Most of us, having been raised in the United States with the free speech protections of the First Amendment, find this question almost absurd. Moreover, we look at Muslim societies world and thank God that we have the freedoms we have and abhor the restrictions they have. But we find ourselves in a bit of a bind because we like to say things like, “The Ten Commandments are the foundation of a strong society.” Of course, the Third Commandment prohibits mere vain uses of God’s Name, which surely includes outright blasphemy. Also, we like to talk about how unacceptable homosexual behavior is, but blasphemy was also a capital crime under the Old Testament Law. Finally, many of us say that being pro-choice about abortion is the same as being pro-abortion. But this would seem to mean that being pro-choice about blasphemy (supporting the First Amendment) would have to be the same as being pro-blasphemy.
Resources:
Bible References: Lev 24:10-23, Num 15:22-31, Matt 12:30-32, Mark 3:28-30, Mark 14:53-65
On capital punishment for blasphemy (Heidelberg Catechism)
Blasmphemy (Max Forsythe)
Sin, including types such as blasphemy (Catholic Catechism)
Second Commandment (Catholic Catechism)
No comments:
Post a Comment