Blasphemy

Saturday morning as I was pondering this blog, two things came to my attention in swift succession.  One was colleague Jeff Munroe’s blog in which he pondered idolatry, noting that it would appear for some people both political power generally and Donald Trump specifically have themselves become idols for some segments of the church if not of the country generally. 

The second item was from columnist and former W. Bush White House aide Peter Wehner.  In a post on X/Twitter Wehner presented a meme by Eric Metaxas that Wehner succinctly and accurately described as “blasphemy.”  I will not paste this abomination into the blog but suffice it to say that the meme featured a picture of Trump’s mug shot next to a depiction of Jesus on the cross.  Under each picture was the word “Convicted” and overtop it said “If you are wondering if you can vote for a convicted felon, remember you worship one.”

Let’s be clear: this is not a blog about whether a Christian can vote for Trump yet again.  But let’s also be clear: there is more that is downright wrong with the Metaxas meme than can easily be described.  But Wehner was right: it’s blasphemous.  Because what is blasphemy?  Well, at a basic level it is a breach of the commandment not to take God’s Name in vain.  But taking God’s Name in vain goes well beyond verbal invocations in empty vows or by using “God” or “Jesus” or “Christ” as a curse word.   We violate that commandment just as much when God’s own religious symbols are abused.

Blasphemy takes what is good and holy and perverts it into something close to the opposite of goodness or holiness (if not in fact the dead opposite of those things).  A classic example—of which I was repeatedly reminded on the recent ReStory trip I wrote about last month here on the RJ blog—is how the KKK took the beautiful symbol of hope and salvation that is the cross of Jesus and perverted it into a racist symbol of hate and intimidation by burning crosses as a way to intimidate black people and broadcast the Klan’s malevolent views on race.  Blasphemy steals what is holy and then uses the stolen symbol to accomplish something unholy.  Blasphemy associates symbols of the Gospel with things that have nothing to do with the Gospel, draining the Good News of its power and its ability to reach into people’s hearts with grace and mercy.

Metaxas accomplished that quite handily.  But we saw similar displays of blasphemy during the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol.  Literal wooden crosses and depictions of the cross on flags and banners brought the sacred symbol of our salvation into an arena of ugliness, mendacity, murderous rage, and deeply riven partisan politics.   It is difficult to underestimate the lasting damage that blasphemy does both to those who are guilty of the blasphemous words or deeds and to those who witness them and who may forever after be deprived of a pure apprehension of what God intended to be something good and redolent of Gospel hope.

If church leaders and all of us cannot call out blasphemy for what it is, then this too shows how damaged the church and its message have become.  Again and to be clear: this is not about for whom a Christian votes or whom they support.  This is about things that are deeply holy and so, when abused, things that are deeply, if not devastatingly, troubling.

In the hymn “O Sacred Head, Now Wounded” the third stanza asks “What language shall I borrow to thank you, dearest Friend?”  Sometimes I think God has to ask a similar question.  When God is robbed of his own sacred words and symbols, what language is left by which to convey his mercy and grace?  To condone, overlook, minimize, or shrug at the blasphemy that leads to this conundrum is in the end inexcusable and a tacit approving of wickedness.