Prophet Paparazzi

My mother has a penchant for bringing her camera everywhere we go as a family and making sure to snap pictures of me when I least expect - or want - her to do so. While I bemoan and bellyache each time she whips out her Nikon, conditions could be worse. I could be a Hollywood star, hounded day and night, in public and sometimes private, by the paparazzi. My face, in its sundry contortions, pleasing and otherwise, could pop up daily on tabloid covers and blogs, and there would be nothing I legally could do to stop it. Still, even modern celebrities have it easy compared to their deceased counterparts, who must rely on the living to speak for them.

The Islamic Republic of Pakistan has issued a national ban on Facebook and Youtube for what it deems blasphemous content, chiefly the visual depiction of the Prophet Muhammad. While never explicitly forbidden in the Qur'an, the visual depiction of people, and especially prophets, brings threats of idolatry and the loss of respect for the holy essence. But who would dream of showing any less than the utmost deference for a holy figure?  Granted, I laughed out loud at the Jesus Christ Superstore, but as anyone who has seen or read The Name of the Rose can attest, not everyone finds such humor appropriate.  At all.

The laughless have a point, of course. These figures made tremendous sacrifices to bring their profound, and sometimes terrifying, messages to the trembling public. It is fair to demand that they be shown respect, but there comes a point when the backlash against disrespect becomes excessive. I have mixed feelings about Facebook. I would argue that it trivializes friendships by detaching users from face-to-face interaction, wastes time with its countless trivial surveys and applications, and promotes artifice with its "Maybe" and "Like" options. Nonetheless, while it can never replace a phone call or a trip to lunch, Facebook provides a quick and accessible way of staying updated on what's happening in my friends' lives and an excellent forum for sharing discoveries. It is a useful tool, and like most tools, its use is optional.  The ban of this tool, while preventing the viewing of blasphemous content, also eliminates the benefits that would-be users could glean from using it.

As a tool, Youtube is even more valuable. "Valuable?" one may ask. "But I've wasted countless hours reliving my glory days with salvaged episodes of 1980s cartoons!" Because it is open to everyone, its pages contain almost any kind of educational material one could want, from history lessons to portraits of national beauty to language lessons. All it takes is a search and a click, and a whole world of information appears in front of the user. Denying an entire country access to this resource for the sake of a few stupid groups is ridiculous, bordering on cruel. Good Muslims can stay good Muslims, even if some people in the world disrespect their tenants. Discipline is one of the chief virtues of Islam, and by hiding potentially corrupting elements, the Pakistani government is denying its people access to that virtue.