Saint Valentines Day...

I let you that yes, this is just going to be another diatribe about Valentines day.

It seems that in today's lovey-dovey world, people stand on 1 of 2 sides about V-Day. You of course have the romantics, who wish everyday was V-Day and can not wait until they can express their love to that other person. Then the haters, which are starting to out number the romantics. However, I think the most of the haters are just like any trend followers today....

I will admit, I hate Valentines day. Though, just like Christmas, I hate it for what it was represented as in the first place. Just like Christmas, Valentines day has another story. A story that the church twisted to its own end...

In the times of Rome, Emperor Claudius the first, Thought that if he could inspire the young soldiers of the Legion to think of only Rome, he would be able to continue the growth of the Empire, and thus seal his name in history. So, he forbid marriage until the age of 25. He thought that this would ensure that the young men would think only of Rome.
As with any story like this, along comes a man opposed to this view. This man was a priest of the the Catholic church. You can google his name if you want to, I always forget as he was later renamed Saint Valentine. This priest thought it a crime against god what Claudius was doing, so in secret, he would marry anyone that came to him. His one stipulation was that they convert to Catholicism.

Let pause for a break here... now MOST of the histories today glass over that little stipulation. See, the Catholic church in those days was in it infancy and needed more people to spread the word. It comes down to butts in the seats. More people meant more money, more money meant more influence, more influence meant more power, more power... you get the point. Here we have this priest that is doing "favors" for the down trodden, and all he asks in return is that you abandon your upbringing and belief system right before you go off to die, so that you can be saved and your wife that will receive nothing from the state, because according to the state, she isn't your wife! Now, back to the story.

As these type of things do, word got out to the wrong people and the priest was arrested for crimes against the Empire. Eventually he was sentenced to 3 death sentences. You have to admire the Roman legal system here... They would take someone who was sentenced to more than 1 death sentence, and put him to death again, even if he was already dead. Seems morbid, but contrary to the Hollywood belief, Rome was a very safe and harmonious place.
Anyway, during this time, hocuspucus ensues. The judge who sat on the case had a blind daughter. After he sentenced the priest, he spoke to him about his daughter and how he had prayed to everyone about her. Blah Blah Blah, she was brought before the priest and BAM, he healed her... of course the judge and the daughter both became Catholics. Then sentence was still carried out.
Later, the Catholic church, again needed some people/money/power, so they tweaked this history a little and V Day was born.

Once all is said and done, V-Day is a commercialized holiday, but it really bothers me when people take umbrage over something when they have no idea why.... I would rather see the blissful lover than the bitter hipster. Though, people don't like history, it reminds us of what ugliness we are capable of... though that is a whole different post!