ON BLASPHEMY

With regard to the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, one notable Muslim states that it is possible to be against violence but still outraged by blasphemy  (The act of showing contempt or lack of reverence for God, to religious or holy persons or things or toward something considered sacred or inviolable.*)  At first that sounded reasonable.  But then I started thinking.

It seems to me today that in America the word blasphemy is no longer in our vocabulary because it has come to be protected by the first amendment.  Oh, some people know the word, but do they ever use it?  I suspect that, if you took a poll, a large majority of Americans would no longer have any idea of what the word means.  Yes, many of us will object showing Christ with excrement to be at least in bad taste or disgusting rather than art, but the perpetrators are not prosecuted for blasphemy.  This is interesting because America is largely a Christian country and blasphemy is spoken of as unforgivable in the Bible (e.g. Mark3:29).

I think that when I was a child I recall swearing was called called blasphemy and perhaps those who do it would "burn in Hell."  I recall my mother saying heelio-copters rather than hell-i-copters to avoid saying the dreaded word.  She had some other spoken affectations as well.  Blasphemy was not always protected by the First Amendment in the U.S.  It is understood that free speech is not license.  the example usually given is that you can not cry "Fire!" in a crowded theater.  At one time blasphemy was treated the same way in a number of states.*  the New York anti-blasphemy law wasn't repealed until 1952.  The law was still on the books in Maryland as recently as 2003.*

I recall a young Muslim scientist from Saudi Arabia who came to work with us for awhile who went to a museum and was shocked at paintings of Christ on the cross, Mary with child, and Peter hanging upside down on the cross.  He couldn't believe such blasphemy would be permitted.  In fact, many Muslims feel that  paintings of any human beings is idolatry.**

* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blasphemy; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blasphemy_law_in_the_United_States
** http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_art