1) Young Muslims - The Message

people who are still trying, helplessly, to use the formats of populartelevision entertainments to promote good. They might learnsomething from this bit of history. It failed miserably) Christianityended up doing in Rome, and elsewhere, as the Romans did. Theonly success it had was in changing the name from Lupercalia to St.Valentine's Day. It was done in CE 496 by Pope Gelasius, in honourof some Saint Valentine. There are as many as 50 differentValentines in Christian legends. Two of them are more famous,although their lives and characters are also shrouded in mystery.According to one legend, and the one more in line with the truenature of this celebration, St. Valentine was a "lovers'" saint, whohad himself fallen in love with his jailer's daughter.The lottery, as mentioned earlier, caused serious troubles andFrench government banned the practice in 1776. In Italy, Austria,Hungry, and Germany also the ritual vanished over the years.Earlier, it had been banned in England during the 17th centurywhen the Puritans were strong.However in 1660 Charles II revived it. From there it also reached theNew World, where enterprising Yankees spotted a good means ofmaking money. Esther A. Howland, who produced one of the firstcommercial American Valentine's Day cards called--- what else---valentines, in the 1840s, sold $5,000 worth--when $5,000 was a lotof money--the first year. The valentine industry has been boomingever since.The history of Valentine's Day serves as a powerful lesson forMuslims. St. Valentine became a Saint trying to resist free sex. Eventhough there was an attempt to Christianize it, today St. Valentine'sday is gone back to its roots. No one even knows that the Churcheven tried to ban the St. Valentine's Day. Rather, most people thinkof romance, cupid and his arrow, which are vestiges of pagan Rome.Young Muslims, What they should know about Islam Page - 231