus into a harmless holiday reserved for treats and spooky pumpkins is a turnoff, argues John Van Sloten, the pastor of New Hope Church.
“I think it’s awful. It feeds into the stereotype that to be a person who follows Christ is to be against everything outside of the church,” said Van Sloten.
“I’m kind of appalled by someone doing this.”
Paul Verhoef, a Christian chaplain at the University of Calgary, isn’t a fan of the idea either. If people feel compelled to put a religious twist on the day, he’d rather they perform simple acts of kindness on Oct. 31.
For instance, students at the university are dressing up in costume and asking for food donations to give to the Interfaith Foodbank, an event dubbed Trick or Eat.
“If you want to respond to Halloween in a way that says, ‘Let’s live our lives more deeply in a particular faith,’ Jesus Ween seems on the lower end of a thousand possibilities,” said Verhoef.
Nevertheless, Ade says he has the support of much of the city’s evangelical community, to say nothing of the scores of supporters in other parts of Canada and the United States.
He’s optimistic Oct. 31 will soon be associated with Jesus, not bloody zombies and evil spirits. “Those that love the idea have not been as vocal as those who don’t,” he said. “Most of the Christian pastors we’ve talked to personally believe this is a great deal.”
Like many holidays celebrated in North America, Halloween — which means All Hallows Eve — has both pagan and Christian roots.
© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald
RobS said...
1Certainly a giant wheel of cheese worth of a name. Maybe they’ll get a marketing director next year.
Seriously though, it’ll work for some people but it’s more likely to get support from those already in the church and not be much of an outreach tool.
To make it an outreach tool, they would probably fare better by having something with real candy and a costume or two, and just building some real relationships with the neighborhood people so others would see they’re a safe and positive place to visit. Then, they can share more.
It’s hard to expect non-Christians to suddenly jump over to a more conservative Christian position instantly. For those that prefer that style, it’s fine by me. To understand the realities of the spiritual powers of heaven and (yes, let me say it) hell, well, that can be something that grows in one’s heart in a unique way over time with the power of Jesus.
The Trick or Eat idea is creative and timely…
11/11/11 1:24 PM | Comment Link