'Jesus Ween': Christian group wants to replace Halloween with godly alternative

Everyone's excited about Halloween and the anticipation is building but for a few conservative Americans, it's Jesusween they're waiting for. The conservative Christians don't quite agree with Halloween, which they consider too dark for their liking, so they created their own version but for sharing the 'gift of salvation.' An image behind a bus in Ontario advertised the 'holiday.' “Should JesusWeen replace Halloween?” read the advertisement, reported Comicsands. “A Christian Gift Giving Festival.” Many who came across the image thought it was a prank but turns out there are actually a group of people out there that wants to popularize, for want of a better name, 'Jesusween.' 

The bus also directs the viewer to their website Jesusween.com, and surprise surprise, it's a website set up by conservative Christians who want to replace Halloween with 'World Evangelism Day.' The website says it's a season to share the gospel and God's love to all mankind. This is not the first attempt by evangelical Christians to co-opt or destroy Halloween altogether. As per the website, the aim of 'Jesusween' is to focus on "helping people live better lives through the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” The site continues. “JesusWeen is a God-given vision which was born as an answer to the cry of many believers who find joy in sharing the gospel with the unsaved. We are focused on helping people live a better life... Throughout the year and especially from October 31st till November 15th we hold several seminars on various helpful topics."

The holiday was the brainchild of Pastor Paul Ade, who runs a congregation in Calgary. Gawker spoke to Ade about it and he is hoping to make Jesusween a festival to be celebrated worldwide. "Halloween is not consistent with the Christian faith. Many people say they feel uncomfortable on that day. We think people should choose an alternative activity," he said. The group has lofty ambitions, referring to the festival as the most effective Christian outreach day. He reportedly capitalized on Halloween as kids came knocking at his door for candy. "A word came to him to give out bibles to everyone knocking at his door expecting candy. On that day over 40 bibles were given out without him stepping out of his house. All it took was putting a bible into every bag as they opened each bag with a smile. It was much easier than expected and since then he got his kids to join him each year," reads the website, which sounds creepy if anything. The name doesn't help, and neither does the church's history. 

Jesusween says it'll target unbelievers in their neighborhoods which frankly sounds like a threat. If they were to step out on Halloween night, they'll surely find a lot of unbelievers, maybe even the 'devil.' The website continues, "We will continue to work with Christians from different backgrounds on creative ways to reach our world with the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. The bible references on which our mission is based are as follows: Habakkuk 2:14 “For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.”

The image of the bus with the ad was posted on Reddit where everyone had a laugh at the festival and couldn't get enough of the name. One person wrote, "That's the best name they could come up with? Not something like Hallelu-ween? Lazy." Another addressed the elephant in the room, "When I was in school, ween was slang for penis, so that makes the name even worse. Or better depending on your perspective." A Reddit user reminded him that it still was slang for penis. There certainly was no shortage of penis jokes on Twitter. Jesus wept.