Good morning Qcity! Today is going to be a cloudy day in Charlotte. The weatherman is calling for partly cloudy skies with scattered frost possible. We will see highs in the upper 50s and lows in the mid 30s. 

Here’s what’s brewing in the news:

Halloween, a religious dilemma

Halloween is big business. According to the 2011 Halloween Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey conducted by BIGresearch, more than 160 million Americans are expected to collectively spend about $6.86 billion on this year's holiday. For many, it’s just a day of fun where kids get to dress up in costume and collect mounds of candy, but some say the day should not be taken lightly, particularly if you consider yourself Christian because it is filled with sinister undertones, encouraging children to trivialize and dabble in the occult and practices deemed incompatible with Christ-like beliefs.

"Halloween is a pagan holiday that glorifies witches, wizards and goblins, all kinds of demonic forces that exist out there,” said Reverend Morris Tipton in an interview with The Grio. “You only have to look at the grotesque, ghoulish and devilish costumes to know that Halloween is not of God. The Bible says we fight against powers and principalities and everything we're involved in has spiritual connotations. Everything is black or white; there is really no grey area. Either it is pleasing to God or it's pleasing to the devil.” 

Tipton serves as the director of media relations for the National Baptist Convention, America’s oldest and largest African-American religious convention, with an estimated membership of 7.5 million.

Some churches provide some sort of “Christian alternative” to Halloween, but Christian fundamentalists say even these should not be condoned because they are simply another way of conforming to the ways of the world send the message that children need something to take the place of Halloween.

QUESTION: Is it ok for Christians to celebrate Halloween or allow their children to trick-or-treat?
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Cain accused of harassment?

Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain’s campaign is disputing a report that he was twice accused of sexual harassment while serving as the head of the National Restaurant Association in the 1990s. According to a Politico report, unidentified sources claim that two unidentified women accused Cain of sexually suggestive behavior. Both were allegedly given a five-figure financial payouts to leave the association. The agreement also reportedly bars them from discussing their departures. In a statement to the Associated Press, Cain’s campaign called the report untrue and said it was an unfair attack. (Read more)

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