- BLASPHEME
blæs'fim verb. Say something about God (or holy things) which isn’t true. Slander. - 2. Speak irreverently about God or holy things. Sacrilege.
- [Blasphemer
blæs'fim.ər noun, blasphemous'blæs.fə.məs adjective, blasphemy'blæs.fə.mi noun.]
That second definition tends to be how popular culture defines blasphemy: Means the same thing as
That’s what people consider blasphemy. That’s why they go utterly ape when Christians won’t take off our hats in church, or wear jeans. Business attire only!—and only Jesus gets to wear a toga.
By this definition, I commit blasphemy a lot. More than one Christian has got their knickers in a knot over my titling this blog Christ Almighty! To them, Christ Jesus is holy, and anything which makes our king sound too familiar is lèse-majesté.
Y’might not know that term. It comes in handy. It’s French for “less majestic”—it’s when people don’t treat the king with the dignity he merits. (Or, more accurately, imagines he merits; I’m an American and the only king I respect is Jesus. The rest, whether they know it or not, are usurpers of his title.) Lèse-majesté is the invention of petty, insecure despots, who wanted everyone to suck up to them under pain of death. Esther slammed into it when she had to petition the shah of Persia for her people, but if she showed up unannounced the shah could interpret it as an insult.
The reason Christians keep propping up lèse-majesté as their definition of blasphemy, is because there’s a bit of despotism in them. It’s not that God’s insulted or offended when his kids boldly approach the throne of grace.
Hence they attempt to enforce divisions and ranks and barriers
Well, enough about what blasphemy’s not. Let’s get to what it is.