I’m not really offended by profanity. Judiciously used, I think profanity is a good communication tool. It serves as a superlative. It can be suprising and amusing. (See Slater, Steven.) It’s like cayenne, though – a nice addition to a dish, but it doesn’t go with everything, and you want to be cautious how much you use.
Too many on the left are stuck back in junior high where profanity is concerned. They think that Profanity + Genitals reference = Teh Funny! It’s childish. It’s not funny. And the test for that is simply to change out the object of the joke. Would it be amusing to call Sasha and Malia Obama prostitutes, as Kathy Griffin called Senator Scott Brown’s daughters? Was it funny when conservatives joked about Hillary Clinton’s testicles? These sort of jokes are very useful, though, because they reveal much more than the teller intends. Too many on the left think profanity indicates passion – they really, Really, REALLY mean what they say. And threats show they are REALLY sincere. Because what indicates more seriousness than threatening physical violence and following up with a “I was only joking!” walkback? (And old, old trick; see Proverbs 26:19.)
They think that expressing passion is somehow a substitute for reasoned argument. And that’s why they’ll lose. So keep it up, Kathy Griffen, Aisha Tyler, and Stephanie Miller. You’re digging your own political graves.
Added: and lots more are buying shovels. Dig, progressives, dig!
Laura: “I think profanity is a good communication tool. ”
What about Eph 5:4? “Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place…”
Tonight I was reading your blog for the first time (came up on a Google search for “Liberal Christian Leaders”—your post on the ecumenical apology to Islam , good post. I’m interested in reading more Christians intelligently talking about politics (mainly so I can do better at engaging a friend who describes himself as a “Christian Liberal”.) I have to say, I noticed the crudeness, right away in many posts I scanned. Honestly, a little disappointing. I’d like to keep reading what you write but I don’t know if I can without tacitly endorsing something I think scripture forbids. Not to mention the fact that I personally battle with stopping myself from using profanity and crudeness from time-to-time, okay, daily (just ask my wife) and I really don’t want to start reading your blog regularly and be desensitized to it anymore than I already am by the world (inside me and all around me). It’s definitely harder to find a more creative way of still achieving shock value without using phrases like “teh butt secks,” but well worth it for the sake of Christ’s glory.
So, I appreciate your blog and your enthusiasm for Christ and specifically Christ in politics, but regular profanity and crudeness for the purpose of communication is a stumbling block for me.
That’s a lovely petard you’ve hoisted me on… I seem to remember buying it. Can’t find the receipt, though, so I guess I can’t return it. (Sigh.) I’d like to say I struggle with profanity, but honestly… it comes so easily to me that I really can’t call it a struggle. And it’s quite easy to slip into the mindset that if I’m not actually using profanity, then I’m still in the green zone, so to speak. WRT to “teh butt secks” that’s actually a pretty common expression in the blogosphere, often used to mock the excruciating attention many Christians pay to the sin of homosexual sex (while we are often quite blind to gossip and other more “socially acceptable” sins listed in that same passage of Romans.
Because this blog has in many ways served as an online journal, I checked back to see what I’ve written about this before, and sure enough… I wrote –
and the rest of the post isn’t too shabby – not so much because of anything I wrote, but because it’s got Piper and Driscoll video on this very topic, and their thoughts are actually worth our attention.
Bottom line – I appreciate you calling me out on this, and it’s something I recognize I need to prayerfully address.
Wow, The Driscoll/Piper post was very good. This is a tough issue. I work with Drug addicts in Christian recovery and I have been called out too many times for confronting too harshly in a classroom but it’s hard, sometimes I’ll want to do anything to get the attention of someone in denial… and I have. But later I think “what did I just win them too?” So, the log in my own eye prompted my reply to your post. I appreciate you spirit in your response; though, I did have to look up “petard.”
Given that society’s definition of “profanity” is substantially arbitrary — not to mention unlisted in scripture — I don’t think Ephesians 5 is referring to the four-letter words. “Filthy language” probably refers to other types of language that are inherently sinful (regardless of societal disapproval), such as auditory pornography, misusing the name of God, lying or speaking cruelly to others, etc.
See also
http://bible.org/article/toward-evangelical-theology-cussing
And for that matter, Laura, I’m not particularly sure “gossip” is a sin, either. Intentional slander is, though, and probably reckless falsehoods. “Gossip” is just another word for “news,” and it’s one that we have declared a sin in modern society because we are obsessed with personal privacy.
I dunno, Drew, Romans 1 seems pretty clear to me. It differentiates between gossips and slanderers.
Interesting, I never really noticed that verse. But I wouldn’t say that it’s necessarily differentiating between the two. “Arrogant” and “insolent” are pretty similar but it lists them back to back as well.
Apparently the word only occurs once in the Bible:
Psithuristes
Pronunciation: psith-oo-ris-tace’
Definition: 1) a whisperer, secret slanderer, detractor
Here’s an article I found that discusses the issue and discusses that word about two thirds of the way through.
http://www.bibleistrue.com/qna/qna74.htm