Can anyone explain this article ?
I come across about my home country banning that Valentine and making it illegal :
http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=201745...
Jakarta: Indonesia’s highest
Islamic council has declared Valentine’s Day celebrations illegal,
while a ban was issued by authorities in West Sumatra province on
observances of the holiday in hotels and restaurants, local media
reports said yesterday.
Ma’ruf Amien, chairman of the Indonesian
Council of Ulemas (MUI), warned the country’s Muslims the celebration
of Valentine’s Day is “haram,†or prohibited by Islam. Amien, who
is also head of the council’s commission of edicts, said the romantic
holiday encouraged drunkenness and other types of immorality.
Meanwhile,
West Sumatra’s Bukittinggi municipal administration banned residents
from celebrating Valentine’s Day on grounds that such celebrations
were contrary to local Minangkabau traditions and Islam, The Jakarta
Post reported. “The Valentine’s Day celebration is not our culture
as it usually relates closely to immoral acts where, during the
celebration, young couples tend to hug and even kiss each other. This
is an immoral act, right?†the Post quoted Ismet Amzis,
Bukittinggi’s deputy mayor, as saying.
A ban was imposed by the
administration on cafes, restaurants, hotels and other tourist sites
planning to hold Valentine’s Day celebrations.
Amzis said the
administration would enforce the existing regional regulations on
“immoral act eradication†and take companies that celebrated the
day to court, while a number of permits already issued for
Valentine’s Day activity were revoked. – DPA
But does anyone notice the photograph showing the police handing out the roses to mark valentine day ?
[img_assist|nid=74199|title=valentine|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=260|height=200]
Anyone out there working for Gulf Times care to explain pls?
You said - "If it isn't Valentines, it's Christmas, Hanukkah, Easter, Passover, etc. Funny thing is I have never heard the Pope, any Christians or Jews have such a fit over us celebrating Ramadan or the Eids.
Please accept my congratulations on being such a liberal,broad minded,thoughtful and rational muslim. Your comment is highly commendable and thought provoking.
Running is the best thing God ever created! - Rabbit
RocknRoll ... i think we had a cross wires here ... lol. I dont believe the Gulf Times staff flew all the way to Jakarta and took that photos themself. They copy the article from somewhere and get the photo/s from somewhere else.
But That's my point exactly. A Newspaper is a conduit for information (except for opinion pages).
If they have an article reporting ban on V/Day celebrations they print it. If they have a picture of police handing out roses, they print it too.
Journalists are not supposed to filter or introduce bias in the news. It is up to us as readers to identify the problem and form an opinion about it.
My sentiment exactly ... but then i dont want to go into debate about the religion ... my thread was just pointing out the contradiction of article and picture.
simply, I belive that no body can pevent any body from celebrating any thing if he's celebrating in private. and without touching others emotions...right...simply hide and celebrate...
well Alexa ... i just trying to point out that people who works there just copy paste the stuffs from all over the place without actually do proper works. I am not working in the journalist trade, the mistake is something simple that even normal people can spot it.
@Rock n Roll ... they are indeed a messenger ... totally blind messenger and just copy it blatantly without using their own 'intelligent' ...
They are only reporting.
Don't shoot the messenger :)