Blowing Up Valentine

What a greeting to receive on this beautiful day! As you can see, these are the latest fashion for Valentine greeting cards. I won't discuss here the genius person who did the impressive artistic work and wrote these tender messages. I only wonder about those who forward such a sick email! Why do they want to spoil people's happiness on a day dedicated to celebrating the reason behind life itself: LOVE. In its rare existence, love isn't even allowed a room for celebration. It is getting stabbed by haters of life, who want to destroy any beautiful meanings in our world.

The utter ignorance and fanaticism expressed in those messages show the extent of the tragedy we are living nowadays. Extremists search for new ways to ruin the minds of youngesters who don't bother to question such messages signed by "Islam CG". (CG stands for Computer Graphics. Tab3an el2ebhar bta3 elgraphics wade7.) Reading the word "Islam" gives the message a religious nature, which will make its receiver unable to criticise its content. But I care enough to expose such people before they poison our lives.

First, here is a wonderful simplified introduction I found about Saint Valentine on http://www.pictureframes.co.uk/

St. Valentine's Story
Let me introduce myself. My name is Valentine. I lived in Rome during the third century. That was long, long ago! At that time, Rome was ruled by an emperor named Claudius. I didn't like Emperor Claudius, and I wasn't the only one! A lot of people shared my feelings.
Claudius wanted to have a big army. He expected men to volunteer to join. Many men just did not want to fight in wars. They did not want to leave their wives and families. As you might have guessed, not many men signed up. This made Claudius furious. So what happened? He had a crazy idea. He thought that if men were not married, they would not mind joining the army. So Claudius decided not to allow any more marriages. Young people thought his new law was cruel. I thought it was preposterous! I certainly wasn't going to support that law!
Did I mention that I was a priest? One of my favourite activities was to marry couples. Even after Emperor Claudius passed his law, I kept on performing marriage ceremonies -- secretly, of course. It was really quite exciting. Imagine a small candlelit room with only the bride and groom and myself. We would whisper the words of the ceremony, listening all the while for the steps of soldiers.
One night, we did hear footsteps. It was scary! Thank goodness the couple I was marrying escaped in time. I was caught. (Not quite as light on my feet as I used to be, I guess.) I was thrown in jail and told that my punishment was death.
I tried to stay cheerful. And do you know what? Wonderful things happened. Many young people came to the jail to visit me. They threw flowers and notes up to my window. They wanted me to know that they, too, believed in love.
One of these young people was the daughter of the prison guard. Her father allowed her to visit me in the cell. Sometimes we would sit and talk for hours. She helped me to keep my spirits up. She agreed that I did the right thing by ignoring the Emperor and going ahead with the secret marriages. On the day I was to die, I left my friend a little note thanking her for her friendship and loyalty. I signed it, "Love from your Valentine."
I believe that note started the custom of exchanging love messages on Valentine's Day. It was written on the day I died, February 14, 269 A.D. Now, every year on this day, people remember. But most importantly, they think about love and friendship. And when they think of Emperor Claudius, they remember how he tried to stand in the way of love, and they laugh -- because they know that love can't be beaten!

Yes, love can't be beaten. It is clear now that the Valentine we celebrate today is no longer a religious event. The origins of the story only gave us the name and date for the celebration, while we use it as an opportunity to express feelings.

I would like to draw the attention to the conflicting messages in those above displayed "cards". In the first two, the event is said to be Christian and named after a Christian Priest. But in the third one it is said to be pagan, while having a picture of a candle with a cross on it. (Mesh 2oltelko graphics mobhera!) Ya3ni this Islam CG doesn't know the difference between Christianity and Paganism. Not only that, but they also don't know the difference between Christians and Israelis (See the 1st pic to the left)! Or maybe they know the differences very well, but they want those stupid people who forward this around to get mixed up and confused (even more than they already are mixed up and confused).

I certainly hope that we can see the dirty hands behind such things, which aim to break up the unity of our country and destroy the natural love we have among us.

To all of you, I say: HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY. May we always remember the love that unites us as Egyptians.