The term blasphemy refers to saying something about God that is disrespectful. It can also refer to degrading religious concepts or literature. Blasphemy can be included in speech, an act, writing, music, or art.

Blasphemy in Everyday Life

• Some consider rapper Kanye West’s album name “Yeezus” and his consideration of himself as equal to Jesus to be blasphemous.
• Burning a religious document such as the Bible or the Qu’ran is considered blasphemy.
• Vandalizing a church is a form of blasphemy.
• Worshipping Satan is blasphemous.
• Committing suicide is a form of blasphemy.
• To state that God is unkind, unjust or cruel is a blasphemous.
• Artist Andres Serrano created what he called artwork by submerging a plastic replica of the crucified Jesus Christ in a container of his own urine and photographing it as a means, he stated, of exposing the ills of religion. However, this 1987 piece of work was considered highly blasphemous and was destroyed in 2011 during protests in France. The name of the work was Piss Christ.
• In the popular television show, Sex and the City, one episode featured what some considered to be blasphemous artwork. The episode revolved largely around a painting of a woman, crucified as Jesus Christ was, featured in a New York gallery.
• Pastor Terry Jones is the head of a church in Florida who, in 2010, is considered blasphemous of Islamic religion due to his suggestion to hold a “Burn the Qu’ran Day,” his publication of a book entitled Islam Is of the Devil, and his purveyorship of shirts and cups that spread the same message.
• The animated American television show, The Simpsons, has been taken to task for blasphemy after broadcasting episodes in which the devil purportedly was bullying God, amongst various other perceived blasphemies.
• Also underfire for broadcasting blasphemous language is the American animated comedy, Family Guy. Known for its offbeat humor, Family Guy featured Jesus in one particular episode that painted Him in a perverted manner, causing a firestorm of protest.
• Islam’s Prophet Mohammad is often the source of blasphemy. His image, according to Islamic law, is not to be printed yet many cartoonists and others around the world have been considered blasphemous for doing so. In 2006, Norwegian and Danish newspapers faced serious backlash and threats of retribution from Islamic nations for printing cartoons that featured Prophet Mohammad. While the act of printing the cartoons, themselves, would have been considered blasphemy unto itself, the cartoons also featured the Prophet in poses that were considered “unflattering,” particularly one in which the Prophet’s image was made to look like a terrorist.
• In 2010, American animated comedy South Park, also produced images of the Prophet Mohammad in an episode that featured the Prophet as a bear mascot. Angered by the perceived blasphemy, one Islamic website threatened the producers of the show for what they deemed as a high level of disrespect for the Prophet.

Now you have seen many different examples of blasphemy.