The Words We Use: Profanity, Vulgarity, and the Glory of God

Remember what your grandmother used to tell you about cussing? "I'll wash your mouth out with soap, young man!” Most kids learn that certain “dirty words” will get them into trouble when spoken in front of older adults or in public places. Every culture dictates that certain words are lewd or offensive by nature. Thus, in each particular culture sensibilities are perturbed when obscenities are thrown around by those who give no regard for standards of decency.

What few people realize, however, is that vulgarities are not equivalent to profanity. Vulgarities are cultural-relative, but profanity is blasphemy. Profanity by definition transcends to a higher level because it shows irreverence towards something holy. I find it peculiar that in most televised movies censored for language, certain obscenities are redubed while profanities remain, such as taking the Lord's name in vain (e.g. "God," "Jesus Christ," etc.). In the Old Testament, God forbade Israel to speak His name in vain, for there is nothing more sacred than the name of the Lord.

The exception to the rule, of course, is "God damn," which oddly enough still has the ability to offend those who take no offense in using holy names such as "Jesus Christ" or "God" in vain and do not hesitate to misuse ideas such as "damnation" out of their proper context. Complacency and nominal religion dominate the makeup of the American population but why do they continue in this irreverence? Either we do not stop to consider the meaning of the words they use, or they do not believe in the ideas that the words describe. Not only do they profane the holy, but they utter curses with flippancy. Indeed, if a man were angry at his brother for being late for a social event he might be in the right to rebuke his brother for being a poor manager of time, but to "damn" him by condemning his soul to eternal damnation would be beyond his human authority. Only God is just in such a judgment, thus we must realize that there is really no difference in the verb, "damn" and the more culturally offensive "God damn." Very few people are conscious of this truth. Worse still, many curse simply because they like the sound of a word as it rolls off their tongue.

Though vulgarities are limited to the cultural realm and usually not blasphemous per se, foul language can become an addictive habit that is not easily broken. Moreover, one who makes a habit out of it will be blind to the fact that his/her vocabulary has likely become stagnate. Language is the central medium by which we express ideas and feelings; if we take our use of language lightly then we reveal by inference that we attach very little value to those ideas that language expresses.

When studied and used properly, language can help us formulate and order our own thoughts and express them with clarity and eloquence to others. On the other hand, when taken for granted, language will degrade into mindless rambling. If we are to bring revival to our culture which is largely devoid of reverence, we must first discipline ourselves to choose our words carefully.

April Fool's Day Apocolypse?

And I thought humanity had been spared Judgment Day thanks to Arnold Schwarzenegger's selfless sacrifice in Terminator 2!

This story is pretty scary:
http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/null/128643/beware-conficker-worm-come-april-1/

I had no idea hackers planned this far in advance! I really hope I'm not one of the thousands who have already been infected and await their judgment. Yikes!

The Revenge of Jack Bauer Redux Strikes Back

Once again, I've felt the need to blog about the moral code of Jack Bauer. Check out my newest post: "Does Jack Bauer Have a Place in the New Moral Climate?"
http://standingonshoulders.wordpress.com/2009/03/14/does-jack-bauer-have-a-place-in-the-new-moral-climate/

And don't forget my previous take at the end of Season 6 of 24 (seems like so long ago!):
"Is Jack Bauer a Christian's Role Model?"
http://adamwinters.blogspot.com/2007/05/is-jack-bauer-christians-role-model.html

The NEW "SBTS" ???

Apparently as of around 4:45 pm today, trying to access the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary's website (www.sbts.edu) will automatically redirect you to the site of another seminary.... the School of Bible Theology Seminary and University. That school's website is the eerily similar address, www.sbts.org. For some reason, not only is sbts.edu redirecting there but when you click on Southern Seminary's Google link it also takes you to SBTSU.

From this...

To this.....?

I know Southern Seminary has put a lot of work into their web redesign for the 150th anniversary, but I'll bet they never bargained for an obscure school in San Jacinto, CA stealing their domain name.... at least for about 15 minutes or so on February 24. ;-)

Hmm... I smell a cordially written letter of legal nature on the horizon. Seriously, though, you have to wonder why the School of Bible Theology Seminary and University didn't go with www.sbtsu.org. Something smells fishy.

Edit: Southern Seminary seems to have reclaimed their domain name as of 4:55 pm. I'm very happy as I will be able to check my student email again. :-D

Valentine's Day Lovin'!

Some Valentine's Day funnies for your consideration:

Good breath is essential to getting your cousins to help you protect a good blood line!
Printed in the Comics section of the Louisville Courier Journal, 1958

Dennis the Menace teaches us some suave around the ladies. (1958)


A Valentine's Day tradition courtesy of Sonic the Hedgehog!


And was this Sonic's inspiration? Winnie the Pooh breaks PSA ground reminding us not to let someone "touch you in a not-ok-way"!