156 - Text

[impure_tale]

Fellow denizens of the barge, I pose to you a question: 

What is your definition of blasphemy? 

I have a book here which defines it, rather simply, as irreverence toward the deities, artifacts, customs and tenets of a given religion. Which I suppose is a perfectly fair and universal explanation. But "irreverent" behavior -- don't you have to belong to that particular religion, or at least to the society that sanctions it, for it to count as blasphemy? 

For instance, most religions that use the Bible or some form of it hold to the notion that "taking God's name in vain" is a sin. Does this not apply merely to followers of that faith? If, say, I were to not be a member of the church (can you imagine?), I would therefore have no reason to hold the teachings of the Bible as sacred. Oui? By that logic, then, if someone were to, say, drop something particularly heavy on my foot, enough to induce extreme pain, then for me to exclaim "Jesus Christ!" should be perfectly acceptable. In turn -- because it's not just about teasing the Christians -- the same would be assumed if I were to say "Sweet fucking Tak!" instead, no? 

Is there a difference, aside from the fact that the religious whining is for once issuing the most loudly from a non-Christian?

This is not about respecting the differences of others -- I'm well aware that I could have made my point without such coarse language. I'm also well aware that if it were simply about respecting differing cultures, a Warden would not have been physically attacked today for "blaspheming" -- over Audio, where anyone could hear it, no less.

Has anything been done about this, by the way? Or were the lot of you simply having a laugh over it? 

Comments

as howie's not actually responding. sooooooorry.

[deepdowndark.livejournal.com]

Blasphemy is knowingly using religious terms or items in an offensive manner - especially towards someone who believes in that faith.

If I pissed on a cross in front of a devout Christian, knowing it was a religious symbol, and doing it to offend them? That would be blasphemy. And I would expect to be punched for it.

If Narvin wishes to punish me for taking offence at the deliberate insulting of my God by mis-pronouncing his name on several occasions, then he can do so. But I will accept the same treatment if I would insult another God of another present. I think that's his business, not yours.

He will fanboy... so hard... if he finds out who you are, Marquis

[bloodbisque.livejournal.com]

Blasphemy? Such a delightful topic of conversation to find on one's first day here.

voice

[lotoftrouble.livejournal.com]

Feel free to take any of my pantheon's name in vain. Frankly, I don't care.

Usually Judas is pretty okay with the Marquis, buuuut.

[heavenonthemind.livejournal.com]

I don't think you should use his name like that.

{Video}

[so-meretricious.livejournal.com]

I have found it quite difficult to do anything but ignore religion altogether, a behaviour in and of itself that has been considered blasphemous.

[oh yah, voice]

[boughtitall.livejournal.com]

Every act seems to offend someone's sensibilities or religion, no matter how seemingly inoffensive.

[vinkus-witch.livejournal.com]

I don't believe in blasphemy.

Because *one* thread of Narvin being histrionic and defensive at the Marquis wasn't enough!

[timesbureaucrat]

I don't give a damn about religion, but this isn't an isolated incident and it's less about blasphemy and more about systematic bullying. Mr. Graves is on record repeatedly harassing my inmate and threatening him with physical violence. I warned Mr. Graves what would happen if he didn't cease and desist and told him up front that I would not penalize Ardent for protecting his rights and dignity if the harassment continued. I plan to keep my word.

[Text]

[most_feared]

The way I usually treat it is that if I'm talking to that person, and they ask me to cease an action while addressing them, I will cease that offensive action regardless of religious attachment, especially if it appears to be culturally offensive.

As for the attack, Randal Graves has a long history of physically insulting and abusing Ardent. He's to this point refrained any action and Mr. Graves has received no reprimand for his actions in these cases.

In either case, if Ardent were to require punishment I believe it should be at the expense and agreement that if such behavior were to persist from Mr. Graves in the future it would be met with some sort of punishment greater than the removal of his warden item (since he loses it all of the time anyway).

[shortsghtedlove.livejournal.com]

The easiest solution would be to abolish religion altogether. Without it, blasphemy would no longer be a problem nor would barbaric actions carried out in any religion's name - if transgressions against the ban were suitably punished. People would learn to forget about religion soon enough.

To be quite honest, not doing so seems rather irresponsible to me.

[im-notspecial.livejournal.com]

And yet, there are some who do not care about respecting differences. Blasphemy does not require one to be of the same faith.