CursinG?..It’s Morally WronG
With all due respect to my blogging buddies and friends who have been known to use a “colorful word” or two.
The nation’s leading champions of televised profanities celebrated a victory for the “First Amendment” when the Manhattan-based Second Circuit Court of Appeals rebuffed the FCC’s attempt to fine Fox Entertainment for dropping F- and S-bombs on prime-time television by Cher and Paris Hilton’s pal Nicole Richie, in front of millions of young children.
Judges vs. the FCC
Clearly, they do not agree that the FCC is “arbitrary and capricious” in trying to do something to stop the increasingly bad language fouling the public airwaves. What the networks had was a couple of judges in New York who have flouted the will of the American people.
Cursing is not mostly harmless.
Even if our society currently contains no moral compass or standard through which all good men and women navigate.
After all ….What are words? Words are vessels with meaning.
“The one who guards his mouth preserves his life; The one who opens wide his lips comes to ruin.”
Proverbs 13:3
Can we not be “diverse” even in our communication? some howl.
Certainly…Diversity can be a fine thing.
Interacting with people of diverse beliefs, customs, and tastes, can expand our horizons, and potentially raise our consciousness to some potential true beliefs, innovative customs or novel tastes.
But moral diversity my friends is not quite the same as cultural diversity.
Diversity in moral behaviour is not always a fine thing indeed.
Rapists and murderers may add to “moral diversity” but not exactly in a way that is particularly valuable.
There are violations of etiquette and differences in cultural norms that are not considered moral transgressions.
Eating chicken drumsticks with your bare hands is not sinful, yet some would say it is in “poor form.”
More extreme violations may be considered sinful however. Hurling racial epithets, for example, is viewed as immoral as well as a breach of etiquette by most sane people.
The use of certain forms of language is not simply “poor form”, but is morally wrong.
We all have sensed the discomfort or thrill when certain fateful words drop from a speaker’s lips.
F&*##@K You!
BullS*&^$T!
It may very well be that we feel that cathartic thrill of the taboo and (of wrongdoing) precisely because that action is not morally permissible .
In terms of our standards……We have gone from striving for the Saintly, to striving for the Right, to striving for The Good, …to striving For Nothing.
“Like golden apples in silver settings, so is a word spoken at the right time.”
Proverbs 25:11
Bad conduct springs from bad character.
Cursing is in bad character.
Pop culture is “diverse”. Yea. It’s jam packed with hypersexuality, violence, disrespect, and for girls and women… it’s all about “slutting yourself”, body image and objectification.
Hip hop “culture” is full of expletives..and yea, it’s diverse ..we may want to be cool too………but…
We can’t always rely on our perfectly cool, rational selves to be the barometer of what is right, and what is good, now can we?
Face it.
Indecency and bad language work in concert.
There is nothing decent about lashing out with blunt verbal instruments toward others or even ourselves.
We must honor God with our words.
You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.
Exodus 20:7
Language is an art.
Once upon a time, women knew that.
But they too have slipped into the gutter.
“She opens her mouth in wisdom, And the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.”
Proverbs 31:26.
Speaking with refinement, dignity and grace takes effort and training. It also, however, reflects character my sweet friends.
Character.
Does anyone recall what that is?
Respectfully sharing with my friends at , Blog @ MoreWhat.com, Perri Nelson’s Website, A Blog For All, The Random Yak, 123beta, DeMediacratic Nation, Big Dog’s Weblog, Maggie’s Notebook, Leaning Straight Up, The Bullwinkle Blog, The Amboy Times, Colloquium, Conservative Cat, Pursuing Holiness, Adeline and Hazel, Diary of the Mad Pigeon, Faultline USA, third world county, stikNstein… has no mercy, The World According to Carl, Blue Star Chronicles, Pirate’s Cove, Nuke’s news and views, Gulf Coast Hurricane Tracker, Dumb Ox Daily News, High Desert Wanderer, Right Voices, and Church and State, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.
June 11th, 2007 at 8:10 pm
Vituperation is an art form. Cursing and swearing is a poor drawing using broken and muddied crayons in comparison.
It’s a shame that people think that the shock value of words that no longer shock us elevates their art. All it really does is show the limited intellectual reach of the people who cannot come up with a better way to say things.
June 11th, 2007 at 8:27 pm
English Language & English Literature classes have been reduced on the college level and in some high schools. Interest has ebbed out for these subjects!! Remember when the music we listened to, was poetic in style and grandiose in words. The ballads of John Denver and the sagas of Harry Belafonte….are quick examples. We are living in the “Instant Generation” which yearns for instant gratification coupled with instant success, beginning the morning with instant coffee. Who has time for real words when we can express ourselves in OXOXYZZ!!XZI instead, called instant schmutz!
June 11th, 2007 at 8:29 pm
Many things in this culture have been overused to the point of exhaustion and complete loss of their intrinsic meaning. Everything in moderation.
June 11th, 2007 at 9:02 pm
Nicely done. Profanity is a sign that the speaker has inadequate vocabulary or lacks the speaking skills to properly express their thoughts. It is interesting that it is most common among the “liberal intellectual elite.” Is that a sign that their intellectualism is lacking??
June 11th, 2007 at 9:08 pm
I agree, for the most part, though I would be careful to stress that I abhor folks who subliterately conflate profanity, obscenity and vulgarity and call them all “cursing” when only the first can even vaguely qualify (and not even all profanity is cursing, though all profanity is offensive to the One who created the creature uttering profanities.).
What many improperly call “cursing” or “profanity” today peppers much of the greatest English literature available: Shakespeare, Fielding and others. Indeed, there are more than a few “damnations” in the Bible which are in no way profane.
Obscenities have no place in common discourse among literate people, well, for the most part. Politicians *spit* are almost all obscene, yet we must maintain some dialogue with those sewer mouthed scum.
Vulgarities? Here I seriously part ways with those who irresponsibly and illiterately label vulgar speech as “profanity” or “cursing” or “swearing” (unbless the particular vulgar expression is a vulgar profanity, curse or such like.)
All in all, I am much more offended by the occasional false accusation (not from here– :-)) miscalling a vulgar expression a “profanity” or “curse word” (whatever the heck that means to the person improperly using it!) or “swear word” when the false accusation is resulting from a subliterate pseudo-Victorian bowdlerizing impulse.
Please recall that “vulgarity” has the same (real) meaning as the word used to label a translation of the Bible into common language, The Vulgate.
See here and here, among other posts.
Love ya, Angel, but the brush is a bit too broad here, IMO.
But you can always ding hip hop a few times on the subject and not miss the mark. Heck (a mildly vulgar euphemism for a word that is less mildly vulgar, but not at all profane in most contexts), I’d do more than ding and rag on hip hop for far worse offenses to art, to music than bad language–ofenses that do even more damage to society at large, IMO. Bad art is among the worst offenses, for it debases evrything it touches in ways too complex to touch on in a comment that is already far too long.
Thanks for the heads up on this one, Angel. Your heart’s in the right place, and your aim is in the right direction, not sharpen it and hit the x-ring, eh?
June 11th, 2007 at 9:15 pm
Nice post Angel
June 11th, 2007 at 9:28 pm
Thank you for this posting! It seems that you can not get away from cursing, and being a woman doesn’t help as many women are the most foul mouthed! I detest foul language from a man, but from the lips of a woman…it is vulgar!!
Sorry I have not been able to get on line much do to computer problems.
June 11th, 2007 at 9:32 pm
Yes, thank you for this reminder, Angel! I most ashamedly admit that I am guilty, on occasion, of a foul word or 2! (as she reaches out her hand to be slapped)
June 11th, 2007 at 9:46 pm
Angel - Thank you for this post! I have told my children for years that cursing and vulgar words show a lack of intelligence. Intelligent people can use proper language to convey their feelings and situations without resorting to the type of language allowed today. Obscenities, vulgarities and cursing are in the same vein as far as I am concerned. Yes - there are words used in the Bible to illustrate or make us aware of things, but I do not feel the need to use them in my everyday language.
Ok - I’ll get off my soapbox now! Thank you again!
June 11th, 2007 at 10:30 pm
This is so important to me. I’ve NEVER understood why folks can’t express themselves without using curse words.
June 11th, 2007 at 10:34 pm
Blue Angels are weapons of mass destruction…
The anti-war crowd are calling the Blue Angels “weapons of mass destruction” and want them banned from fleet Week. They say it’s because the planes could crash into a building and kill or “wound” civilians. Wound??? But when questioned, the…
June 11th, 2007 at 10:37 pm
THANKS ONE AND ALL FOR THE INPUT AND ATTITUDES BOUT THIS!
June 11th, 2007 at 11:04 pm
What the F(*&& are you G)*&) d)*% talking about? I never us the F(*&%# or the S##$% words. How dare you F##$ing accuse Me of that!!!!
June 11th, 2007 at 11:15 pm
F-in A. Time to rethink my blogging presentations.
Good post…though I think curse words are a moving breathing beast, what’s shocking contantly changes. I don’t agree with it all the time, but I do think there is a time and a place. For me…when I stub a toe…my thesaurus driven cranial nodes, shut down, and the F bomb is dropped. “Horsefeathers” (as my grandma used to say, followed promptly by “pardon my french”…I know now that horsefeathers was not in fact of the french dialect) doesn’t always work.
“Frankly Scarlett, I don’t give a damn.”
June 11th, 2007 at 11:47 pm
[...] Read more at Angel [...]
June 12th, 2007 at 2:55 am
MORALLY wrong? I don’t think “moral” is still in our dictionaries, much less our social lexicon.
June 12th, 2007 at 6:57 am
The ironic thing is that Carlin was right. The excessive use of the words has made them impotent. If I choose to use a vulgar term it no longer has the impact that it would have. No wonder we have to type in all caps to emphasize things now. Strong language no longer exists.
June 12th, 2007 at 7:37 am
Great post, Angel, and so true. I’ve always believed that people who pepper their speech with curse words have a very tiny vocabulary. Now I also have to admit to cursing when I stub my toe or drop a glass or plate and it breaks. Dropping a glass or a plate will bring out a strong “da*n it!” just like Jack Bauer on 24. LOL! Stubbing my toe can bring on something stronger, more like “Son of a b*tch!” So I am not above cursing myself. There are so many people though who can’t seem to communicate unless they curse and I know that’s what you are referring to here. There are even many who can’t sing without cussing (if you can call “rap” singing!). Freedom of speech is all good and well, but offensive is still offensive, although it seems no one cares if conservative white people are offended or not.
June 12th, 2007 at 8:31 am
‘clinton’ can be rather dirty and foul minded…
June 12th, 2007 at 8:51 am
Good article - it brings up some important issues that we as a society face today - yet we DON’T KNOW that we face today. While foul language isn’t the biggest issue we face today, it does point to some pretty big ones - such as shame and tact.
There is no such thing as shame today - at least in the younger generation. Today, if you do something that should be known as ’shameful’ - you’re held up for it. Example - do you think that prison time will help or hurt Paris Hilton?
This whole idea of ’say whatever you want because you can’ is disturbing. Parents especially need to take note of this and enforce a sense of shame and humility.
Good article - keep it up.
June 12th, 2007 at 9:02 am
“Like golden apples in silver settings, so is a word spoken at the right time.”
Proverbs 25:11
Back when I graduated from high school, one of the gifts I got was a little book entitled Apples of Gold. It contained lots of uplifting proverbs and verses. I think that THIS is the latest edition of that book.
Maybe we should start passing that book around!
June 12th, 2007 at 9:17 am
[...] Woman Honor Thyself Says: [...]
June 12th, 2007 at 9:23 am
I cannot count how many times I have been in the parking lot with my SMALL CHILDREN and heard people dropping the “F” bomb loudly.
I finally got sick of it and will call others out on it.
Usually I get a sheepish “sorry” from the offender. What I don’t understand is that most places still have public ordinance against swearing, yet it is not enforced.
June 12th, 2007 at 10:11 am
I read a book once called “Bad Habits”, and it effectively made the point (I thought) that practicing one vice inevitably leads to practicing others. Where porn goes, profanity follows, followed by lying, then infidelity, then drugs, and so on. Put another way, remember Needle Park in the Netherlands? The Dutch closed it down because one bad thing lead to another and even they couldn’t stand it.
June 12th, 2007 at 12:03 pm
F***ing good post!
June 12th, 2007 at 12:06 pm
I certainly hope that my children grow to understand that Ugly language is Ugly and ignorant. So far so good. They still think shut up and stupid are the S words.
June 12th, 2007 at 1:05 pm
College Baseball World Series Open Trackback Weeke…
*Reciprocal Ping* - College Baseball World Series Open Trackback……
June 12th, 2007 at 1:23 pm
Character is doing the right thing even when no one is watching (or listening to your foul language)
June 12th, 2007 at 3:10 pm
Email this one to Amanda Marcotte!
June 12th, 2007 at 3:24 pm
Hey now I only use “Colorful” language when I am Extemely Irritated lol
June 12th, 2007 at 5:00 pm
foul language can be carried off well, but only by a few. personally, it’s not for me as we have teens and have tried to set a good example for them - although a bad word will fly from one of our mouths once in a great while. if you add screaming to cursing - that is plain nutz.
June 12th, 2007 at 5:15 pm
*Guilt riddled red face*
Well, you read my blog, Angel, and I can’t help but think I helped motivate you to write this. I am at least part of the problem. While I admit that, I think you know I would never intentionally offend you. I apologize if I have.
I do it. Rarely in print and almost exclusively at my own blog. But, I do allow myself to slip on occasion. I will agree it is a momentary return to something more base. I try to be specifically careful not to take the Lord’s name in vain and I find that personally offensive when someone else does it in my presence or the presence of bystanders. I also remain very on guard to police my own speech in the presence of those who I know find it objectionable (or those who might)… present company included, my dear.
I know some who can weave it into very complex, thoughtful speech with an artful tone of sorts. I do tend to separate out those who have no other terms of expression available to their small minds from those who do but choose it for a specific tone or tint. I have recently stumbled upon some military bloggers who use it quite a bit, for example, but who also have a tremendous amount of good information and observation. With its use in measure and some degree of taste, I personally don’t let it distract me from their intended point(s). To do so might cause me to otherwise miss someone’s very relevant contribution… and ironically be more ignorant but for my own personal rule. I find it one of the less difficult to accept taboos.
On the other hand, I recently read a blogger’s post, one who I have great respect for, which was laced throughout with really poor, artless and almost constant vulgarities. There was little, if any, point to it all. It was referred to as frivolity. I thought it was extremely poor. I immediately hoped he would post several more write ups, and soon, so as to move that mess down the list in hopes others who also read there would just miss it. I later saw the author’s own comment referencing that post. It clearly told me he knew it was well below the standards he was capable of. His post was a perfect example of going too far. I said nothing. I don’t think I had to.
Angel, you have done it again… an excellent post. The kind that makes one look in the mirror. I’ve always believed that real friends tell you the bad stuff, too… even when it might be difficult or uncomfortable. Your candor is appreciated and respected by most all of us I would guess. Thanks.
June 12th, 2007 at 11:19 pm
It is an interesting premise, but I do not completely agree. I think that it is far too easy to suggest that people who curse do not have a command of the language.
I’ll use myself as an example. I do not pepper all of my speech with profanities because it is not necessary. However there are moments when it is appropriate.
Furthermore, a large vocabulary is quite handy, but in practice it is not always useful. I work with the general public and while I haven’t any problem speaking like an academic I generally do not because it would wreck my business.
You do not need a large vocabulary to be eloquent.
P.S. if you disagree with me you can go ________________ yourselves with a ____________.
Remember MadLibs.
June 12th, 2007 at 11:23 pm
It has always been my position that the use of foul/fowl language is an excuse for intellectual laziness…the inability to express oneself like a civil human being, allows one to be paired with the animal kingdom..those who communicate by gestures and noises…sounds familiar…go to a zoo and listen.
June 13th, 2007 at 6:08 am
I think the movement of culture, especially on TV, is well-illustrated here. People used to watch TV in the 50s and say, “Wow, that family is too perfect. I can never be that good” — but they’d watch and strive for it. Today’s families on TV exist so people can say, “Wow, I’m not THAT bad, so I must be great.” — and it literally gives them nothing to strive for and no way to better themselves.
If we’re all equally low in the gutter, then no one will be better than anyone else — which is what way too may lazy people want.
June 13th, 2007 at 9:48 am
The use of vulgarities is often a sign of tremendous ignorance. A lack of vocabulary. And stupidity. I hear it used in simple banter between adults with toddlers - their own - present. Cultural differences? I’d say, “Yes.”
A management trainee uses the M-F word often, in the presence of fellow trainees, some of them women, as well as in front of regular employees. His response to requests to stop? “It’s not a bad word, and I’m not gonna stop saying it!” I imagine the company’s pride when this untutored boor unleashes his M-F bomb in front of a customer!
There’s no need for vulgarities, not really. But if we find them useful, or needful, we need to rememeber where we are and who may be listening!
June 13th, 2007 at 2:30 pm
I’m with you on the cursing, but… we can’t eat drumsticks with our hands!?! Forget that noise. To paraphrase Winston Churchill:
“We shall go on to the end, we shall eat drumsticks with our hands in France, we shall eat drumsticks with our hands on the seas and oceans, we shall eat drumsticks with our hands with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island from people who want us to use forks and knives, whatever the cost may be, we shall eat drumsticks with our hands on the beaches, we shall eat drumsticks with our hands on the landing grounds, we shall eat drumsticks with our hands in the fields and in the streets, we shall eat drumsticks with our hands in the hills; we shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this Island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving from a lack of drumsticks, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God’s good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old, and give us more drumsticks, which we would eat with our hands.”
June 14th, 2007 at 5:43 pm
I’m guilty.
But I’m trying to be better…
Does it help that my profanity is usually the result of some libtard action?