By Matt Singleton
“A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger.”
––Proverbs 3:15
Typically, in political discourse, we expect our political leadership to express proper etiquette. Implicitly entailed in that is banning the use of profanity. Eight years ago, Donald Trump shocked the world with profanity in his early campaign speeches. Now, both the Democrats and Republicans have come around to the maxim, “let it all hang out.” The politicians can be their natural selves (nasty and foul).
During the presidential debate, Joe Biden swore at least half a dozen times. The GOP convention also had several occasions of not one––but many––politicians cussing.
Some secularists will emphasize the benefits of cussing (such as authenticity and a release of frustration). But the benefits are outweighed in the end. Profane speakers come off rude and unsophisticated.
Typically, you hear about hard laborers developing cussing habits because of the burdens they bear. That’s not something you want to witness coming from the privileged. But more than this, profanity is a social ill that drags lower elements of society along with it. Even secular studies can sometimes notice this.**
People are unhappy with the wrong worldviews and faiths. They grow bitter in their dissatisfaction with life. They develop the profanity habit. They get stressed out and turn to depressant drugs.
These habits find themselves knitted into the fabric of other secular problems eroding society. The cumulative effect builds on, to crime evils and calamities. Of course, profanity in private is a minor problem, but profanity in the public square pollutes the attitude and magnifies in a chain reaction. Children can start having fits of violence and misbehavior; they can progress towards drugs; and then, they often progress in criminality after being ostracized. When public officials engage in these tactics, they incubate an environment that contradicts their mission.
In the previous generation, a point of libertine ethics towards foul language gave way to social anarchy.
It appears that socialists have had a creative response by deconstructing and reconstructing profanity into what we have seen as the social justice movement. They still encourage dirty language, but the new profanity is focused on race, sex, and religion.
By encouraging these pour habits in society, our hegemony is deconstructed. Thus, we are giving ourselves away to the coming tyranny (if not the current tyranny). The language we use leads to behavior control.
God is a loving God that encourages His people to use their mouths to bless instead of to curse. Jesus wants us to promote peace instead of instigating violence.
James in the New Testament gives us the admonition against cursing.
“Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!
And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.
For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind:
But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.
Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God.
Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.”
––James 3:5-10
The Apostle Paul in quoting the Old Testament affirmed that people can be full of cursing in failing to uphold God’s ethical standards.
“They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:
Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness”
––Romans 3:12-14
Back in the Old Testament, the 3rd commandment from God in the 10 Commandments states that you shall not take the name of the Lord in vain. Taking God's name in vain is a similar way to profanity in which people fail to uphold God's ethical standards, and sometimes, taking God's name in vain comes in the form of adding profanity to a reference to God, or of using a reference to God or Jesus in a profane way.
Instead of deconstructing society, we should be reconstructing the family and society. We should promote the holy over the profane, so that we keep a self-controlled focus and demeanor. If politicians want to promote freedom, they should promote responsibility. In Peter’s darkest hour, he cursed. In his greatest hour, he blessed.
“And he denied it again. And a little after, they that stood by said again to Peter, Surely thou art one of them: for thou art a Galilean, and thy speech agreeth thereto.
But he began to curse and to swear, saying, I know not this man of whom ye speak.
And the second time the cock crew. And Peter called to mind the word that Jesus said unto him, Before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice. And when he thought thereon, he wept."
––Mark 14:70-72
Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, “Of a truth, I perceive that God is no respecter of persons. But in every nation he that feareth Him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with Him.”
––Acts 10:34
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** Swearing, or uttering a word that is considered taboo, is an often-ignored part of our language due to the controversial nature of the topic and the potential negative consequences of swearing. In 1901, Patrick [2] concluded that swearwords are primarily used by soldiers, sailors, laborers, uneducated people, and criminals, and men make up the majority of these social groups. While swearing has been considered a predominately masculine activity, women now tend to swear as much, or even more often, then men [3]. Since swearing is considered taboo, these words are usually judged as shocking, and the swearer may be considered antisocial and offensive.
Consequently, swearing can negatively impact how the swearer is perceived by others, which may lead to social isolation and depression. In groups of women with rheumatoid arthritis or breast cancer, Robbins et al. [4] found that swearing was related to increases in depressive symptoms, and this association remained significant even after accounting for variances in the depressive symptoms associated with disease severity. Interestingly, only swearing in the presence of others (and not swearing alone) was correlated with increased depressive symptoms [4]. In specific contexts, swearing has been shown to produce negative outcomes.”
Source:
Washmuth, Nicholas B. and Richard Stephens. “Frankly, We Do Give a D@mn: Improving Patient Outcomes with Swearing.” Archives of Physiotherapy, Vol. 12. 2022. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8928588/. Accessed 19 Aug. 2024. Web.
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