Rica Peralejo ‘horrified’ at how Christians ‘have become gatekeepers of heaven’: ‘No wonder people leave church’
Rica Peralejo and her family. Image: Instagram/@ricaperalejo
Rica Peralejo-Bonifacio responded to criticisms over her Christian family joining a Halloween event, with the vlogger-actress lamenting how some “self-righteous” religious people have become “gatekeepers of heaven.”
Peralejo had documented their trick-or-treating experience via her Instagram page on Tuesday, Oct. 31, showing herself dressed up as digital game character Mario, her husband Joseph Bonifacio as fictional superhero Saitama, and their kids as characters from Geometry Dash and Ninjago.
The celebrity mom’s post was then met with negative reactions from netizens who disagree with such practice and claim that “Christians are not supposed to get involved in this Halloween thing.”
Image: Instagram/@ricaperalejo
Image: Instagram/@ricaperalejo
Image: Instagram/@ricaperalejo
Aside from her responses to some netizens in her comment section, Peralejo further spoke up on the matter via her Instagram Stories, stressing how a number of those who disapprove of their Halloween participation do not seek explanation but “only want to say their piece.”
“As expected, some are horrified by our wearing of costumes and trick or treating. I had made no disclaimer simply because they won’t listen,” the actress said.
Article continues after this advertisement“I am just as horrified at how Christians have become the gatekeepers of heaven. No wonder people leave church,” she continued. “Because so many think they’ve lost God just because they didn’t follow the rules established by the community but not God himself.”
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Image: Instagram/@ricaperalejo
Image: Instagram/@ricaperalejo
Image: Instagram/@ricaperalejo
Peralejo then admitted that she also came to a point in her Christian life when she was “very legalistic” that she became so busy in “finding what is wrong” in other people.
“The saddest part about being Christian for me is how many of us think we know better; how we think we have the monopoly of conviction,” she wrote. “And it honestly is turning so many people away from the faith because they think that being a Christian means to enter a prison and live by a bunch of rules.”
Image: Instagram/@ricaperalejo
Image: Instagram/@ricaperalejo
Image: Instagram/@ricaperalejo
Image: Instagram/@ricaperalejo
Image: Instagram/@ricaperalejo
Image: Instagram/@ricaperalejo
Image: Instagram/@ricaperalejo
Image: Instagram/@ricaperalejo
Image: Instagram/@ricaperalejo
Peralejo also underscored that the real “horror story” is when people “play God” and condemn even the “wholesome and redeemed versions of Halloween traditions.”
Image: Instagram/@ricaperalejo
“We had an amazing Halloween. It has been totally healing for me who never had much of a childhood. Let that be a testimony of God’s redeeming love, which knows no bounds,” she said.
Image: Instagram/@ricaperalejo
Image: Instagram/@ricaperalejo
As she concluded her statement, Peralejo said she was glad to have initiated conversation on the matter and helped “set some people free.”
