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Thursday, July 11, 2013

Cussing, Cursing, Swearing, Censoring. . . My thoughts.

I was inspired to write this post by my mom, who has always thought that swearing is wrong, and claims she has never done it in her life . . . sure.  Anyway, as you can see by the title, today I will be discussing whether swearing is wrong and why, in fact, it should be considered foul language.
So, to get it out of the way, my stance on swearing as of right now is that it is not, in general, wrong. 

I admit, when I was 7, I was one of those annoying kids who would gasp and feel my heart rate increase every time I heard a "bad" word.  If my parents were watching a TV show, and one of the characters said anything even the slightest bit foul, I would drop everything and stare at the TV like I had seen a ghost (though, I guess I might have - my mom loves Ghost Whisperer).

These days, not so much.  I hear it all the time - school, television, music, the Internet, on the streets.  It rubs off, and mimicry is only natural.  I have never actually said a "bad" word before, but I can't help thinking them, and I guarantee - unless a bomb drops out of the sky in the next 30 minutes - I will probably let one slip before I die.  Yes, I feel guilty when I almost curse, or think a word in my head, but should I?

I would like to point out that despite arguments against curse words, (makes you sound unintelligent, there's no need for it, the Bible warns against it, etc.) they are just words.  WORDS!  In essence, SOUNDS!  So what I don't understand is why people go out of their way to avoid saying them, especially around children.

Curse words, just like all other words, are completely harmless on their own.  When you were a kid, did you cry when someone cussed?  Did the word physically or mentally hurt you?  NO!  If you cried, it was because someone called you fat or ugly, not because someone said an "inappropriate" word after dropping their pencil.  What I want to get across here is that if you cuss, you are saying a word.  A completely harmless word.

On that note, my family especially thinks foul language is wrong because you are using the word to describe things it was not initially intended to say.  But what about using the words "gay" or "piss".  Gay means happy.  Piss means to urinate.  Despite the fact that most people do not consider the use of these words cussing, by the definition above, it is.  "Bitch" is technically the word used to refer to a female dog.  In using it to describe a person, you are misusing in the same way you would be by calling someone "gay".

The next issue with swearing (which I hear a lot in my family) is that the Bible warns against it. . .

SERIOUSLY?  ARE YOU KIDDING ME?  THAT'S YOUR ARGUMENT?

Before going on I will say I am a christian, and I do not want to go into religious topics, so I'll be brief.  Basically, my problem with this is that the Bible was written years ago.  Things have changed.  The bible also says homosexuals don't deserve to live (more on that another day), that you can't mix fabrics, that - I don't even know, a bunch of ridiculous things.

 My point is that if you are basing everything you do off of the Bible, you will spend your life driving yourself crazy.  We can't understand most things the Bible says - Heck, God didn't even write it!  Not only that, but do you have any idea how much translation the original text has gone through?  So please, don't go around saying you don't swear because the Bible says not to.

So far, I may sound like I have no problem with swearing, but I do.  Contrary to everything I have just said, I do believe swearing to be inappropriate in certain situations.  In some ways, it all boils down to respect for other people.  If your friends don't care, great.  But if your mom is uncomfortable with that kind of language, you probably shouldn't say things like that around her.  That goes for my family too.  If I did cuss, I wouldn't around them because they don't like it.  Around kids, I watch my language even if it's just things like "crap" or "piss", because their parents probably don't want me teaching them things.

 Overall, I think that as humans we over analyze everything to the point we don't leave any room for living.  If you accidentally curse when you spill milk on the floor, you will not be condemned to Hell.  Life will go on as usual.  I don't curse because I don't see a need for it and because my family doesn't like it, but if I ever do, I certainly won't dwell on it.

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