Blasphemy, it is blasphemy, is characteristic of both church and secular life of the past and our generation. Although its meaning in these two cases varies somewhat, one thing remains constant: it is a negative phenomenon that contradicts the laws of morality.
Blasphemy - what is it? Etymology and history of the term
In the classical sense of the word, blasphemy is an abuse of a sacred object or person. It also means harm, humiliation of honor, dignity or memory of something. It can manifest itself in the form of disrespect for sacred persons, places and things. When the crime is verbal, this is called blasphemy, and when physical, it is often called desecration. In a looser sense, any wrongdoing against religious tenets would be blasphemy.
The very word "sacrilege" comes from the Latin sacer (sacred), and legere (read). Often, as his synonym, the word "blasphemy" is used. It leads its history from ancient Roman times, when barbarians robbed sacred temples and graves. By the time of Cicero, sacrilege took on a wider meaning, including verbal crimes against religion and the humiliation of religious objects.
Most ancient religions have a concept similar to sacrilege: there it is often regarded as a form of taboo. The basic idea is that sacred objects should not be perceived in the same way as others.
Blasphemy in Christianity
With the advent of Christianity as the official religion of the Roman state, Emperor Theodosius introduced sacrilege in an even more expansive sense, in the form of heresy, schism, and crimes against the emperor, including tax evasion. In the Middle Ages, the concept of “blasphemy” again implies physical actions directed against sacred objects, and this forms the basis of all subsequent Catholic teachings on this subject.
Most modern nations have repealed anti-blasphemy laws out of respect for freedom of expression, with the exception of injuries to people or property. One of the most striking episodes in this regard is the following: in the United States, the US Supreme Court in the cinematic case of Burstin against Wilson, because of the sensational film “Miracle” (1952), abolished the statute of blasphemy.
Despite their decriminalization, blasphemous acts are still sometimes viewed with strong disapproval from the public, including even people who are not adherents of an offended religion, especially when these acts are perceived as manifestations of hatred towards a particular sect or religion.
Personal sacrilege
In the case when the rights of God's servants are violated, we are used to hearing the word "sacrilege." What is blasphemy against the minister of the church, if not the abuse of not only his worldview, but also his personality?
Personal blasphemy means disrespect for the clergyman, harming him or defiling him, degrading his honor. This sacrilege can be accomplished in three main ways:
Raising a hand at a clergyman or religious leader.
Violation of existing church immunity. Priests have long been entitled to be exempted from the jurisdiction of general tribunals. The meaning, therefore, lies in the fact that one who, despite this, applies to a civil court, other than provided by the canons, is declared guilty of sacrilege and excommunicated.
Any act against a vow or chastity is already a sin.
Non-religious blasphemy, or Why do people want to fight?
“War is one of the greatest blasphemy” - this is in the distant XIX century, said the famous Russian poet Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin. He understood this already: after the Napoleonic invasion, the country lost a lot of soldiers and civilians, although compared to the events of the Great Patriotic War it was only a prehistory. Military action is terrible not only in terms of millions of deaths of innocent, young, full of life and energy of people. They also take away the most important thing from a psychological point of view: happiness, faith, love, hope and peace, and inspire fear, horror and fear of tomorrow.
Even today, in the developed pluralistic world, war takes place on all continents in dozens of countries: Egypt, Israel, Ukraine, Iran ... And this is an incomplete list of states in which armed conflicts take place. What makes people fight among themselves, destroy not only natural wealth, but also someone’s life? Often this is politics, religion, or mineral deposits. Only one thing is obvious: people die and go into oblivion of the city, and the war in this world is eternal.
War - blasphemy over nature, or How to protect the world around us from destruction?
Probably the last thing a person thinks about during military operations is what a huge negative impact he has on the environment. These are billions of cut down trees, worn meadows and bloodied, polluted rivers, these are tons of garbage, unsanitary conditions, disrespect for nature, neglect of endangered species of plants and animals. This is real blasphemy. What is one or more felled trees or a clogged pond compared to how many human lives are lost and never returned?
However, this is temporary, because then, after years and even decades, it comes to the realization that the forest has gradually died out, and new people who have not seen war want to breathe fresh air, collect mushrooms, and swim in a clean river. But war is a terrible force that does not honor the rules of etiquette, and even the most amazing natural monuments perish under its terrible hand. Therefore, many world organizations (for example, UNESCO and many others) establish special programs for the preservation of cultural and natural monuments in the war zone.
War - blasphemy over man
It is not necessary to talk about how many deaths such an uninvited phenomenon brings. This was clearly shown to us by the Second World War: millions of dead from almost all countries of the world, as many wounded and hundreds of thousands missing. They wrote poems, poems, stories, and even multi-volume novels, but no one was able to return loved ones. In all manifestations, blasphemy is seen. What is human life during the war? A grain of sand in a vast desert, unprotected and lonely, subject to a rapid hurricane and frequent storms.