Good grief. No Valentines for you, Charlie Brown. At least not in Kuwait. And no roses or cards with red hearts for you, Lucy. Not in Saudi Arabia. The ever-tolerant Muslim world is now condemning Valentine’s Day.
Jamaan al-Harbash, a member of the Kuwaiti parliament, has called for Valentine's Day celebrations to be banned. "We call on the commerce minister," he declared in a fine froth of moral indignation, "to perform his duties by banning celebrations of Valentine's Day which is alien to our society -- and contradicts our religion's values and teachings." Another Kuwaiti MP, Waleed al-Tabtabai, chief of a committee in parliament that monitors "alien practices," said his committee will undertake a study this week on how to stop Valentine's Day from initiating the "moral corruption" of Kuwaiti youth.
Religious Jameat Ulmae Pakistan (JUP) activists burn a placard with a heart painted on while denouncing Valentine's Day celebrations during a protest in Karachi, Pakistan, Thursday, Feb. 14, 2008. (AP Photo/Shakil Adil)
Over in Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, the notorious religious police who go by the name of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice have banned red roses. The Virtue Cops have even ordered florists and gift shops in Riyadh to take any red item off the shelf, lest Saudi lovebirds associate red with hearts and start a-spooning. Nothing new in that: in 2004, the Saudi fatwa committee forbade Saudis from celebrating the day: "It is a pagan Christian holiday and Muslims who believe in God and Judgment Day should not celebrate or acknowledge it or congratulate (people on it). It is a duty to shun it to avoid God's anger and punishment." Read more ...
Jamaan al-Harbash, a member of the Kuwaiti parliament, has called for Valentine's Day celebrations to be banned. "We call on the commerce minister," he declared in a fine froth of moral indignation, "to perform his duties by banning celebrations of Valentine's Day which is alien to our society -- and contradicts our religion's values and teachings." Another Kuwaiti MP, Waleed al-Tabtabai, chief of a committee in parliament that monitors "alien practices," said his committee will undertake a study this week on how to stop Valentine's Day from initiating the "moral corruption" of Kuwaiti youth.
Religious Jameat Ulmae Pakistan (JUP) activists burn a placard with a heart painted on while denouncing Valentine's Day celebrations during a protest in Karachi, Pakistan, Thursday, Feb. 14, 2008. (AP Photo/Shakil Adil)
Over in Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, the notorious religious police who go by the name of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice have banned red roses. The Virtue Cops have even ordered florists and gift shops in Riyadh to take any red item off the shelf, lest Saudi lovebirds associate red with hearts and start a-spooning. Nothing new in that: in 2004, the Saudi fatwa committee forbade Saudis from celebrating the day: "It is a pagan Christian holiday and Muslims who believe in God and Judgment Day should not celebrate or acknowledge it or congratulate (people on it). It is a duty to shun it to avoid God's anger and punishment." Read more ...
Source: Human Events
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