Valentine’s Day: Love or Just Following the Trend?
By Ali Aminulloh
Every February 14th, social media timelines are flooded with flowers, chocolates, romantic dinners, and sweet words that seem to be the same. But the question is simple: are we celebrating love, or simply going with the flow without understanding what we’re participating in?
The Valentine’s Day phenomenon in Indonesia shows a worrying trend: many people celebrate a tradition without full awareness: without understanding its history, its values, and its impact on social life. This is where building a trilogy of awareness becomes crucial: philosophical, ecological, and social awareness.
The Forgotten History Behind the Romance
Valentine’s Day is known as a day of love celebrated every February 14th. The most popular history links it to the story of Saint Valentine, a 3rd-century Christian priest in Rome who was executed during the reign of Emperor Claudius II for secretly marrying couples. It is said that before his death, he wrote a letter signed “From Your Valentine.”
However, over time, this historical-religious meaning shifted into a global celebration closely associated with the gift industry, restaurants, and commercial promotions. Valentine’s Day is no longer just a commemoration of religious figures, but has become a symbol of modern romance, produced and reproduced by media, films, music, and advertising.
Globalization has made this tradition cross-religious and cultural boundaries. In Indonesia, it has become part of the urban lifestyle, although not everyone accepts it. Several religious institutions, such as the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) and Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), have issued opinions prohibiting the celebration for Muslims, deeming it unfounded in Islamic teachings and a form of imitation of Western culture.
Regardless of differing religious views, the main issue is not simply whether it is permissible or not. What is more fundamental is: are we aware of it?
Philosophical Awareness: What Is the Love We Celebrate?
Philosophical awareness demands that we ask a deeper question: what is the essence of love?
If love is narrowed down to a romantic relationship between two individuals, then Valentine’s Day makes sense. But if love is understood as a universal value, it… When love for parents, friends, community, and even humanity is celebrated, limiting love to one day feels reductive.
Ironically, many people are more expressive on February 14th than any other day of the year. It’s as if love has a calendar. As if attention must wait for its moment.
Without philosophical awareness, celebrations turn into empty routines. People buy gifts not because they want to convey meaning, but because they fear being perceived as inconsiderate.
Ecological Awareness: Romance That Leaves a Trace of Waste
Every Valentine’s Day, the flower, chocolate, card, and plastic packaging industries experience a surge in production. Restaurants are full, disposable decorations are strewn about, and waste increases.
Rarely do people ask: how much packaging waste is produced? How many flowers wilt within a day and become meaningless organic waste? How much plastic remains difficult to decompose?
Ecological awareness invites us to recognize that every act of consumption has environmental consequences. Love celebrated with waste and excessive waste production is precisely the opposite of sustainability.
If love is caring, then the earth deserves to be loved.
Social Awareness: Between Expression and Pressure
Valentine’s Day also has a significant socio-economic impact. The gift, restaurant, hotel, and tourism industries rake in billions of rupiah in profits. From an economic perspective, this certainly drives business.
However, on the other hand, social pressure arises. Many teenagers and young people feel they “must” celebrate to avoid being considered out of date. Social media amplifies this pressure: posts about romantic partners create false standards of happiness.
For some, Valentine’s Day can bring loneliness, anxiety, and even social competition. Love becomes a commodity to be displayed.
Social awareness teaches that expressions of affection should be constructive, not oppressive. Strengthen, not forceful.
Celebrate or Reflect?
Valentine’s Day is not just about religion or Western culture. It is a reflection of how modern society consumes symbols without reflection.
If celebrated with philosophical awareness, namely understanding the nature of love; ecological awareness: moderation and environmental friendliness; and social awareness: not oppressive and not simply following the crowd, then any celebration can be meaningful.
But if you just go with the flow, then February 14th is just another day filled with transactions.
Love doesn’t need a special date. It needs awareness.**
Indonesia, February 14, 2026
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