Letter: Valentine’s Day’s paradigm

I refer to an article titled “Hard-liners call for a ban on Valentine’s Day celebrations in Sukabumi,” (The Jakarta Post online on Feb. 12).

How far has the Valentine’s Day’s paradigm shifted from the ancient days of St. Valentine himself? See it one way: St. Valentine did a good deed in the name of humanity by spreading the meaning of love. No religion can deny this. So what if he happens to be a Christian?

Secondly, Valentine’s Day currently is inevitably over-commercialized so much so that it has become a trend. I bet the majority of teens celebrating don’t have Jesus or God in their heads when celebrating Valentine, instead thinking about whether their male crush would give them flowers or how to woo a girl. It has become a modern-day culture. Like it or not, it’s part of society.

Don’t think that every single aspect of modern life is an attack on Islam. It’s not.

This way of thinking singles out Islam even more. Indonesia is fortunate because Islam is the majority. But try to think the same thing in an international context and you’ll just be left behind.
Anak Rantau
Singapore