Thinking Out LoudIt may have taken a kitschy AI-generated image of himself as a glowing Messiah figure for supporters of President Trump to say he’d crossed a line.
But when it comes to the religious language of the current US administration, Christian leaders have for some time been bringing out the b-word to describe what they’re hearing: blasphemy.
An old-fashioned word, but it packs a punch. It denotes not just error, but sacrilege – the violating of something sacred.
It can be hard to explain what makes something blasphemous; it requires so many more words to unpack than to utter. But one recent candidate stands out: US Secretary of ‘War’ Pete Hegseth’s prayer, at a worship service held at the Pentagon, for ‘overwhelming violence of action against those who deserve no mercy’.
The prayer was rich in biblical language. Exclusively Old Testament language; exclusively the language of the imprecatory (cursing) psalms, and of the prophets railing against those who oppress God’s people.
Entirely missing was the Bible’s insistence that God does not desire the death of the wicked, but that they turn from their ways and live. Entirely missing was the Christian gospel’s insistence that ‘those who deserve no mercy’ is all of us; but that God offers mercy to all, and expects his people to be merciful as he is merciful.
The biblical phrase ‘taking the Lord’s name in vain’ is a rough equivalent to blasphemy. It’s less saying ‘oh my god’ and more co-opting God to back schemes which don’t square with his character.
The Bible asserts that not only God but each human, made in God’s very ‘image’, is sacred. To speak against ‘enemies’ as anything less than that, what can we call it but blasphemy?
This Thinking Out Loud was first published on Facebook.
Composite image: Canva Pro, @DonaldTrump via TruthSocial.