A Valentine's Message For Iranian Chicks (Yeah, that was sexist)

Ok, so I had to include this .. this is my write-up for my segment on New Dissident Radio ... Breaking Taboo with Lakota Phillips (http://www.newdissidentradio.com/) on Monday Nights ... I felt it was worthy of inclusion here ... Enjoy, or not. Whatever ... learn from it ...

Hey, Tehranian, Iranian ladies … no sampler chocolate boxes for you. No stuffed animals, no bouquets of roses, no heart-shaped pendants … nothing, nada. This February 14th, don’t expect a day of freedom from your subservience to your husband, boyfriend, lover or male children. You will have to wrap yourselves in cloth from head to toe, kiss ass and accept your places as non-entities just as you do every day of your lives.



You see, much like the ancient Islamic celebration of “Slaughter the Infidels Day” has been banned by, oh, everyone … Valentine’s Day and all of the associations of love, peace and romance that the western world so brazenly embraces has been banned by your government. Too bad, so sad, so sorry …


Actually, I am sorry for you. Because, although Valentine’s Day is loosely based upon not one, but several supposed Christian figures, it is not a Christian holiday. It is a holiday conceived by a western culture, granted. But is a holiday rooted in love and acceptance, which is a foundation of the belief of Islam and every other faith.


I must admit, as a male, I view Valentine’s Day as a “Hallmark Holiday.” It IS a Hallmark Holiday. Face it, it is a holiday created for women. It may as well be called “Uterus Day”… or “Vagina Day” or even, “I Have Your Balls in My Purse Day….”…


This, I believe, is the reason that you fine, linen- cloaked ladies in Iran are being deprived of the splendor of Valentine’s Day. Sure, the roots of the celebration are derived from Christianity, though loosely. No doubt, the commercialism of the holiday is abhorrent, even to many of us here in the land of democracy. However, you have the right to receive a Teddy Bear in a bright red burqua and a crescent-shaped chocolate heart from your sweetie just as much as anyone. I say this with a bit of snarkiness because your government demands it.


Love is love. Appreciation for another who fulfills a purpose in another’s life is meant to be expressed. Those in Iran, both men and women, who are denied their basic natural right to express love and appreciation for one another due to religious disagreement, are victims of the irony of every religion’s core tenet … to love and share love.


The world doesn’t expect to see a grand opening of the first Hallmark store in Tehran, complete with suicide bombings. What the world would like to see is a bit of sanity from a government who spends billions of dollars to develop a nuclear facility to protect it’s population. If a government cares so much about the well-being of its population’s survival why does it hinder the well-being of that population’s survival by, in effect, banning gestures of love and acceptance?


Maybe it’s the heat and the sand storms ….