With signs reading “We Want Merry, Not Scary,” Christians in San Antonio, Texas, are protesting a Krampus-themed parade, arguing that the “demonic” event will frighten children.
The parade, which will be the first of its kind in San Antonio, is modeled after Krampus parades in Germany and other central European countries, where the Pagan tradition is enjoying renewed popularity in popular culture.
But clergy in San Antonio are mobilizing, hoping to get the parade canceled - or at least to warn the community that attending the parade may put their souls in mortal peril.
Who is Krampus?
This isn’t your grandma’s holiday parade. If you don’t know who Krampus is, he’s the horned, cloven-hoofed, half-goat, half-demon who appears on the 6th of December, just before the Feast of St. Nicholas, in an event called Krampusnacht.
And if he’s coming to town, you better hope you’re on the nice list.
Whereas Saint Nicholas rewards good kids with gifts, Krampus captures the naughty ones in a sack, beats them with birch rods, and drags them to the underworld.
Many folklorists believe Krampus was originally a Pagan figure, with pre-Christian origins. He makes appearances in folklore from many central and eastern European countries dating back centuries, but in the 21st century he’s become a popular figure in North America as well, with nearly every major city in the United States holding a Krampus parade in December.
San Antonio clergy hope to stop theirs.
Should Krampus Be Canceled?
“They're opening a demonic realm in San Antonio," is what Pastor Mark Lugo of SA Impact Ministries said of the upcoming Krampus parade. “This is an attack on our kids and Krampus is not welcomed in San Antonio.”
Pastor Lugo was joined by dozens of his fellow Christians in a recent protest against the parade held outside City Hall, with many holding signs with slogans like, “Say No to Krampus: Choose Peace,” and “We Want Merry, Not Scary.”
While much of the concern centers around the impact the parade will have on San Antonio’s children, some fear that the Krampus parade may do more than just scare kids.
A Portal to Hell?
"This is real; you're going to open up a window," said Pastor David Rodriguez of People's House Church. "At the end [of the parade] they're going to go to the park and do incantations and spells with the curanderos and the witchdoctors for practicing witchcraft. We want to warn your family that your sons and daughters will turn to pornography and perversion, incest, rape, murder, that's what it's all about."
However, parade proponents say not only is it all in good fun… it’s a celebration of German and Austrian heritage. "It's culturally relevant to the city of San Antonio as it was founded with so many different cultures intertwined into one," said one resident, Christian Lee. Others say if Christians in the community don’t like it, they’re free to simply not attend.
Despite protests, it seems as though the parade will proceed as planned on December 5th. Parade organizers have rated it PG-13, and say no portals to hell will be opened.
What do you think of the controversy? Should the parade actually be canceled, or should the faithful who don’t approve of Krampus simply stay home?
33 comments
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Ealdormon Piparskeggr Robinson
Krampus is just here for the children on Santa's Naughty list. ;-)
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Rev. BH
What is it about Mighty Texas that is afraid of everything but guns?
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John P Maher
Its ALL B S !
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Rev. BH
Uh, John,
Please clarify. What are you for or against?
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Lionheart
I, for one, am all for reality. Satan, Beelzebub, Demons, the Devil, are of course all human constructs with no ‘Demon-strable’ evidence of their reality. 🤭
🦁❤️
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Dennis Chevalier
Well let's see so far no UFO invasion no Spirit Walkers no zombies nada thank God
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Joe Stutler
Krampus is just as real and relevant as Jesus. 😁
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Rev. BH
Joe, Jesus was a real historical figure. The myths were added later. Krampus is a fictional cartoony, creepy figure who punishes bad kids.(Kind of the anti-St. Nick.) Parents used him to scare kids into being good.
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arawngraalrd
St Nicholas Day is Dec 6, so St Nicholas Eve is Dec 5. The kids should put their shoes out their doors, to see if they get Candy or Coal. If they get Coal, St Nicholas Morn, they'd better clean up their act. The preacher who thinks the Gates of Hell will be open, has been preaching against sin o much, that many adolescents will look into it.
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Elizabeth Jane Erbe Wilcox
How silly could the “christians” get? I find it hilarious that they think “this is real.” But then, given their belief in “god” it figures.
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Robert Hauck, MD, FAAP
Forbiding Krampus is unacceptable in our freedom-of-expression society. However a public Krampus exposure is an exercise in extremely bad taste. The best response would be a boycott by the community --- if they don't support a Krampus parade. A parade past empty sidewalks speaks a volume! Otherwise I consider it a "no big deal."
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Danielle Elizabeth Ostach
I love the idea of parade past empty sidewalks followed by town submitting bill for security and cleanup services related to parade to the organizers at the end.
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John Ira Blackwood
“We want to warn your family that your sons and daughters will turn to pornography and perversion, incest, rape, murder, that's what it's all about."
That’s quite rich, coming from clergy, considering that It’s mainly THEM who sexually assault children.
They should sit this one out, given their history regarding children, lack of morals, love of money/greed, and political support of policies and people that are the opposite of what Jesus taught.
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Rebecca L Tice
Just posted a Bible Study about Jeroboam and his temples.
1 Kings 12: 25 Then Jeroboam fortified Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there. From there he went out and built up Peniel. 26 Jeroboam thought to himself, “The kingdom will now likely revert to the house of David. 27 If these people go up to offer sacrifices at the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem, they will again give their allegiance to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah. They will kill me and return to King Rehoboam.” 28 After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves. He said to the people, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.” 29 One he set up in Bethel, and the other in Dan. 30 And this thing became a sin; the people came to worship the one at Bethel and went as far as Dan to worship the other. 31 Jeroboam built shrines on high places and appointed priests from all sorts of people, even though they were not Levites. 32 He instituted a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like the festival held in Judah, and offered sacrifices on the altar. This he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves he had made. And at Bethel he also installed priests at the high places he had made. 33 On the fifteenth day of the eighth month, a month of his own choosing, he offered sacrifices on the altar he had built at Bethel. So he instituted the festival for the Israelites and went up to the altar to make offerings.
First of all, they're in Shechem. Back in Genesis, Jacob and Leah's daughter, Dinah, was raped by an Hivite. The rapist claimed to love her. So, Jacob's sons came up with a perfect retaliation. First, they made all the men in Shechem get circumcised, in order for the Hivite to marry [purchase and marry] Dinah. Then, while all the men were healing, Jacob's boys came in and ran them all through with swords. All the men of Shechem could do was hold their thingies.
Can anything good come from Shechem?
Jeroboam had been the overseer on Solomon's building projects. Jeroboam was now the king of the Northern Provinces of Israel. He was in the process of building his capital city in Shechem, but the Israelites kept having to go back to Jerusalem to worship God on those special days.
It would take his work force days to travel to Jerusalem [on foot no less] then days to worship, then days to travel back, and then a day or so to get back into the swing of the work again. That would cost Jeroboam a bundle with all the lost production time.
Like Pharaoh, before him, back in Egypt, Jeroboam couldn't just let his workforce take off. He needed a convenient fix.
So, Jeroboam decided to make the people happy as Aaron did back when Moses spent so much time on the mountain. The people were bugging Aaron so much, Aaron fashioned a "golden calf" for them to worship until Moses could get back. Jeroboam, following Aarons' example, fashioned two "golden calves". He built a couple of temples and installed the "golden calves" in the temple. Then he convinced the Israelites to worship in the fake temples with the "golden calves" so they could go worship without the long trek.
The Israelites are bowing to golden calves again!!!!!
Can anything good come from Shechem?
On top of that, Jeroboam picked the priests for these fake temples. God insisted that the priests be Levites. Jeroboam chose priests who could lie and smile and everyone would believe. Jeroboam wanted the people to be happy to go to these two fake temples, so he chose pretty boys with smooth tongues to persuade the Israelites to worship idols in towns convenient to their jobs.
And, when Jeroboam saw that it worked in Shechem and Dan, he started building temples everywhere, for the convenience of the workforce.
Northern Israel became the home of the pretty boy priests who schmoozed the Israelites into idol worship to save the economy.
Jeroboam created Fake church!!!!!
Should we be surprised?
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Helen Kahn
Just as ridiculous as the Christmas myth but much darker. Not interested in having my children exposed to either.
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Johnny Vincent Harris
They can stay home as far as I'm concerned. They want to erase all types of historical culture and mythology and claim they are not real and are of the devil. All these people are doing is trying to make something into a controversy when there is none to begin with.
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Danielle Elizabeth Ostach
The concept of a gate to hell and that this imperils your soul is stupid and beyond belief.
That said, If I had a kid or any say over a kid, we would be boycotting this parade and being as far from it as possible. This is not kid friendly. Krampus is eastern European Medieval terror used to scare children into behaving and being good. It is terror tactics to inspire good behavior out of fear. "Merry, not scary." is the right idea for christmas and not having santa bring gifts is enough. We don't need to scare them with concept of abandonment, beatings, kidnappings and so on. I would really want to check backgrounds on ones organizing this to see ulterior motives and why they want to hurt people.
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Theresa C. Marquess
Danielle, thank you for your post. Peace, love, and good thoughts!
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Rev. BH
Are kids "hurt" by the Grinch, too? There are far more real horrors confronting children daily (shootings, bullies, kidnappings, abuse) than creepy fictional characters. Don't sweat the small stuff.
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Daniel Todd Kamm
What needs to be done to cede Texas back to Mexico? tk
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Dennis Chevalier
Well let's see so far no UFO invasion no Spirit Walkers no zombies nada thank God
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Robin Anne Hannon
If it is upsetting, don't watch it, don't involve yourself in it. Do for your kids as you see best. Personally, not into this sort of thing, so I just go about my day.
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James Paul Pero
we as a people have made hell a firer Furness but, in the bible, it says you soul will be separate from GOD So Dontay's inferno has no place in teaching! I like the Day of the Dead parades to see how warped Humans can make things
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Thomas P. Davis
James, The bible teaches no such thing as the soul separating from the body. "Gen 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." That is a teaching of the church I grew up in and enabled them to accumulate mucho dinero.
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Nicholas J Page
Krampus never heard of it.All those who think a portal will open up and claim souls is ridiculous. The soul only leaves the body when you die.If it scares the children why take them to an event where he is predicted to be there it's all fantasy people are watching too many horror films.Then they get in their heads that it's going to happen on real life.Wake up people.
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Theresa C. Marquess
Life is tough enough for children. Is it really necessary to use a parade to scare them further; knowing that children under the PG13 age will surely be exposed to this? Or is it just a group of selfish adults who are pushing the community toward another questionable subject?
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Reverend Paula Copp
Ms. Marquess, the same might be asked of the christian Christmas pageants.
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Theresa C. Marquess
How very true, but I've never taken my children to a Christian Passion Play at Eastertime because I objected to the violent portrayal of the crucifixion. It does go both ways. I reiterate life is harsh enough for children to expose little ones to violence. The operative is the phrase PG13, and I am talking about those under that age group... Do as you will with your children, just not with mine. Wishing you the best this holiday season!
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Rudolph M Garza
I went to KSAT12 & KSAT.COM Facebook page (San Antonio ABC broadcast) and saw a lot positive comments there. A lot of people looking forward to seeing the parade tonight (Dec 5th) at 6pm CST. Such fun!
By the way, I didn’t see any mention of “clergy mobilizing” to cancel it.
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Brian Patrick Molloy
Whatever floats your boat . Not for me or my children . God bless . ✝️
Not even one open portal to hell? What a shame! (Sarcasm) . Every religion is allowed in this country, so while the kkkristians are clutching their pearls, others are enjoying a cultural festival. Those who don’t want to enjoy the festivities need not attend. There were plenty of religions before christianity, and those religions are coming back because of the intolerance of mainstream religion.
Right On!!!
I would not attend such a parade nor would I encourage it but if the organizers have all the legal paperwork done then I say let them have it. The time to stop an event is when the permits are applied for.
As to opening a portal to Hell. Nope. Not going to happen. Hell is not what those people think it is, nor is all evil nasty and scary. How would the devil attract followers if he was scary? Nothing will happen if this parade goes on except that a few quirky people will have fun.