In a country such as Lebanon, in which Religion has too much authority over the social ethics enforced by the government, every once in a while pressures from the Christian and/or Islamic communities result in the passing of absurd laws. An example of such idiotic decrees is the latest actions taken against Emo’s and their dress code. Cops in the capital of Lebanon, Beirut, are issuing a fine of LBP50,000 (the equivalent of $33.3) to anyone on the street who dresses like an Emo. It has also evolved to a point of extreme ridicule; today if you wear your pants low enough for your boxers to show, while out on the street, you will be fined as well.

I was surprised to find out we are not the only country fining people for wearing saggy pants, the picture on the right (which I found here) proves that a similar campaign was launched in Michigan in 2008 but for different reasons. In Detroit the police started going after those people because in their opinion such dress code belongs to prison culture.

While there are many other issues, much more critical, for the Lebanese government to focus on – for half a decade we’ve been facing a serious deterioration in the economic and social conditions as well as an on going political instability – instead, they always find the time to satisfy the peculiar needs of the religious community that ironically fails to benefit its followers every single time. They don’t really care about the freedom of expression of the people if it happens to threaten their “conservative” culture. I’m not sure which aspect of the Emo phenomenon, for example, is so offensive to the church in Lebanon; I’m inclined to think they fear the temptation coming from the “irresistible” low-rise jeans!