Complaints
about the commercialism of Christmas are all too common. People complain about
others “taking the Christ out of Christmas.” Bumper stickers, Facebook posts,
and television shows talk about the commercialization of the holiday. This is
an annual complaint that has gone on for years. However, there is another
holiday that has been completely commercialized, and much more effectively than
Christmas—Valentine’s Day.
When
one thinks about Valentine’s Day, flowers, romantic dinners at expensive
restaurants, and jewelry are what come to mind. It is expected that the
husband/boyfriend will provide these and other material gifts to the
wife/girlfriend. If flowers, heart-shaped boxes of chocolates, expensive
jewelry, and other gifts are not provided along with a candle-lit dinner at a
favorite restaurant, the couple will be extremely unhappy. It is popular to ask
the question, “What are you doing for Valentine’s Day?” and to expect a response
with the name of the person’s favorite restaurant.
Many
people, myself included, really don’t like Valentine’s Day. In my opinion, it
is so overcommercialized that the original meaning has been lost in the mists
of yesteryear. Not many people, it seems, even know who St. Valentine was,
never mind that the holiday was created in his name. David Kithcart, the 700
Club Features Director, quotes Father Frank
O'Gara of Whitefriars Street Church in Dublin, Ireland as saying of St.
Valentine that “he was a Roman Priest at a time when there was an emperor
called Claudias who persecuted the church at that particular time” (2016, as
cited by David Kithcart). According to David Kithcart’s article, Father O’Gara
states that the emperor had issued an edict prohibiting soldiers from marrying,
and that St. Valentine had secretly married couples to discourage polygamy in
spite of this edict.
Another significant, yet unrecognized, event that occurred on
Valentine’s Day is the St. Valentine’s Day massacre. On February 14, 1929,
seven men were gunned down in a garage, an event that was ordered by Al Capone ("The St.
Valentine's Day Massacre", n.d.). Despite
the fact that this was a gang killing, and the seven men killed surely were not
innocent of wrongdoing, the massacre was an event that has made its way into
the pages of history.
Today’s
Valentine’s Day celebrations do nothing to commemorate either the creation of
Valentine’s Day or the massacre now associated with February 14th.
Instead, stores and commercials focus on selling boxes of candy, stuffed
animals, flowers, and greeting cards to consumers. The items for sale are
usually set up on display during the early part of January; advertisements are
seen and heard almost constantly beginning around the end of January. If we as
a group are concerned about the commercialization of holidays such as
Christmas, should we not also go back to the roots of St. Valentine’s Day?
References
Kithcart,
D. (2016). St. Valentine, the real story. Retrieved from
http://www1.cbn.com/st-valentine-real-story
The St. Valentine's Day
massacre. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.myalcaponemuseum.com/id27.htm
