Blasphemy [antikvár]

PrefaceT1HIS book is about the suppression of freedom of expression in the field of religious belief and experience; it is also about an inchmeal progression in the scope of freedom of expression. The past depicted here should not be forgotten or emulated. James Madison stated:Whilst we assert for ourselves a freedom to embrace and observe the Religion which we believe to be of divine origin, we cannot deny an equal freedom to those whose minds have not yet yielded to the evidence which has convinced us. If this freedom be abused, it is an offense against God, not against man: To God, therefore, not to man, must an account of it be rendered.Abuse of freedom as distinguished from its appropriate use, or licentiousness as opposed to liberty, has always been the excuse for suppression. What society deems to be blasphemya verbal offense against sacred mattersmay differ with time and place, but whatever is condemned as blasphemy is always regarded as an abuse of liberty.Any definition of the scope of freedom of religious or irreligious expression necessarily requires the drawing of lines and limits. Perimeters against the impermissible, separating blasphemy from the expression of lawful opinion on religion, reveal what society will not and cannot tolerate. Blasphemy is a litmus test of the standards a society believes it must enforce to preserve its unity, its peace, its morality, its feelings, and the road to salvation.The period covered by this book is approximately thirty-three centuries, from the time of Moses to a 1992 opinion of the Supreme Court. During most of that time, very few blasphemers were irreverent scoffers casting verbal opprobrium upon religion. Atheists and irreligious railers did not become the usual victims of blasphemy laws until the nineteenth century. For most of history, blasphemers have been devout Christians, although obnoxious to the majority of Christians among whom they lived. Even the homosexual centurion of the poem that featured in the