This Business of Blasphemy

As buildings burn and people die, I find myself scratching my head looking for answers and explanations as to why folks overseas are so angry about a cartoon.

I found this amazing article, A Brief History of Blasphemy ...that's, well, not so brief.

It's a hard thing to grasp: mankind's refusal to learn from history and the way history shapes our cultural and political biases. It's also a hard thing to grasp that at 35, I still wear tee-shirts I wore when I was eight, but that's another story, for another day.

If, however, we look at the problem of blasphemy in the long perspectives of history, we will find that the Christian church as a whole has generally interpreted the law against blasphemy in a quite different way. For, while fiercely resisting and punishing blasphemies directed against God, Christ or against the Christian faith, the church has at times actively encouraged Christians to use both blasphemy and obscenity as weapons with which to insult and humiliate rival faiths. [emphasis mine]

It is because a tradition of blasphemous abuse lies so close to the heart of Judaeo-Christian orthodoxy – and to Judaeo-Christian authoritarianism – that those who play imaginative games with blasphemy in the name of liberty are in reality engaged in an extraordinarily dangerous ploy, whose ultimate effect is likely to be both destructive and repressive.

The greatest danger of all is that his blasphemies will be construed as belonging to the strongest tradition of Western blasphemy – a tradition which is both profoundly authoritarian and full of racial and religious hatred.

Time, as they say, has a way of repeating itself.

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News from the U.S., that charges of blasphemy forced NBC to cancel two television shows reminds me that blasphemy in the U.S. doesn't warrant riots - it results in re-runs of Crossing Jordan.

This whole business of blasphemy sets a backdrop for two funerals this week of two very remarkable and very different women. I am amazed that up until her death, Coretta Scott King advocated for equality through non-violence.

Gay, poor, Black, Hispanic, Musilm...you name it, honey...if you felt oppressed, Mrs. King had your back. Even though she was threatened by the KKK, even though her home was bombed, even though her husband was murdered -- still, she rejected violence, in all its forms.

It was, shall we say, her way.

Betty Friedan, on the other hand, took another revolutionary path, although her "lavender menace" legacy taints a movement that advocated equality and justice.

What strikes me at this moment, thinking about these two women and the tens of thousands that are rioting in the streets is that people will go to extraordinary lengths in defense of an idea.

Some people will live their lives with grace, dignity and poise even though they've been handed a big pile of shit. Some people will exclude others from political organizations for the sake of power, influence and "public relations" purposes. Some people will burn shit down because they're pissed and angry.

And while a big pile of shit doesn't seem nearly as inviting as political power and indignant righteousness, I know who I'd rather emulate.

May your God bless you Mrs. King -- and your family's legacy.

I'll just pray to mine that your struggle was not in vain and that history will not bring us to this same point in time again, when courage and faith is overshadowed by violence, hatred and ignorance.