Valentines Day in Schools
In the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Dimitri Vassilaros writes:
If there really is a separation of church and state, why are public schools commemorating a Roman Catholic saint today? The Catholic Church recognizes three saints named Valentine (or "Valentinus"), all of whom were martyred. Today, St. Valentine's Day, is a consecration of love. Since public schools embrace Valentine's message and allow their children to celebrate it, should the schools do the same for Jesus Christ?
Easter and Christmas can be represented by pagan symbols such as the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus, or a winter solstice celebration (wink, wink). However, St. Valentine has no alter ego.
Like I said, Vassilaros seems pretty clueless about Valentine's Day. Had he done even a modicum of research instead of just assuming he knew what he was talking about, he'd have realized that while Valentine's Day may be named after a Catholic Saint, the truth is that celebrations of the day little to nothing to do with Christianity or Catholicism. There are far more connections between Valentine's Day and Roman paganism than there are between the day and Christianity. Like many other Roman holidays (Christmas, for example), Christians simply took it over and placed their own myths on top.
Does this mean that celebrating Valentine's Day is a celebration of ancient Roman paganism? Of course not. Nothing we do is related to Lupercal, Juno Fructifier, or anything of the sort. The fact that a holiday has roots in ancient religious celebrations doesn't mean that it remains religious today. Today, Valentine's Day is more commercial than religious.
Should public schoolchildren be exposed to this clearly religious figure? And if you believe they should, why not also expose them to the namesake of Christianity?
Vassilaros lists many examples of how schools commemorate Valentine's Day, none of which mention a Saint Valentine or have anything to do with any religious figures. Then he asks the above question. It's dishonest, I think, but that's the only way he can make his argument: if schools celebrate Valentine's Day, why not also celebrate Christmas? But he doesn't want just any celebration of Christmas — he wants a more religious celebration of Christmas that includes Jesus. To defend that, he has to pretend that the celebration of Valentine's Day includes Saint Valentine.
That public school celebrations don't include Saint Valentine is just an annoying fact that should be ignored. Even if they did include Saint Valentine, though, the logical parallel would be to include Saint Nicholas in Christmas celebrations, not Jesus. Another annoying fact that we should just ignore.
How can public schools celebrate "Valentine's Day" without explaining to impressionable youngsters who he was and how he became a saint -- before their teachers encourage them to create and distribute the very symbol of Valentine's sainthood?
Actually, they manage to do it quite well. Vassilaros knows this because he talked to school officials in Pittsburgh and found out all the different ways they celebrate Valentine's Day. If any of them included Saint Valentine, you can be sure he would have made a big deal about it in his editorial. Christians have in the past celebrated Valentine's Day in religious ways, but not so much anymore and the wider culture has dispensed with any religious connections.
Rev. Barry Lynn of Americans United for Separation of Church and State is quoted as saying that Vassilaros is "ahead of the curve" on this. I think that it might be more accurate to say that he is ignorant and dishonest on this. He is ignorant of the facts and appears dishonest in how he tries to argue. An informed person would note that there are more connections between paganism and Valentine's Day than between Christianity and Valentine's Day. An honest argument wouldn't pretend that Saint Valentine has any necessary connection to celebrating the day and wouldn't pretend that there is any connection between celebrating a secular Valentine's Day and a religious Christmas.
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go buy a bible