(no subject)

[gilana]

OK, ok, Valentine's Day is evil, not to mention really not Jewish, but I just can't resist.


Get your own valentinr

Comments

[scholargipsy.livejournal.com]

I swear I'm not trying to be contentious, merely curious.

But what does Valentine's Day not being Jewish have to do with your participation in the meme (thinking the holiday is actually morally evil, sure, I get that)? Is there a personal or institutional prohibition against it, given its tenuously Christian roots? I know you enjoy celebrating Halloween for instance, a custom with (and yeah, yeah, I know it was pagan a long time before the Christians coopted it) a similar Christian history.

Actually, both Valentine's Day and Halloween incorporate pagan iconography -- in the former case Germanic worship of the god Vali, whose month fell between January and February and who was celebrated as a light-bringer who wielded a bow and arrow; in the latter...well, most folks know the Celtic story there.

And both are now decidedly secular holidays in America, much more so than Christmas or Easter.

As I said, not trying to pick any sort of fight, just intrigued to hear your reasoning/thoughts on the matter?

[gilana]

I do actually have the same issues with Halloween. I used to go trick or treating as a kid, and at some point made the decision to stop for myself because it was the eve of All Saint's Day, and that didn't seem appropriate. So while I may choose to do some things that have to do with both holidays, I try to at least be mindful of what the holidays are, or at least were, and that they really are not Jewish. As you say, they are secularized enough by now that it's not really that huge a deal -- but I've had people try to convince me that Christmas is also that secularized and I should celebrate that as well. (And yes, some Christmas traditions are also more Pagan than Christian, but either way, they sure ain't Jewish!)