Blasphemy:
A Useless Spiritual Suicide
Last Update: 3 May, 2022
What it is:
Blasphemy is any word or act of irreverance towards God.
For purposes of this discussion, by 'God' we mean from every religious viewpoint: irreverence towards anyone's concept of God we consider as blasphemy for the sake of discussion of this issue, which is also necessarily fair in a multicultural society.
How It's a Threat:
Blasphemy is a threat because it wrongs a higher being, whether definitely or possibly real, and gives that Being just cause to seek damages against us.
Although no evil act has a favourable cost:benefit result in the long run, blasphemy has one of the worst. Unlike many other forms of evil, however, blasphemy invites harm for no benefit at all.
Although it can be debated whether a society is responsible if they allow someone to blaspheme, if the Public actively participates in it, or seems to accept it in anything they elect or participate in, they are definitely responsible, and therefore punishable.
Really there is no good and only potential harm in unnecessarily insulting any being, much less a higher being, much less God. Even the worst devils we should not unnecessarily insult (except to reject them from our lives); we have no right to do that.
Ultimately, to insult God is just cause for Him to destroy us and He has power to do so. God should't have to put up with that from us. Why bring that kind of culpability on ourselves, especially for not even the tiniest benefit?
Why We Should have Realized this was Wrong:
We have always understood the harm it is to insult someone. In older times, an insult could have been responded to with demands to fight a duel to the death to defend honour. In modern times, we have 'slander' and 'libel' laws which protect people from insult.
Why did we craft laws to defend each other from insult, but not God? We didn't need to make such laws specific to just one person's concept of God, such that the law defense their entire religion, but we could have made it very general (for example that no one is permitted to clearly and directly insult the Supreme Creator), or all-inclusive (for example that no one is permitted to insult the concept of God of any major religion). Unfortunately we only protected ourselves.
On a most basic level, we should have realized that it's unnecessarily mean to humiliate anyone, much less anyone's God.
How/When It's Been Happening:
Primary Blasphemy: This we'll define as an act of irreverence towards one's own concept of God. Secondary Blasphemy: This we'll define as an act of irreverence towards someone else's own concept of God. Tertiary Blasphemy: This we'll define as participating or appearing to participate, however passively, in irreverence towards anyone's concept of God. This one is usually the most dangerous one to a reasonably moral Public, because it can bring the Public into culpabilty for blasphemy without the Public being conscious of that fact. Tertiary blasphemy been happening in our society relatively unabated and on a large scale, in this manner:
Use of the Name of Jesus Christ as an expletive: This has been the most insidious thing in our society on the topic of blasphemy. The Name of Jesus, on which Christians rely for Salvation, whom Christians believe is God, has been used as an expletive in our entertainment for decades without any significant opposition. It is stunning how many productions have included this, no matter how unrelated to the plot. The usage has been growing to become the primary expletive in our entertainment. The usage is clear: although sometimes either "Jesus" or "Christ", also often said as "Jesus Christ" (such as in Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975): every time they used the catapult) and sometimes even showing a statue of Jesus (such as in the movie Scary Movie 4 (2006): by Charlie Sheen's character) in the moment of the blasphemy to make crystal clear this is the person referred to in the expletive.
It's worth noticing that the name of no other religious figure or diety is used as an expletive in our entertainment: only the name of Jesus/Christ/Jesus Christ. The name of Mohammed and Buddha are never used as expletives in our entertainment, for example, and in the Jewish religion, the name of God isn't even permitted to be spoken.
Presumably the reason that other religious figures' names are not used as expletives in Public entertainment is fear of immediate backlash, but there has been no backlash from Christians, who apparently love God less.
Whether Christian or not, anyone who accepts entertainment where the name of Jesus/Christ/Jesus Christ is used as an expletive, without protest, is guilty of participating in blasphemy against Him. Why? Because by our laws, silence implies consent. Regardless of our laws, how would you feel if you were Jesus Christ, and You saw that not only the Public, but even Your own follwers, were consistently enjoying entertainment where Your name is used as an expletive, without the smallest objection?
The usage is often so totally unrelated to the plot that it seems deliberately inserted by enemies of Jesus Christ to not only insult Him, but entice even His followers to accept and thereby participate in the blasphemy.
We could have at least said that it's unacceptable to use anyone's name as a swear word.
What We Can Do About It:
When you hear blasphemy in productions, start complaining to related theatres, distribution channels, and producers that this is unnecessary, wrong, and unacceptable. Your action will cause change that no longer can they say no one complained about it, and you will escape moral culpability, by objecting, even if the blasphemy continues.
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