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blasphemy

blasphemy

The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. | 2011 | Copyright

blasphemy in religion, words or actions that display irreverence toward or contempt for God or that which is held sacred. Blasphemy is regarded as an offense against the community to varying degrees, depending on the extent of the identification of a religion with the society at large or the government. Sedition , an attack on the sovereign, is thus analogous; both it and blasphemy can be seen as subversive of order and authority. Heresy , on the other hand, is a matter of competing claims for doctrinal correctness; the dominant (orthodox) faction, however, often defines the heretic as blasphemous.

Blasphemy has been a crime in many religions and cultures, wherever there is something sacred to protect. Socrates was prosecuted for blasphemy, and Mosaic law prescribed death for cursing the name of God. Jesus was tried for blasphemy, while Christians regarded the action of the Jews in trying him as itself blasphemous.

Secular modern states often retain blasphemy laws, but they are infrequently enforced. In the United States, state blasphemy laws remain on the books, but the Supreme Court's expansive interpretation of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution makes it likely that any blasphemy prosecution would now be regarded as an impermissible establishment of religion. In countries governed under Islamic law, the concept of blasphemy is broad, embracing many kinds of disrespect or denial of religion; the condemnation (1988) of the author Salman Rushdie by Iranian clerics is a recent example of theocratic action.

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Blasphemy

West's Encyclopedia of American Law | 2005 | Copyright

BLASPHEMY

The malicious or wanton reproach of God, either written or oral. Inenglish law, the offense of speaking disparaging words about God, Jesus Christ, the Bible, or the Book of Common Prayer with the intent to undermine religious beliefs and promotecontemptand hatred for the church as well as general immorality. In U.S. law, any maliciously intended written or oral accusation made against God or religion with the purpose of dishonoring the divine majesty and alienating mankind from the love and reverence of God.

Blasphemy is a common-law offense and also an offense by statute in certain jurisdictions. It must be uttered in the presence of another person or persons or published in order to be an offense. Mere use of profanity is not considered blasphemy.

Blasphemy statutes are rarely, if ever, enforced today.
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"Blasphemy." West's Encyclopedia of American Law. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

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blasphemy

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church | 2000 | | Copyright

blasphemy. Speech, thought, or action manifesting contempt of God. It may be directed either immediately against God or mediately against the Church or the saints, and it is by its nature a mortal sin. It was previously also a legal offence, but in Britain only scurrillous attacks on Christianity can now be sustained under the blasphemy laws, as calculated to offend believers or cause a breach of the peace.
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E. A. LIVINGSTONE. "blasphemy." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

E. A. LIVINGSTONE. "blasphemy." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O95-blasphemy.html

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blaspheme

The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English | 2009 | Copyright

blas·pheme / blasˈfēm; ˈblasˌfēm/ • v. [intr.] speak irreverently about God or sacred things: allegations that he had blasphemed against Islam. DERIVATIVES: blas·phem·er / blasˈfēmər; ˈblasfəmər/ n.

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blasphemy

The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English | 2009 | Copyright

blas·phe·my / ˈblasfəmē/ • n. (pl. -mies) the act or offense of speaking sacrilegiously about God or sacred things; profane talk: he was detained on charges of blasphemy| screaming incomprehensible blasphemies.

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blaspheme

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology | 1996 | | Copyright

blaspheme XIV. — OF. blasfemer (F.-ph-) — ecclL. blasphēmāre revile, blaspheme — Gr. blasphēmeîn, f. blásphēmos evil-speaking (*pha- speak; phēmi I say). Cf. BLAME.
So blasphemous XV. blasphemy XIII (see -Y3).
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T. F. HOAD. "blaspheme." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

T. F. HOAD. "blaspheme." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-blaspheme.html

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blasphemy

The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable | 2006 | | Copyright

blasphemy the action or offence of speaking sacrilegiously about God or sacred things; profane talk. Recorded from Middle English, the word comes via Old French and ecclesiastical Latin from Greek blasphēmia ‘slander, blasphemy’.
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ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "blasphemy." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

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blaspheme

Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes | 2007 | Copyright

blaspheme •abeam, agleam, beam, blaspheme, bream, cream, deem, deme, downstream, dream, esteem, extreme, gleam, hakim, kilim, meme, midstream, Nîmes, ream, régime, scheme, scream, seam, seem, steam, stream, supreme, team, teem, theme, upstream •cross-beam • hornbeam • moonbeam •sunbeam • academe • morpheme •phoneme • jet stream • airstream •daydream • mainstream • Brylcreem •millstream • slipstream •bloodstream • monotreme •buttercream • raceme • septime •centime

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blasphemy

Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes | 2007 | Copyright

blasphemy •fumy, gloomy, plumy, rheumy, roomie, roomy, spumy •excuse-me • mushroomy • perfumy •Brummie, chummy, crumby, crummy, dummy, gummy, lumme, mummy, plummy, rummy, scrummy, scummy, slummy, tummy, yummy •academy • sodomy • blasphemy •infamy •bigamy, polygamy, trigamy •endogamy, exogamy, heterogamy, homogamy, misogamy, monogamy •hypergamy • alchemy • Ptolemy •anomie • antinomy •agronomy, astronomy, autonomy, bonhomie, Deuteronomy, economy, gastronomy, heteronomy, metonymy, physiognomy, taxonomy •thingummy • Laramie • sesame •blossomy •anatomy, atomy •hysterectomy, mastectomy, tonsillectomy, vasectomy •epitome •dichotomy, lobotomy, tracheotomy, trichotomy •colostomy • bosomy •squirmy, thermae, wormy •taxidermy

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Free newspaper and magazine articles

Blasphemy: Impious Speech in the West from the Seventeenth to the Nineteenth...
Magazine article from: Journal of Social History; 9/22/2003
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Blasphemy laws may be extended to Muslims.
Newspaper article from: Daily Mail (London); 4/24/2006

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