Blasphemy and Outrage in a Secular State

In a religious context, blasphemy is defined as a derogatory expression against God or other sacred objects or concepts and is a sin that is defined and punished in theocracies or religious normative frameworks. In secular democracies, some countries, especially those parliamentary kingdoms in Europe, have kept some restrictions to the blasphemous expression in their legal system, but sanctions are never as harsh as in Muslim countries such as Pakistan, where people face death penalty if a judge finds eviction for the crime. In secular regimes, blasphemy is no longer considered a crime or this concept is fading as a punishable fault, but in some countries where a sort of “civil religion” is promoted by the State, outrage—speaking or manifesting contrary, hideous, or disdainful opinion against national symbols or heroes—works as a functional substitute of blasphemy. In this chapter, the authors study the case of Venezuela that could be considered emblematic of a secularist use of religiously inspired notions applied to national symbols in order to justify censorship and control free speech to promote a “forced national consensus.” They discuss the historical roots of these illegitimate restrictions to freedom of speech. The authors also analyze the attempts to use the figure of the deceased president Hugo Chávez to deepen the configuration of a “patriotic religion” in order to curve political dissent and increase social control.