ABSTRACT
Blasphemy involves the intention to do harm to God or religion or faith or the Church. Clearly there is no such intent in Dogma. It assumes that God is a comedian. The deity is incomprehensible, strange, hidden, absent, mysterious, and also loving; indeed, God is love. Incidentally, God is playful too. The notion that God is often absent or seems to be absent offended fundamentalists who picture God as whispering in their ears several times every day and telling them exactly what he wants them to do. However, since St. Augustine (at least), mature Christians have known that God is a deus absconditus, an absconded God. The presence of God in the Movies, especially a God who is younger than springtime, is a scandal to two groups of human beings, to church leaders and teachers and to social scientists.
