The act of treating something sacred or holy with disrespect or destroying its sacred status.
From Latin 'desacrare,' where 'de-' means 'to undo' and 'sacrare' means 'to make sacred' (from 'sacer,' holy). The '-tion' suffix turns the verb into a noun.
Desecration laws exist in many countries to protect religious spaces, but they're controversial because they involve deciding what counts as 'sacred'—it's one of those words that forces us to think about what we consider holy and why.
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