Why I Celebrate Life and Not the Day of the Dead

Do I attack or propose?

We are getting to those dates in which Christians begin to worry about the celebration of Halloween and the day of the dead.  The question we must ask ourselves is: Do we as Christians take part in cultural traditions and do we permit our children to have a part in them. The question is a good one and the answer is so necessary because the pressure to take part is stronger and stronger.

To begin with let us consider the media and the educational system that is informing us about the day of the dead.  They tell us it is an ancestral tradition and that we as Mexicans should therefore celebrate it.  At the same time these entities criticize the celebration of Halloween because it is an imported and very commercialized tradition, and we as Mexicans should keep to our cultural roots.

On the one hand they are right that those things that are distinctive of the Mexican culture might be being lost in the globalization that we are facing in our times and which is erasing many of the things that distinguish one culture from another.  The youth are allowing themselves to be swayed by new ideas because they look attractive without measuring the consequences nor understanding how the adoption of a new tradition affects our worldview.

The question then is: Do I attack such a festivity just because it is bad or do I present a new alternative based on a new and different way of thinking.  I believe that as Christians we have the obligation to warn people about the danger that exists in celebrating something that is not in accord with God's way of viewing things as seen in the Bible.  At the same time we need to show them what the Scriptures teach which is the foundation for our worldview.

Every cultural tradition is founded on its worldview.

To begin with we need to understand that every tradition is part of a worldview – a way of interpreting the world we live in.  Every custom, rite, and diverse practice in a culture is derived from the way we interpret our world.  As such these practices or customs have an ethical value that come from its meaning within the culture where they exist because they do not exist in a vacuum.  It may be that certain practices that have had a certain meaning with the passing of time change because the culture in which they exist has changed or because the culture that has adopted them has given it a new meaning.

Let us consider the example of custom of celebrating a child's third birthday as it is done in the central part of Mexico.  Having been born in Northern Mexico, this custom has caught my attention.  I have been asking for more than ten years why they celebrate this age in such a special manner including a mass in the Catholic Church and a banquet to follow.  No one has been able to tell my why.  There has to be a reason somewhere back in time, but it has become a custom without meaning.  It seems the only reason for its existence today is the fact that everyone celebrates it; and since my ancestors did so,  I do likewise. In this instance we have the case of a custom that has lost its meaning and it seems to be only an excuse to have a party.

The celebration of the day of the dead is something different.  This custom has its roots in the old cultures of Mexico which in times past melded together with the traditions imposed on them by the new religion, Catholicism, that was forced on the natives by the conquistadores.  The date in and of itself was set by the Roman Catholic church, but the practices themselves differ from place to place depending on the ancestral cultures that held sway in the various regions of Mexico and Latin America.

According to the Roman Catholic Church, what is being celebrated is the return to this world of those who died faithful to the church.  Even though this belief varies from place to place, the background to this celebration is the belief that on this day the portal between the place of the dead and those yet living on this earth is opened.  These customs as with the customs of Halloween which are based on Celtic world view are very similar in nature.  The Celtic culture as well as the Ancient Meso American cultures, however, are based on worldviews that do not line up with Scripture. 

Teaching from the Bible on the Dead

According to Scriptures, when a person dies he/she goes to one of two places depending on his relationship with God at the time of his/her death. Whatever the condition, that person’s presence in that place is stable.  The dead person no longer has access to this planet unless it is by means of some special miracle of God.  There is no day of the year in which the dead can come back to visit their loved ones.

When David's son by Bathsheba died as a judgment from God, David said the following, “I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.” 2 Samuel 12:23. In other words, there would be no November 2 or October 31 on which he could spend time with his son nor his son with him.  The Lord Jesus supported this truth when he told the story of the rich man and Lazarus. Jesus tells how the rich man died and finding himself in a place of torment he says to Abraham: “ Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame...[Abraham answers] between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house: For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.”(Luke 16:22-28) If the dead have access to this world, could not this rich man communicate with his brothers by means of some person that has contact with the dead or on the day of the dead.  What Jesus is saying is that the dead no longer have contact with this world.

Another thing, Scriptures teach us that the dead are in a state in which what they are waiting for is the day of the judgment by God.  There is nothing else they can do that they have not already done on earth. “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27).  They are awaiting the resurrection depending on what their relationship with God was in life. “And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation” (John 5:29).

As we can see the observance of the day of the dead springs from a worldview contrary to Scripture and the revelation that God, who knows all things, has given us.

Teachings on religious rites

Once more we go back to Scripture to see what it teaches us about religious rites.  According the Bible we should not worship anyone but God.  This commandment is number one in the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:3).  Christ later puts it this way.  “And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve”(Luke 4:8). 

Why do I mention this in relation to the observance of the day of the dead?  The reason is the following, even though people say they do not worship the dead, how is it that they observe the day of the dead? They do it with altars and offerings.  Altars and offerings of this nature are only used in rites of worship.  Altars are where sacrifices are made and where things are offered up to the gods.  So it follows that if we put up an altar and we make an offering of flowers, food, clothing, liquor, etc. what are we really doing?  Is this not worship, and only God deserves worship.

Let us leave, however, this argument to one side.  Let us look at what Deuteronomy 18:11-12 tells us.  “Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee”(Deuteronomy 18:11-12). I am not saying that people say they consult the dead but that they say that the dead come back and that they enjoy their time with their loved ones.  People go to the cemetery to spend time with their loved ones.  If it is only done as a tradition and not for this reason, the question would be: then why choose this day of the year that in the minds of many has such a background and which is the belief among most people in the culture.  Those trying to resurrect and preserve these customs constantly go back to original meaning.  Should I compromise my beliefs by participating in such a tradition that goes against my faith that is ruled by the Word of God?

As a child of God, if I do not believe that the dead have access to this world and I believe that we should not worship them because only God is worthy of such honor, then why should I take part in such a custom?

I Celebrate Life

This year my father passed away.  My hope and assurance is that he is in the presence of his beloved Lord. “We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord”(2Corinthian 5:8).  This was his hope and according to Scripture it was his destiny because he had placed his faith solely on the saving work of the Lord Jesus Christ.  “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him”(John 3:36).  He is enjoying life, a full and abundant life with his Lord.

Instead of celebrating the death of my mother, father and brothers who have died, I choose to celebrate life because my God is a God of the living and not of the dead.  “He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living: ye therefore do greatly err” (Mark 12:27).