http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2008-09-18-russia-ban_N.htm
Russian lawmakers target Halloween, Valentine's Day By Jeffrey Stinson and Yulia Ochetova, USA TODAY MOSCOW — Russia is opening a new front in its battle with the West over last month's fighting in neighboring Georgia: a move to ban the Western holidays of Halloween and Valentine's Day as bad influences on the nation's youth. The State Duma, Russia's lower house of parliament, will consider a measure this month to guard students from what the government considers destructive Western influences, such as the two festive celebrations that are growing more popular in Russia. Maxim Mishchenko, a Duma member, says he is pushing the bill to guard the "moral and spiritual upbringing" of the nation's youth and to promote traditional Russian culture and values rather than those imported from the West. The proposed legislation reflects the rising nationalism here and a sense that Russia is threatened by U.S. and European culture and military powers, analysts and lawmakers say. "All this is part of the mind-set of we need to protect ourselves — and protect ourselves in a conservative way," says Maria Lipman of the Carnegie Moscow Center, a think tank. The recent conflict with Georgia, in which Russian troops moved deep into the former Soviet republic, helps push the proposal, says Alexandra Ochirova, social issues commission chairwoman of the Public Chamber, a Kremlin-picked advisory group of prominent citizens. "The events in the Caucasus have direct connections with the policy of our state, because for the first time citizens have witnessed that the state is able to protect every concrete Russian citizen," she says. The proposal dovetails with a new Russian version of Valentine's, called the Day of Family, Love and Fidelity. The holiday, held in June, was backed by first lady Svetlana Medvedev and the Russian Orthodox Church. Among its goals: stimulate a sense of family life and to stem Russia's declining birth rate. Mishchenko says students should celebrate Russian holidays, not those heralded in the United States and Europe. "Why necessarily celebrate St. Valentine's Day?" he says. "Let them celebrate Russian ones." "If the state won't interfere, they (Russia's youth) will behave like little monkeys, copying what doesn't fit with the soul of our culture," Mishchenko says. Yevgeny Yuryev, another Duma member who is helping write the new policy, admits any outright ban could be counterproductive. Instead, the Duma could declare that only traditional Russian holidays can be observed in schools, or require students to wear uniforms. That would have the same result: no spooky costumes and no flowery cards. Stinson reported from London
