Paranormal aficionado debunks the latest instance of "The Hum". Damn, for a moment I thought the Old Gods were back! But naaah, it´s just the electrical grid in Connecticut crashing out...
And today we have Woke cancel culture and hate speech laws. And soon, anti-Woke ditto in the wake of a certain recent event. Each time has its own blasphemy, it seems...
Yes, it is true that blasphemy laws existed in the early United States even after the ratification of the First Amendment (1791). These laws were primarily at the state level, and they coexisted with federal constitutional protections for freedom of religion and speech. The apparent contradiction stems from the limited scope of the First Amendment in its early interpretation.
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”
At the time of its adoption, the First Amendment applied only to the federal government.
It did not initially restrict state governments, which continued to enforce their own laws on religion and speech, including blasphemy laws.
Had a blasphemy law as early as the 17th century, carried into the 19th.
In 1838, Abner Kneeland, a freethinker and former Universalist minister, was convicted of blasphemy under Massachusetts law for publishing writings that denied the existence of God.
Maintained laws criminalizing blasphemy well into the 1800s.
The 1824 case Commonwealth v. Kneeland upheld a blasphemy conviction.
Also had blasphemy statutes on the books during the 18th and 19th centuries.
These laws typically prohibited denial of the Bible, mockery of Jesus, or offensive speech against Christian doctrines.
The Bill of Rights, including the First Amendment, was seen as a limitation on federal power only.
States retained the authority to define public morality and regulate religious expression until the 14th Amendment (1868) and its later interpretation in the 20th century.
The “incorporation doctrine” (developed through 20th-century Supreme Court cases) applied most of the Bill of Rights to the states via the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment.
Key decisions:
Cantwell v. Connecticut (1940) — Incorporated the Free Exercise Clause.
Joseph Burstyn, Inc. v. Wilson (1952) — Struck down a New York blasphemy law as unconstitutional, recognizing blasphemy bans as violations of free speech.
| Aspect | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Blasphemy laws existed | Yes, in many U.S. states, especially in the 18th and 19th centuries |
| First Amendment protection | Initially limited to federal laws only |
| States could criminalize blasphemy | Until mid-20th century incorporation of the First Amendment |
| Current status | Blasphemy laws are unenforceable and unconstitutional under modern interpretations of free speech |
If you’re interested, I can provide original texts of some early state blasphemy laws or details about famous blasphemy trials in U.S. history.
Certainly. Here are some of the most notable blasphemy trials in U.S. history, which illustrate how Christian morality and legal authority shaped early American legal systems—despite the First Amendment—and how courts eventually shifted toward greater freedom of speech and religion.
Abner Kneeland was a former Universalist preacher who became a freethinker, atheist, and publisher.
He founded a secular newspaper, The Boston Investigator, in which he published critiques of Christianity and statements denying God’s existence.
Convicted under the Massachusetts blasphemy statute, which prohibited public statements "contumeliously reproaching" the Christian religion.
Offending quote: He declared that he “did not believe in a God any more than he believed in any other non-existent being.”
Found guilty of blasphemy in 1838 and sentenced to 60 days in jail.
His conviction became a national free speech controversy.
Ralph Waldo Emerson and others defended him as a victim of religious intolerance.
📌 Legacy: Last person jailed for blasphemy in U.S. history. Sparked debate about religious freedom vs. public morality.
(People v. Ruggles, 8 Johns. R. 290 N.Y. 1811)
John Ruggles, while drunk, gave a public speech in which he denounced Christianity and Jesus in vulgar terms.
He was charged with blasphemy under New York common law, which protected Christian doctrines.
Found guilty by the New York Supreme Court, which ruled:
“Christianity is part of the common law... to revile it is to threaten the moral foundations of society.”
📌 Legacy: Landmark case confirming that blasphemy could be prosecuted under common law, even without a written statute. Later overturned by evolving constitutional interpretation.
Note: This is the official case title of the Abner Kneeland trial. Included here again because it's one of the few well-documented blasphemy prosecutions under a written statute.
(Also called “The Miracle Decision”)
A short film by Roberto Rossellini, The Miracle, was accused of being blasphemous by Catholic authorities and banned in New York.
The state’s censorship board revoked its license, citing a law banning sacrilegious content in films.
The U.S. Supreme Court struck down the New York law as unconstitutional.
Ruled that "blasphemy is not a valid ground to suppress free expression."
📌 Legacy: This decision ended the enforceability of blasphemy laws in the United States.
A satirical church, "The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster," challenged Pennsylvania’s ban on blasphemous corporate names after its application was denied.
The state eventually revoked the blasphemy clause, recognizing it as unconstitutional under modern free speech law.
📌 Legacy: Confirmed that blasphemy statutes are obsolete under the First Amendment.
| Year | Case | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| 1811 | People v. Ruggles (NY) | Blasphemy upheld under common law |
| 1838 | Commonwealth v. Kneeland (MA) | Conviction under statute; jailed |
| 1952 | Burstyn v. Wilson (SCOTUS) | Blasphemy law struck down |
| 2010 | Kalman v. Cortes (PA) | Blasphemy provision repealed |
Blasphemy prosecutions were real in early American history, especially in states like Massachusetts and New York, and upheld on the basis of Christian moral order.
These laws gradually eroded due to the expansion of First Amendment protections in the 20th century.
Today, blasphemy laws are unenforceable in the U.S., though some remain on the books in outdated statutes.
Would you like full-text excerpts from any of these trial decisions, or a global comparison of how other countries still enforce blasphemy laws?
 |
| AI´s dramatic take on a drone fleet above New Jersey! |
Geezus, I´ve been looking at YouTube clips (often from local news broadcasts) and it seems the United States is *lit* at the moment. EVERYONE IS SEEING THE DRONES. The flap has now extended to at least half a dozen states, the westernmost being Indiana. A reporter saw 50 of them over New Jersey in just one night and even filmed two of them?! A talking head on TV claims that this stuff has been ongoing since 2017, yet none have ever been captured or shot down...
Et cetera.
No idea what´s going on, obviously. I suppose it could be a ChiCom or Russian intelligence operation, but more likely explanations include mass hysteria (I mean, people in NJ see the Jersey Devil on a semi-regular basis), mad engineering dorks testing little trinkets in their spare time, USAF finally getting their drone acts together, or MK-Ultra psy-opping everyone in the Lower 48.
Probably not the fairies, then. And most certainly not aliens, either.
Chill, guyz. They are yours!
Mr Speaker, I not saying this is treason, I´m just asking how is this *not* treason? A New York politician wants New York State and some of New England to secede from the US and join Canada. Of course, this is just an attempt to create commotion. Besides, Canada probably doesn´t even want the Big Apple to join them in the first place! Vermont? Maybe.
Democrat wants New York State to join Canada
“From Punk
to Monk. A Memoir” is a recent book by Ray Cappo alias Raghunath Das (although
the book cover gives his name as “Ray Raghunath Cappo”). He co-hosts the podcast
Wisdom of the Sages, also available on YouTube, and teaches yoga classes at Supersoul
Farm somewhere in New York State. Both the pod and the yoga farm are associated
with ISKCON or the Hare Krishna movement. The book is very well-written and quite
interesting, although sometimes hard to believe. The well-known musician Moby
has contributed a short introduction.
Cappo grew
up in Connecticut in a regular middle class family, but started hanging out
with hardcore punks in dangerous neighborhoods in New York City already as a
teenager. The nicest comment I can think of, is that this milieu was very…colorful.
A less charitable comment is that we´re dealing with the Lumpenproletariat. It
was a bewildering subculture of punk rockers, skinheads, anarchists, squatters,
and spiritual seekers. Some individuals were virtually all of the above.
Imagine teenage gangs spewing Vedic wisdom á la Hare Krishna one moment, and roughing
up rival gangs with baseball bats the next! At some point during his wild peregrinations
through the Lower East Side and Brooklyn, Cappo formed a hardcore punk band
called Youth of Today, propagating the lifestyle known as “Straight Edge”. I
didn´t know this particular subculture existed already during the 1970´s and 1980´s.
I always assumed it was a typical late 1990´s thing, when the animal rights
movement *really* went out on a limb. Straight Edge opposes drugs, alcohol,
sexual hedonism and (often) promotes veganism and animal rights.
Gradually,
Cappo became more and more drawn towards spirituality. First, an eclectic mix
of essentially everything. I wonder who the psychedelic guru with the huge
sword pretending to be an angel could have been! Later, he became a supporter of
the ISKCON and founded a specifically Krishnaite punk band, known as Shelter.
Just the other day, Shelter reunited for a tour promoting Raghunath´s book.
While half of “From Punk to Monk” deals with the American punk scene, the other
half describes the author´s experiences as a Hare Krishna devotee, both in
India and the US. In a certain sense, this section is even wilder. Large
portions of India were still poor and chaotic during the 1980´s. The
description of the ISKCON ashram at Vrindavan and the author´s attempts to live
the life of a Hindu monk was particularly interesting. Raghunath also mentions
his encounters with Kali worshippers, Tantric yogis, and palmists (the latter correctly
predicted a car crash suffered by Shelter a few years later). It should be
noted that “From Punk to Monk” doesn´t contain a detailed description of Gaudiya
Vaishnavism, the Hindu religious tradition followed by ISKCON. In that sense,
it´s a book for neophytes. In other ways, however, it´s daringly extreme…
In some
relative sense, Wisdom of the Sages are more moderate than the old style cultic
version of the ISKCON that became notorious during the 1970´s, but they don´t
reject the hardcore approaches, simply arguing that they aren´t for everyone.
Other religious paths aren´t flatly rejected either, but there is an inevitable
sectarian tendency to see them as somehow lower than Vaishnavism. And compared
to New Age or Neo-Paganism, the message of Raghunath and his team is still
rather “hardcore”. The material world is a dangerous place, we can die at any
moment, strict discipline in both matters earthly and spiritual is necessary
(Shelter tried to follow the ISKCON house rules even on tour), don´t judge lest
you be judged, political action is mostly meaningless, and so on. True
happiness seems to be ecstatic kirtan or eating vegetarian food.
Several
different groups of readers might find “From Punk to Monk” useful: people
interested in punk rock and derivatives, scholars studying the transformations of
New Religious Movements, India aficionados, and of course spiritual seekers in
general. But of course, it´s main message is spiritual and moral. We are
supposed to learn certain lessons from Ray Cappo´s journey from a hyperactive teenager
to a Hare Krishna devotee, and also from the various phases of his Krishnaite
journey.
If this
humble reviewer has learned the lesson, I leave to the reader to decide.
Are the Why Files actually anti-establishment? Some scary facts/speculations about United States bio-weapons research, ditto terrorism, weaponized tics (!), and - above all - really bad security.
But COVID isn´t an escapee from a US-financed bio-lab in China, naaah...
Makes me wonder whether the Montauk Monster and similar mutants were just decoys to distract us from the real story!
"Osprey: Sea Raptor" is a British documentary about - you might just have guessed it - ospreys. It´s made by Love Nature, which has also produced a huge number of other nature documentaries. While ospreys do exist in Europe (including Sweden), "Osprey: Sea Raptor" is taped in the United States. The ospreys have a breeding colony at the Connecticut side of the Long Island Sound. As the bird flies (pun intended), it´s not *that* far away from New York City!
The osprey is a large raptor (diurnal bird of prey) specialized in diving for fish, which it catches with the help of its long claws. It´s sufficiently different from other raptors to be placed in a family all its own. The documentary follows an osprey couple (these birds usually bond for life) as it returns to the Long Island Sound from South America, where it migrates during the winter. Ospreys often reuse the same nests or nesting sites year after year.
While ospreys are pretty large, they can be challenged by both bald-headed eagles, cormorants and the great black-backed gull. In the documentary, the osprey punishes the cormorants by swooping down on their colony, and also manages to fend off the eagles, while the gull (which is of enormous size) turns out to be more of a problem! On land, foxes can sneak into osprey nests that aren´t elevated enough, and simply eat the eggs. Interestingly, humans living near the marshes help the ospreys by building nesting platforms.
I never seen an osprey IRL, and probably wouldn´t want to live too close to one of their colonies, but I admit that "Osprey: Sea Raptor" is well-produced and even somewhat fascinating.
