Thursday, May 20, 2010
so i'm trying to figure this out. facebook has been banned because of an offensive group on it, and by inexplicable corollary youtube have also been banned for a few days. curtailing freedom of information isn't precisely mature. it happens all the time though, all across the world. you can say that facebook isn't the issue, it's an offensive group on it. block the URL. but why is facebook letting offensive groups exist? shouldn't they be responsible for content to some degree?
that brings us to freedom of expression. i do think freedom of expression should be limited in certain ways- offending people's religious sensibilities, specifically. it's not okay at any level. if south park makes fun of jesus, that's a christian problem. muslims or jews haven't got (directly) anything to do with it. a lot of christian groups do protest, and legitimately so. saying jews deserved the holocaust is not okay, and jewish people make sure it isn't okay- being anti-semitic is a big deal. 'the passion of the christ' was banned in some cinemas. so why are muslims big babies, or intolerant fundos, if they say it's not okay to make drawings of their prophet? it's not okay for them, and everyone should respect that the same way everyone should respect people's colour, race, sexuality and anything else. muslims don't make fun of other religions (as far as i know). they aren't making mockeries of prophets they believe in just as much as their other followers do. so why is it too much to ask that people do the same for them? offending people's religious sensibilites is a distateful, disrespectful and highly provocative thing to do. as they say in urdu, teeli dogey to yehi hoga. if you do something deliberately insulting, you're deliberately inciting a reaction. somehow muslims reacting to provocation is a symbol of their obtuse orthodoxy, but anyone else's moral objections to things is a course of matter. not cool. and educated, liberal muslims such as those that read this blog need to make an informed protest.
we live in a time of great complexities- we are liberal and believe in living and let live, but some things deserve more attentions. we think it's okay for people to be homosexual or that a little drink isn't hurting anyone, but we need to be even more vigilant of being trod over in the name of liberality or modernity. we are modern. we move with the times. but we're also different, whether we like it or not, by dint of what we've been brought up to believe in, and we need to remember that that is part of our identities as much as our english medium private school educations or guitar playing skills or awesome jobs are. we, more than everyone else, have to balance. keep our feet on the sand and let the waves flow, not be swept away.
Mina at 7:31 PM
