Pakistan (MNN) ― For Pakistani Christians who name the name of Christ using their cell phone, there's a new hurdle.
Voice of the Martyrs spokesman Todd Nettleton explains, "The story begins with a letter from the telecommunications authority in Pakistan. They have sent a letter to the cell phone companies there with a long list of words, about 1500 of them, that they say, 'if these words are in a text message, then you need to block that text message'."
According to government authorities, the order was an attempt to block spam messages in both English and Urdu. Nettleton acknowledges that, "A lot of the words are obscenities, or sexual words or things,", and their place on the block list was obvious. But, he says, "one of the terms that they've marked for blocking is 'Jesus Christ', the name of our Savior. It's interesting to see that listed in a list of words that they want to have blocked."
The reasons for blocking 'Jesus Christ' were less clear, raising questions about religious freedom and practicality. "It presents the idea that Christians can be singled out through their cell phones through their text messages. So, in a country like Pakistan, where it's legal to be a Christian, except if you were a Muslim, and now you're an apostate and following Christ, does this mean that the government is looking at people's text messages and trying to single out who are Christians and who aren't?"
He goes on to explain that, "They are allowed, under a 1996 law, to prevent people from sending information that's false, fabricated, indecent or obscene." Any word could conceivably be part of a spam message, but it's the next phrase defining what is ' false, fabricated, indecent or obscene' that raises red flags. "They go on to say they have the right to restrict free speech 'in the interest of the glory of Islam.'"
Due to the difficulties presented by Pakistan's blasphemy law, believers have been careful about how they handle Gospel work. Nettleton says they have also gotten creative with their use of the technologies available. "There are ministries that are sending Scripture text messages, they're sending evangelistic text messages. In some cases, they're literally sending videos from phone to phone to present the Gospel."
Cell phone companies had seven days to implement the order, which went into effect on November 21. Ministries had less time to react. For some, outreach will be compromised. "It seems like that would single out Christians who are doing ministry, who are doing evangelism, who are doing anything that would be seen as not 'in the interest of the glory of Islam.'"
Could this move be a precursor to Hate Speech/literature action that criminalizes following Christ? Similar moves have already been made in Australia, Sweden, Canada and, to a lesser extent, the United States. Nettleton responds, "I don't know if this is likely to cause more issues, or if this is pretty much an example of the issues that already exist there. The church faces an uphill battle to be recognized, to be protected by the government."
Islamists have the influence to sway government response. Last year, the government temporarily banned Facebook because of material on the site deemed offensive to Islam. Pakistan has also blocked pornographic websites and ones deemed anti-Islamic. However, the definition of what is 'anti-Islamic' is very loose, which leads Nettleton to add, "Pray for the safety of the Christians who are working and witnessing in Pakistan."
Source: Mission Network News
