Given everything that’s happened in the past few days, you might have a hard time believing that Halloween was less than a week ago.
Of course, that’s equally hard to believe due to the fact that not much celebrating went on this year, due to the pandemic.
Which means that in the Duggar family, it was business as usual.
Jim Bob and company are firmly anti-Halloween, as they believe the holiday is essentially a Satanic cult practice that imperils the souls of all who celebrate it.
The Duggars are extremists in most of their views, but that’s one they share in common with mainstream evangelicals.
Of course, these days, some of the adult Duggar children are rebelling against Jim Bob and forming their own belief systems.
This is a group that includes Jinger Duggar, who moved to Los Angeles so that her husband, Jeremy Vuolo, could attend divinity school.
That may sound like a perfectly wholesome reason to relocate to the City of Angels, but the move still met with sharp disapproval from Jim Bob.
These days, Jinger and Jeremy supplement their income by hosting a podcast together,.
This week, a fan wrote in to ask if the couple and their daughter celebrate Halloween.
It’s a question the Vuolos have avoided in the past, but this time, they entertained it.
Jeremy gave an elusive "yes and no" response before delving into greater detail.
"Here’s a way to think about it," he continued.
"A lot of us see certain holidays as a social construct where if you grow up and your idea of Halloween is having your friends over, going trick and treating around your neighborhood, have fun and laugh with your parents, and you get to dress up.
"As far as that goes, then today Christians can enjoy it."
It’s a surprisingly progressive view from a member of the extended Counting On clan.
Jeremy goes on to acknowledge the holiday’s darker origins, but he insists there’s a "safe" way to celebrate.
"If you study the origins of Halloween, you’ll find very disturbing origins and what some people chose to do on Halloween is disturbing," he told his audience.
"But you can do that with anything – you can take Christmas back, and find Pagan origins there, or even Easter."
It was at that point that Jinger interjected and suggested that it’s all a matter of intention.
"The text that comes to mind is ‘to the pure, all things are pure,’" she said.
"Societially, we give candy out to kids and dress up, that is objectively harmless," Jeremy concluded.
"But if you begin to find your family is bringing in a darkness, or kids are starting to be influenced by the Satanic origins of the holiday, then you can evaluate it on a deeper level."
Jinger encouraged fans to ask themselves what "really matters," namely — "is this something I can participate in with a clean conscious?"
These days, Jinger is pregnant with her second child, and it seems clear that both of her kids will enjoy a much more progressive upbringing than she had.
Who knows, the Vuolos might even allow their daughters to wear pants, instead of floor-length skirts!