Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Teaching Nonviolent Atonement

Home
Progressive Christian
Valentine’s Day Originated in National Resistance

Valentine’s Day Originated in National Resistance

Last updated on: February 14, 2017 at 3:22 pm by Adam Ericksen

Valentine’s Day Originated in National Resistance 2017-02-14T15:22:15-05:00 Adam Ericksen

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Forget flowers. Chocolate? Nah.

Valentine’s Day is about one thing: national resistance in the name of love.

Make no mistake. St. Valentine was hard core. He lived during the 3rd century, under the threat of persecution. Legend claims that the Roman Emperor prohibited young men to marry. He believed that married soldiers would be distracted by concerns for their wives and children.

St. Valentine, National Resistance, and the God of Love

St. Valentine rebelled against this national edict in the name of God, indeed, in the name of God who is Love. Valentine wore a purple ring with an engraved image of Cupid. The ring was a sign to Roman soldiers that he performed marriages.

The Roman Emperor soon discovered Valentine’s act of national resistance. He executed St. Valentine by beheading.

Valentine’s head was apparently preserved in an abbey in Winchester, England. How romantic…

St. Valentine came from a long Jewish and Christian tradition of national resistance based on love. Following Jesus, it resists unjust and unloving national policies. But it’s also a love that refuses to demonize those who enact those policies. Rather, like Jesus teaches, it’s a love that embraces all people, including those we call our enemies.

It’s also a love that takes risks. From the lives of Jesus and St. Valentine, we know that when we resist unjust national policies, the powers and principalities will come after us. And when they do, we can respond to them with love.

Jesus: Love In Action

According to Jesus, love is not primarily an emotion. Loving our enemies isn’t about mustering up enough positive feelings for them. Love is an action. It’s going the second mile. It’s giving the shirt off our back.

For St. Valentine, it meant showing love to the Roman soldier who guarded his jail. The soldier’s daughter was struck blind. Valentine could have responded with resentment – “Serves you and your daughter right, you jerk!” But instead, he responded with love by healing his enemy’s daughter.

But Valentine was eventually killed. So, did he fail in resisting the Roman Empire? No. After all, Jesus was killed by Rome, too. In resisting Roman policies of oppression, they showed the world the way of God’s love.

The Christian faith is not politically passive. It’s politically active. It does not mimic the hatred and violence that permeates human cultures. Rather, like Jesus and St. Valentine, the Christian faith responds by entering into that hatred by resisting it in the name of nonviolent love.

Rev. William Barber, Justice, and Love

In the same way, we are called to resist unjust and unloving national policies of our day. In the tradition of St. Valentine, we would do well to follow the Rev. William Barber in resisting national policies that:

Demonize Muslims and immigrants.
Promote “racist and unconstitutional gerrymandering.”
Attack “the life-saving Affordable Care Act” without having any policy to take its place.
Promote voter suppression
Undermine democracy by refusing to allow the power of the presidency to be questioned.

Valentine’s Day isn’t about emotional sentimentality. It’s about love that resists injustice. But more than that, it’s a love that is determined to show the world another way – the way of justice and healing and radical care for all people.

But how can fight for justice while loving our enemies? This is really difficult, but there are some helpful tips. First, Jesus teaches us to pray for them. It’s hard to hate someone you are praying for. Second, separate the person from the policies. This helps us to resist hating the individual. Stop referring to Trump as the “Big Orange Monster.” That divisive language gets us nowhere. Instead, we would do well to focus on unjust policies. And third, turn the other cheek. Whenever a political opponent demonizes you, realize that it isn’t really about you. It’s much more likely to be about their fears and insecurities. Let the insults run like water off your back. Speak to the fears and not the emotions behind them. Finally, work on your sense of humor. If you are a Republican, laugh at SNL. If you are a Democrat, some of the things Trump says can be kind of funny. Kind of…Maybe…Anyway, the point is, it’s important to take our search for more a just and loving world seriously, but not take ourselves too seriously.

So, happy Valentine’s Day. May you resist in the name of love.

In our political climate, many of us are finding it hard enough to love our family members, let alone our enemies. For more on that, read Suzanne Ross’s article on the hit television show, “Last Man Standing.”

Image: Flickr, ReLOVEution, Illas Bartollini, creative commons license, some changes made.

Previous Post

February 13, 2017

Is the Truth Still Out There? A Live Webinar with Theologian Grant Kaplan

Next Post

February 15, 2017 Wednesday Sermon: Jesus, Hell, and Managing Anger

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Atonement and Current Events Curriculum Faith and Families Interviews Jesus the Forgiving Victim Lent Montessori politics Reviews The Bible Explained Uncategorized Valentine's Day Wednesday Sermon Who is God?

Select a Month July 2020 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 January 2014 December 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz