Desecration (also called desacralization or desanctification) is the act of depriving something of its sacred character, or the disrespectful, contemptuous, or destructive treatment of that which is held to be sacred or holy by a group or individual.
Many consider acts of desecration to be sacrilegious acts. This can include desecration of sacred books, sacred places or sacred objects. Desecration generally may be considered from the perspective of a particular religion or spiritual activity. Desecration may be applied to natural systems or components, particularly if those systems are part of naturalistic spiritual religion.
To respectfully remove the sacred character of a place or an object is deconsecration, and is distinct from desecration.
Some religions, such as the Roman Catholic Church have specific rules as to what constitutes desecration and what should be done in these circumstances.
Examples of the destruction of pagan temples in the late fourth century, as recorded in surviving texts, describe Martin of Tours' attacks on holy sites in Gaul, the destruction of temples in Syria by Marcellus the destruction of temples and images in, and surrounding, Carthage, the Patriarch Theophilus who seized and destroyed pagan temples in Alexandria, the levelling of all the temples in Gaza and the wider destruction of holy sites that spread rapidly throughout Egypt. This is supplemented in abundance by archaeological evidence in the northern provinces exposing broken and burnt out buildings and hastily buried objects of piety. The leader of the Egyptian monks who participated in the sack of temples replied to the victims who demanded back their sacred icons:
Desecration is a British death metal band formed in Newport, south Wales in 1992.
Formed in 1992, and releasing their first demo in 1993, the band caused controversy in 1995 when their debut album Gore and Perversion (original version on Anoxic Records) was infamously seized and incinerated by the local police due to the album's offensive content, for what they deemed to be its obscene nature, and banned upon release. The printers of the original artwork and lyrics, after taking the money for the pressing and without sending any copies to the band, sent the albums to the police authorities and were subsequently incinerated. Band members were arrested. The ensuing court case and media furore firmly established the name Desecration in the South Wales scene and beyond. The album was later released with a black cover featuring the statement "SORRY! Censored by the authorities. Original artwork can be obtained from Arctic Serenades. Send an IRC.", now out of print, by Arctic Serenades.
Human? is an anthology of science fiction and fantasy stories edited by Judith Merril, published as a paperback original by Lion Books in 1954. No further editions were issued.
S&M (an abbreviation of Symphony and Metallica) is a live album by the American heavy metal band Metallica, with The San Francisco Symphony conducted by Michael Kamen. It was recorded on April 21–22, 1999 at The Berkeley Community Theatre. This is the final Metallica album to feature Jason Newsted as bassist.
S&M contains performances of Metallica songs with additional symphonic accompaniment, which was composed by Michael Kamen, who also conducted the orchestra during the concert. The idea to combine heavy metal with an epic classical approach, as James Hetfield has stated repeatedly, was an idea of Cliff Burton. Burton’s love of classical music, especially of Johann Sebastian Bach, can be traced back to many instrumental parts and melodic characteristics in Metallica’s songwriting including songs from Ride The Lightning and Master of Puppets. The other inspiration was Deep Purple's 1969 Concerto for Group and Orchestra. Purple revived their hybrid musical performance in 1999's Live at the Royal Albert Hall after being notified that Metallica were doing theirs earlier that year.
Human is the fourth studio album by American rapper Joell Ortiz. The album is entirely produced by Illmind. The album was released on July 17, 2015, by Roseville Music Group and Yaowa! Nation.
Bloody Sunday may refer to: