Taking religion too far? Banning 'red items' on Valentines day!

Yikes, when I read things like this I wonder how threatened and insecure these religious officials must be!

I will always remember the analogy that my friend Dr Larry Kauffman told me about the different kinds of religious guidance that one gets. Some forms of religion (like that you will read about below) try to stop people from doing things, thinking things, or going places, much like a fence is used on a farm to keep cattle in... Have you ever watched a sheep straining its neck to get to a little patch of green grass just outside the fence!? That's me! I am that sheep! I hate being hemmed in! I don't like the negatively coercive effect of 'fences'. Such religion does not keep the sheep on the farm because they WANT to be there. Rather it keeps them there by force...

Larry said that good faith, deep spirituality, and sincere religion, should be so life giving, so rich with nutrients, life, and blessing, much like a well with sweet, satisfying, water - that the sheep do not want to go far from the well, because the well is the source of true life...

Fundamentalism often gets caught up in the 'thou shalt nots' of religion, whereas living faith is so busy engaging in true pursuit of discovering, sharing, and sharing life that there is no time (or inclination) to get into the 'nots' of life...

So, here's a sad story from boingboing.net:

Religious police in Saudi Arabia ban "red items" as part of Valentine's Day crackdown

The BBC reports that Saudi religious police are preventing shop owners from selling red-colored items, because they might be given as gifts on Valentine's Day, which is an "un-Islamic" holiday.

Saudi authorities consider Valentine's Day, along with a host of other annual celebrations, as un-Islamic.

In addition to the prohibition on celebrating non-Islamic festivals, the authorities consider Valentine's Day as encouraging relations between men and women outside wedlock - punishable by law in the conservative kingdom.

The Saudi Gazette reported that some people placed orders with florists days or weeks before Valentine's Day in anticipation of the ban, which is a regular occurrence.

"Sometimes we deliver the bouquets in the middle of the night or early morning, to avoid suspicion," one florist said.

Link

Be my valentine! I hope you are loved, as you deserve to be, and that you receive lots of valentines hearts, valentines cards, valentines e-cards, and chocolates!! Oh, and if the 'religious police' come knocking, tell them you drink from a different well!

Technorati tags: valentines day, religious police, fundamentalism, fences or wells?