www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall International Blasphemy Day on Sept. 30

Speechless here. I am so thankful for the prayers we say each time we are in the Divine Liturgy. That as a people we can come against this craziness in the Name of Jesus!

blasphemy day [religionnews.com]

Lord have mercy!

I am reminded of this passage in I Cor. 1: 17] For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. [18] For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
[19] For it is written, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and the cleverness of the clever I will thwart."
[20] Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? [21] For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.
[22] For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom,
[23] but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles,
[24] but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
[25] For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
[26] For consider your call, brethren; not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth; [27] but God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong, [28] God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, [29] so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. [30] He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom, our righteousness and sanctification and redemption; [31] therefore, as it is written, "Let him who boasts, boast of the Lord." (RSV)

For a variety of reasons I will unable to be in Retreat with my colleagues of the Society of the Holy Trinity www.societyholytrinity.org [societyholytrinity.org] on Wednesday; but know that that prayers of well over 220 devout Lutheran clergy will be raised throughout that day.

Myself, I will be praying the offices in Pennsylvania at the same time as my colleagues in Chicago, plus celebrating the Eucharist Commemoration of St. Jerome.

Well timed, I believe.

Glory to God!

Laws against blasphemy are decidedly not an exclusively medieval phenomenon. There have been successful prosecutions in England well within my lifetime, and I seem to remember a successful prosecution in Massachusetts.

The point is not that the government necessarily has a state religion, but that open blasphemy can easily become an incitement to riot - which is itself, therefore, illegal - and which cannot be excused on the basis of freedom of religion.

The legal doctrine of freedom of religion means that everyone has the right to select, practice, or change his or her own religion - and in the USA that the government is constitutionally forbidden to have an "Established Church". No one is required to have any religion. But no one has the right to make a public mockery of someone else's religion.

Fr. Serge

I think that a peaceful mass demonstration of large proportions would be a positive and constructive thing in this instance and other instances.

In a country as large as the U.S., WHY is such a thing NOT being organized by churches?!?!?

Surely, a march/demonstration for this 'artistic' blasphemy is JUST as important as those which are organized yearly for abortion...

Alice

I think a mass demo is exactly the sort of uproar and free publicity the organizers hope the generate.

Perhaps, but doesn't everyone feel as guilty as me when we do not defend our Lord and our faith against these horrible blasphemies?

Sometimes the best "defense" might be to let the blasphemers disappear into irrelevance. Blasphemy is really pretty ubiquitous in our society. An art exhibit to promote blasphemy is like an art exhibit promoting consumerism or watching TV. I've been the church services, unfortunately, that are more profoundly blasphemous than anything these "artists" can cook up.

Actually, considering what passes for 'religion' in the USA, I can understand these people's embrace of blasphemy. Most religion I see is more akin to what Fr. Thomas Hopko called the 'new Paganism' - prosperity gospel and it's like are what many in the US associate with Christianity.

Alice I do!

Also, I saw an article where the Israli's removed a piece that depicted - they said - the Virgin Mary as a terrorist, a suicide bomber. I think that would upset Christ even more, than his being blasphemed. The last things she ever was, was someone to cause/do evil. Virgin Mary as suicide bomber painting [abcnews.go.com]

My friends and I have embraced this holiday with both arms, and have posted the following blasphemies on the web. I suggest you get into the spirit of things and follow suit:

Four years of college rarely makes you smarter or wiser.
Divorce is never good for kids.
Or for spouses.
Jesus really IS the Answer.
School is for deadening the imagination.
People who aren't married should keep things zipped.
Hollywood was at its finest when it censored itself.
Seinfeld is not all that funny.
Anyone who enjoys sex education is weird.
Stephen Spielberg cannot tell a story.
Joe McCarthy got a lot of things right.
Baseball and football are each of them ten times the games that soccer is.
Women tennis players who grunt when they hit the ball sound like actresses in HBO movies.
Barack Obama is not all that articulate.
Hillary Clinton is surrounded by flying monkeys.
Either one of my grandmothers could take any feminist congresslady in a wrestling match.
Restaurateurs should be able to decide whether they want to allow smoking in their own establishments.
Cigar smoke and pipe tobacco smell good.
Children don't scrape their knees often enough these days.
Ultraviolet rays are, on the whole, good for you.
They don't make atheists like they used to.
A man cannot marry another man no matter what the state or anyone else may say.
Any athletic event that is decided by a panel of judges is not a sport (e.g. figure skating).
We would all be better off if we did have an established Church
Patriarchy is inevitable. This is because women are better than men.
Everyone is religious in some way -- especially atheists.
Video games are a more intellectually respectable medium than television.
Great art flourishes under a regime of censorship.
George W. Bush knew more about strategery than Obama.
Rowers are athletes; everyone else just plays games.
War is the answer, if you ask the right question.
There is no anthropogenic global warming.
Some people's IQs are higher than other people's.
Women shouldn't serve in the armed forces.
Queers shouldn't be allowed to be Boy Scout leaders.
I believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.

Here's one: Right-wing ideology is just as much part of anti-Christ as the Left.

Was the use of the term "queers" to refer to homosexuals really necessary?