"Any person who shall willfully blaspheme the holy name of God, by cursing or contumeliously reproaching God, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor."

Damon W. Root | August 11, 2009

The First Amendment Center's David Hudson has an entertaining and slightly unnerving story about the various blasphemy and profanity laws still on the books in various American states. Here's a sampler:

Michigan's blasphemy law says: "Any person who shall willfully blaspheme the holy name of God, by cursing or contumeliously reproaching God, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor."

Oklahoma law provides: "Blasphemy consists in wantonly uttering or punishing words, casting contumelious reproach or profane ridicule upon God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Ghost, the Holy Scriptures, or the Christian or any other religion." Uttering such speech is classified as a misdemeanor....

Consider too the plight of the cussing canoeist Timothy Boomer, who in 1999 was charged and convicted for violating a Michigan anti-profanity law designed to protect women and children.

Boomer hit a rock and took a spill while canoeing down the Rifle River. Upon resurfacing he let loose what a sheriff's deputy characterized as three minutes of profanity within hearing distance of a father, mother and their two youngsters. Though a Michigan appeals court later tossed the conviction, Boomer remained known as "the cussing canoeist." He told the Associated Press in 2002: "I'm a little more careful about what I say in public these days."

Read the whole filthy thing here. Reason on free speech here.

(Via How Appealing)

Comments

hmm|8.11.09 @ 4:58PM|#

Well God damn it. Jesus H. Christ that just aint right.

Fist of Etiquette|8.11.09 @ 5:01PM|#

Won't someone please think of the children, for Christ's sake?

|8.11.09 @ 5:03PM|#

No, your Honor! I reproached God, but not contumeliously!

MonkeeHeadinSouth|8.11.09 @ 5:08PM|#

meh

undiscordian feks

ERIS is the one true godess

ordercomesfromchaosandchaoscomesfromorderjeezuswasagaybo

|8.11.09 @ 5:15PM|#

Jesus H. Titty Fucking Christ, what a great opportunity to curse and blaspheme with abandon!!1 Christ on a pogo stick, Damon Root sure knows how to appeal to a crowd.

|8.11.09 @ 5:18PM|#

Why do you hate punctuation so, Mr Monkee?

|8.11.09 @ 5:22PM|#

That picture is great. I mean, God obviously listens to Slayer.

mark|8.11.09 @ 5:27PM|#

I don't see what this has to do with the First Amendment. "Congress shall make no law..."

|8.11.09 @ 5:28PM|#

That picture is great. I mean, God obviously listens to Slayer.

*Cues Spill the Blood, annoys female lab mate.*

<strike>strike through</strike|8.11.09 @ 5:36PM|#

Boomer remained known as "the cussing canoeist."

We humans just can't resist alliteration.

And fuck Mary and her bastard spawn.

EJM|8.11.09 @ 5:36PM|#

That picture is great. I mean, God obviously listens to Slayer.

I was originally thinking that the billboard was for Houston's KSBJ (which, not surprisingly, doesn't play any Slayer).

<strike>strike through</strike|8.11.09 @ 5:37PM|#

OK, now I'm done bashing Christians.
For today.

Symptomsofavacuum|8.11.09 @ 5:39PM|#

Poor canoeist, probably thought his day couldn't get any fucking worse.

MNG|8.11.09 @ 5:42PM|#

Oklahoma only has it as a misdemeanor? I would of thought it would be a capital offense...

Oklahoma's motto should be "thank God we are north of Texas, because were we south of Texas, we would have been given away a long time ago!"

Russ 2000|8.11.09 @ 5:56PM|#

Yo, fuck God.

Paul|8.11.09 @ 6:00PM|#

It's hate speech. Next story.

Paul|8.11.09 @ 6:02PM|#

"Blasphemy consists in wantonly uttering or punishing words, casting contumelious reproach or profane ridicule upon God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Ghost, the Holy Scriptures, or the Christian or any other religion."

How many Oklahoma residents are guilty of casting contumelious reproach or profane ridicule upon Muslims or Islam?

|8.11.09 @ 6:02PM|#

All laws not involving personal harm and property shouldn't exist, but if they must, sunset provisions should be mandatory.

Tricky Prickears |8.11.09 @ 6:22PM|#

God listens to Slayer Stryper

In God We Trust

|8.11.09 @ 6:25PM|#

I fear that some Hit & Run commenters may be doing some time shortly.

Here's a thought experiment: If God is omniscient, then he has to listen to any music we produce, right?

The Carping Contortionist|8.11.09 @ 6:33PM|#

About the cussing canoeist -- his cussin' wasn't of a religious nature and so wasn't blasphemous, just garden variety profane.

Doesn't even belong in this story.

Doctor Duck|8.11.09 @ 6:35PM|#

Here's a thought experiment: If God is omniscient, then he has to listen to any music we produce, right?

You Cannot Petition The Lord With Slayer!

Jeff P|8.11.09 @ 6:36PM|#

By Jove and Odd's Blood! It's easy to curse without defiling the name of the Divine.

By Vishnu's quivering bowels!

db|8.11.09 @ 6:38PM|#

OMG that billboard is awesome. If I wasn't a 30-something professional with brains enough not to deface private property, I would totally have done that. Fucking. Awesome.

hmm|8.11.09 @ 6:40PM|#

Here's a thought experiment: If God is omniscient, then he has to listen to any music we produce, right?

Why does omniscience imply an inability to filter or choose.

|8.11.09 @ 6:40PM|#

If God is omniscient, then he has to listen to any music we produce, right?

Dude, once you start up with that God "omni-" stuff and logic, it'll only end in tears. Trust me.

|8.11.09 @ 6:43PM|#

Why does omniscience imply an inability to filter or choose.

But he has to listen to it first, before he knows what to filter and choose.
Or are you just presuming Our Lord is some sort of anti-metal bigot?

hmm|8.11.09 @ 6:44PM|#

Does he? I've never been fucked in the ass, and I'm pretty sure sure I'd rather not be.

The Libertarian Guy|8.11.09 @ 6:46PM|#

There's still a difference between two of the One True Religions:

One of them won't cut your head off, burn shit down, or make death threats for the crime of drawing a picture of their savior.

Me, I prefer http://subgenius.com/, the Best of All the One True Religions.

The Libertarian Guy|8.11.09 @ 6:50PM|#

Could someone he'p me? I don't know how to post clickable links.

|8.11.09 @ 7:00PM|#

fuk jesus and the whore he rode in on.

<strike>strike through</strike|8.11.09 @ 7:04PM|#

The Libertarian Guy | August 11, 2009, 6:50pm | #

Could someone he'p me? I don't know how to post clickable links.

Here ya' go, LG.

hmm|8.11.09 @ 7:05PM|#

a href= text for link here normal text here /a
normal text here


Move the brackets "" up into the text above

Or put the href comment and the /a comment in brackets.

hmm|8.11.09 @ 7:06PM|#

Fuck forgot brackets don't follow. and someone got it.

Fail on me

Mad Max|8.11.09 @ 7:10PM|#

The blasphemy laws will almost certainly not be enforced by the courts - not the common law - based laws (based on protecting specific beliefs deemed true by the legislators and courts) or Oklahoma's more post-modern law (prohibiting the infliction of hurt feelings on any religious believer). Establishment Clause issues, you see.

The profanity laws will be hard to get courts to enforce unless they're narrowly interpreted to include only fighting words. But if they're so construed, then they could be applied to anyone, regardless of whether they're criticizing someone's religion or his physical appearance.

'If God is omniscient, then he has to listen to any music we produce, right?'

Alas, yes, but, as Thomas Jefferson said in another context, His patience will not sleep forever.

db|8.11.09 @ 7:16PM|#

But the Judeo-Christian God is both omniscient and omnipotent. Which means that he has heard every Slayer song ever recorded _before human history even began_. But he also has the power to wipe it from his memory as if it never existed. But he still has to _know_ it. Hence the Judeo-Christian God is a contradiction and paradox, hence he cannot exist.

Christians will say that this is a mystery.

Mad Max|8.11.09 @ 7:20PM|#

If the best remedy for speech is more speech, then perhaps the best remedy for amateurish blasphemy is some good anti-atheist invective, like this:

'The fool hath said in his heart: There is no God, They are corrupt, and are become abominable in their ways: there is none that doth good, no not one. The Lord hath looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there be any that understand and seek God. They are all gone aside, they are become unprofitable together: there is none that doth good, no not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre: with their tongues they acted deceitfully; the poison of asps is under their lips. Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness; their feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction and unhappiness in their ways: and the way of peace they have not known: there is no fear of God before their eyes.'

The Libertarian Guy|8.11.09 @ 7:22PM|#

Let's see if this works... coolness!

I just found this after searching for "parody religions".

The Libertarian Guy|8.11.09 @ 7:35PM|#

Oops, something went amiss... it wasn't s'posed to do both lines. Grr.

Mad Max|8.11.09 @ 7:36PM|#

And here's one from Samuel Taylor Coleridge:

Forth from his dark and lonely hiding-place,
(Portentious sight !) the owlet Atheism,
Sailing on obscene wings athwart the noon,
Drops his blue-fringéd lids, and holds them close,
And hooting at the glorious sun in Heaven,
Cries out, `Where is it ?'

The Libertarian Guy|8.11.09 @ 7:43PM|#

Worshipping Athena: Goddess of Coffee, Beer and Rock & Roll

The Libertarian Guy|8.11.09 @ 7:54PM|#

Thanks, hmmm. I think I got it now. Shoulda thought of it, I use html (sparingly) when I edit my blogrolls, and damned if it didn't occur to me.

GILMORE|8.11.09 @ 8:26PM|#

I was one told by an airport security woman in Atlanta that my utterance of of "goddamn" and "jesus mary and joseph on a *(&@#$ popsicle stick" was prosecutable blasphemy - at least according to her own understanding. I think maybe she just thought that having some kind of badge meant that she could impose her own standards on 'regular people'. I wasn't really having it. I told her to please tell Jesus to end the 6 hour flight delay, pretty please.

Mad Max|8.11.09 @ 8:35PM|#

Whoa, just checked out the Sam Harris thread.

The atheists and agnostics are certainly working on their invective against each other. I wonder if the Oklahoma statute covers this - would it not come under the language about 'wantonly uttering or punishing words, casting contumelious reproach or profane ridicule upon . . . any other religion' besides Christianity?

Read some highlights from the exchange and judge for yourselves.

'Agnostics are intellectual cowards.

'They sit safely and smugly on a fence and proclaim to the world, "Who am I to think?"'

Prompting this response:

'Atheism is made up of people who were molested by priests as children. It is a knee jerk reaction from one extreme to the other, not the result of sound logic and scientific thought.'

Which sparked this rebuttal:

'Ha ha ha! Best retard reflex yet! 4 stars!'

BH|8.11.09 @ 10:35PM|#

I'm pretty sure that's a billboard for 700 WLW which is in Cincinnati. Has been there for decades. Went talk radio in the 80s. Centered around some rightwing guy name Bill Cunningham who I think is still around but was always a little too twitchy and weird to make to the big time.

They got bought by Clear Channel who got bought by some private equity goons at the top of that bubble a few years ago so I'm sure it's not a lot of fun around there.

I think I've actually seen that billboard as defaced at some point in the last decade or so but when exactly I'm not sure.

|8.12.09 @ 10:02AM|#

But he has to listen to it first, before he knows what to filter and choose.

Before he knows? If he doesn't know already, he's not omniscient.

|8.12.09 @ 10:29AM|#

I'd like to see a test case regarding a blasphemy law.

The defendant could subpoena YWHW, Odin, the Dagda, Gaia or whomever, `cause only he/she/it would be competent to render an opinion as to whether the use of the holy name was a sincere supplication or not, right?

Then, if the Deity(ies) doesn't appear, the judge could issue a bench warrant for it, and SWAT could shoot baby Jebus' dog.

I woulda thought that god listened to himself, that is to say, Clapton.

Kevin

smeghead|8.12.09 @ 11:18AM|#

Me, I prefer http://subgenius.com/, the Best of All the One True Religions
Praise Bob!!!! For he will bring slack for all!!!!