- Apologizing for Profanity – Bible teacher John Piper apologizes for using profanity, but alludes to the fact that perhaps God is not as prudish as us. This got me searching again for some good articles on the Theology of Profanity.
- A Theology of Profanity – Experimental Theology has a very nice piece on what makes profanity profane. I don’t think he has the whole picture, but I like the direction he’s heading.
- A Critique of Swearing – Joe Carter from EO also posted something interesting on this, entitled What the @*&#…? A Christian Critique of Swearing
- Is Cussing a Sin? – Reformed Answers says no, with qualifications. Nice.
- On Cursing – a short piece on the difference between speaking harm on others v. voicing anger (cursing v. cussing ;)
- Ps 109:6-20 – A passage showing us how to declare curses on our enemies. There’s also the interesting historical story of the condemned man who recited Psalm 109 as a curse on his captors.
- Dark Christianity – TTA had a post about “Dominionist” Christians and why we should stay awake at night because of them. One of their supposed tactics, related to “spiritual warfare,” is calling down curses on their ideological enemies. Also, looks like some anti-abortionists take this opportunity seriously. Hey, I’m there if it will stop abortion and punish those who perform such crimes against humanity.
- Violence, Profanity and Nudity, O My! – CT discusses their proper use in movies. Nice.
- Profane v. Lacking Propriety – when did the word “profane” become synonymous with bad language in general?
- Sacred v. Profane in Art – looking at how this subject is dealt with in art can help us understand a little more about language also.
It would be interesting to see a theological study of what the bible has to say about profanity, cursing, and good v. bad speech. To finish off, here’s some quotes on profanity:
- “Profanity is the attempt of a lazy and feeble mind to express itself forcefully.”
- “Profanity is the use of strong words by weak people.”
- “Profanity is a crutch for the conversationally handicapped.”
- “When a man uses profanity to support an argument, it indicates that either the man or the argument is weak – probably both.”
- “Under certain circumstances, urgent circumstances, desperate circumstances, profanity provides a relief denied even to prayer.” ~ Mark Twain, a Biography
Swearing is only swearing BECAUSE of this type of response. If people would ignore it, it would lose its effect. Incidentally, the idea that individuals can be instructed how even to speak? And that artists would be told when their art is and isn’t appropriate? Utter rubbish. In fact, I’d call it total f*cking rubbish. If you don’t like the product, look the other way.
I disagree – since all societies hold things as sacred or valuable, such as free speech ;), there will always be those who like to denegrate the values of others.
But really, we are talking about many different but related things when we talk about the profane, the uncouth, the improper or insulting, not to mention curses and cusses ;)
I think your quotes say it all. When you can't think of anything else to say and you say "crap" well…. there ya go, empty brain empty word. :-p But on the other hand if you use the word crap when you mean crap, well then you know what you are talkin about. And it isnt an empty word.
When you use any word over and over it would tend to make you look pretty empty headed. Not attractive.
I think that in order to theologise on the matter, we need to be aware of the linguistics of the matter, otherwise we are in danger of merely justifying cultural prejudices with potentially counter-gospel tendencies. May I suggest adding this link and some of the links it takes in? http://nouslife.blogspot.com/2006/12/in-french-sp…