Wednesday, January 5, 2011

No Valentines


In a effort to continue to stomp out Western culture Iran has imposed a ban on the selling of Valentine’s day merchandise. The popularity of the holiday has been on the rise among young Iranians over the past decade. The government intends to stop it by imposing legal action on offenders.

Printing and producing paraphernalia related to the holiday are banned as well as activities.

In the past three decades the conservative regime of the Islamic country have tried to abolish Western culture practices that have become popular to the overwhelming young population.

Conservatives see no room for a celebration such as this in an Islamic culture.

What harm can giving a box of chocolates do? Celebrating love can never do more harm than good. As an iron fist comes down on a trapped and antsy society pressure will continue to build up among it’s people.

We have seen enough instances of Iranian political unrest to know the pressure is building. At some point that pressure has to be released.

As a outside onlooker I see what I would label injustices happen too much. After living in another culture and way of life I’ve learned to view almost everything with a non-judgmental eye. What Westerners believe to be wrong may be fully justified in another way of life.

I can say that holding down a population will never let it flourish. It will keep it poor and ignorant and the country will never become what it hopes to.