Saudi Arabia, Valentines Day and Waffle House

I’m not following the logic of Saudi Arabia’s ban on all things Valentine this year.

I did a bit of intensive Google research and found out that “Valentine” is one or more of a number of Christian martyrs/saints back when. As they say, “who knew?”

Apparently the Saudi religious police knew:

“One member of the religious police, who gave his name only as Abdurrahman, checked out shops lining Prince Sultan Street in Olaya district for anything smacking of Valentine's Day. None was evident.

“’The West exports to us habits and feasts which contradict sharia (Islamic law) and wants us to imitate them. We want to make sure that sharia is implemented. We punish anyone who commits or abets a violation,’ he said.

“Saudi Arabia declared the feast named after the Christian patron saint of love a ‘pagan Christian holiday’ through a fatwa (religious edict) issued seven years ago by its grand mufti, Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh.”

From AFP.google.com.

Can pagan modify the noun Christian? And “patron saint of love?” Seems a bit risqué for Catholics but apparently they’re a bit more so than I thought. From catholicpeople.com:

"The Patron Saint of Lovers is St. Dwynwen. Most of us are more familiar with another patron saint of Love, St. Valentine. But there is more than one patron saint for lovers, as for other things. St. Dwynwen is lesser known. She was a beautiful Welsh girl whose heart was set on becoming a nun, even though it meant sacrificing her love for a young man who was also deeply in love with her. St. Dwynwen prayed that her lover be free of his heartache for her, and that all lovers should find happiness.

"Nothing wins hearts like cheerfulness. -Saint Dwynwen."

And for a bit more VD history from catholicforum.com click to here. It seems the Catholics got the idea from the Romans.

Based on my extensive research, Valentines Day appears to be a religious mutt; but, I don’t want to offend anyone.

As a fully secular postscript to the post and to make the title of the post make some sense, the Waffle House in Johns Creek, Georgia (North Metro Atlanta) is taking reservations for dinner tomorrow night 6:00 to 11:00 p.m. They are going to put white table clothes on the Formica tables and turn the lights down a bit.

“House rep Pat Warner told Buzz on Tuesday. ‘This year, we thought we might offer our customers a few romantic additions at the Johns Creek Waffle House to help folks celebrate.’

“As for the obvious, Warner added: ‘I'm sure there are going to be those guys who wake up on Feb. 14 and have yet to make plans. Hopefully, we can help out those guys who don't have immediate access to a calendar.’

“But bear in mind, it's still a Waffle House, traditionally beehives of, er, activity, what with the shouting of orders and what-not.

‘Our staff will still be operating the same way, but maybe in a lighter tone,’ Warner said.”

Now there’s the way to celebrate the holiday. “Two eggs over medium. Bacon crisp. Wheat with apple butter and hash browns, scattered, covered and smothered.” If you haven’t won her heart yet, this special meal is sure to do the trick. Dammit, it's scattered smothered and covered; but, I'm to lazy to go back and fix the link.

To all of my non-Saudi female readers, all of you to my knowledge, Happy Valentines Day! See you at the Waffle House.