The Evil In Social Media

Social media’s ability to effect real life action has taken a turn for the worse. The YouTube video (Titled: Innocence of Muslims) is stirring up the Muslim world and has been cited as the incendiary force behind the protests and subsequent violence that led to the deaths of four American Citizens in Benghazi. The issue is obviously more complicated than one video, but the human mind is keen on finding symbols to represent larger than life affairs, and in this case the Video has become the indisputable choice.

Here’s what we know about the video

  • The filmmaker, Nakoula Basseley Nakoula lied about his identity and is a known felon
  •  The film credited “Jewish” financial backers when in fact it was an American Antil-Islam group
  •  The actor’s script had them call the main character “George” and then later the name “Mohammed” was dubbed over it
  •  The crew had very little knowledge of what they were doing
  •  At the current time, The Innocence of Muslims has been viewed over 20 million time on YouTube alone

Some other notable facts:

  • Islam shares an Abrahamic root with Christianity and Judaism
  • Jesus is a respected Prophet of Islam
  • Libyans are Pro-American by a 2-1 ratio

Here’s what I find particularly disturbing about this whole affair:

  • One person with a little bit of financial backing and a smidge of technical knowhow now has the ability to turn the world on its heels
  • A piece of thought out multi-media with a strong message and a well timed release can be spread to millions of targeted viewers in the course of a day
  • Social media represents a powerful force that should not be taken lightly

Here’s what I find hopeful about social media:

(See the previous list!)

Human sin puts the Evil in social media. Nakoula lied, stole, hated, killed, was proud, was greedy, the whole gamut. Where I find hope is the idea that a single soul such as yourself has the power to enrich, love, save, praise, give, etc using the exact same formula.

It’s because of guys like Nakoula that the church needs to be involved in Social Media, and in a big way. I have no doubt that a virus of hate can be healed by an outpouring of God’s love.

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