Holy Blasphemy occupies a unique position in the contemporary debate between Religion and Atheism. While most modern atheists are scientists taking a skeptical stance (religion is irrational, has no empirical evidence to support it, and so should be discarded) or an ethical position (religion causes violence, injustice and is not necessary for people to be moral), Holy Blasphemy is concerned more with the literature of religion. Thus, when dealing with literary depictions of God, it is meaningless to say that “God doesn’t exist”. Fictional characters do exist in many forms, and have real impact and influence on society and culture. Therefore rather than simply dismissing religious literature from an ontological or skeptical view (this is impossible, so it didn’t happen), we explore it using the techniques of modern literary theory: deconstructionism, post-structuralism, historical criticism, comparative analysis, etc. We want to know who wrote it, why they wrote it, how it can be situated in its historical background, and how it has been used and interpreted throughout history.

At the same time, we are interested in the way people base their faiths and beliefs on religious literature, whether those ideas are in fact actually supported by the literature, and whether believing those things actually brings about the promised benefits/changes in their lives.

How are the lives of the religious enhanced by religion, if at all? What are the psychological benefits to believing? We do not discount automatically all forms of spiritualism or “meta-physics”, because we feel that, whether or not they “really exist”, they are nevertheless important in the traditions and conditions of being human.

However, this does not mean we are afraid to criticize the “literary misreading” of religious texts. We do not believe that everyone is entitled to their own opinion, if their opinions cause discord or an inability to co-exist peacefully. We do not believe in religious tolerance – if the religious refuse to tolerate other religions and are continuously seeking to convert rather than embrace diversity.

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