Those who have the audacity to question the truth of a well-accepted myth - a myth that functions as “orienting and mobilizing story for a people”, are quite often the subject of ridicule and accusations of blasphemy. Similarly, those who have the audacity to question the official conspiracy theory of 9/11 and call others to critically examine their own perceptions, are also either ignored, laughed at, or ridiculed as lunatic ‘tin-foil hatters’ and unpatriotic, anti-American conspiracy nuts - blasphemous traitors even. What crime have they committed to merit such an accusation of blasphemy? Simply questioning the orthodoxy of the widely-held faith. David Ray Griffin perhaps puts it best when he writes, “If some people have the bad taste to raise the question of the truth of the sacred story, the keepers of the faith do not enter into debate with them. They ignore them, or denounce them as blasphemers.”
Think, however, of all the other apparent ‘blasphemers’ and ‘heretics’, who while proposing ideas that ran counter to popular and widely-held beliefs, turned out to be true. They too were at first ignored, then laughed at and ridiculed, even publicaly shamed for asking questions and seeking the truth. Case in point, Galileo Galilei, who advocated the theory of heliocentrism which held the central thesis that Earth revolved around the sun. This theory, which Galileo advocated, ran contrary to the popular and widely held geocentric theory, which contended that the Earth was the center of the Universe. Galileo was ridiculed by many for holding such a belief, even called to stand trial under suspicion of heresy. Several centuries later, evidence appears to suggest that the vastly unpopular theory which Galileo advocated, is true. Martin Luther King, Jr too, who advocated for an end to segregation and racial discrimination proposed ideas that ran contrary to popular belief. For challenging popular myths and societal beliefs, King was ridiculed by many. No doubt that at the time many thought of him as a traitor as well and denounced him as a heretic. Charles Darwin too, who publicized the theory of evolution via natural selection in The Origin of the Species, is still criticized to this very day for having advocated an apparently “irrational” theory. If Darwin had advocated such a theory in the medieval era, he surely would have been denounced as a heretic by the Inquisition. Joan of Arc also was convicted of heresy and burnt at the stake in Rouen as a result of a politically motivated trial, despite there having no guilt been found as a later review would attest.
Labeling someone as a ‘heretic’ or a ‘traitor’ or denouncing them as a blasphemer is a strategy of ridicule that has been used since ancient days where anyone who expressed a view that was not necessarily popular was merely denounced for blasphemy regardless of any truth to be found in their assertions. Such labels, appeals to stereotypes, accusations of heresy and ridicule are thus limited in that they lack substance and reason and merely serve as convenient distraction.