Comments on: Liquor Me Up With Some Religion Already

By: dewde

dewde — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 13:27:08 +0000

I agree that the spirit behind an action (intent) is more important than the action at face value. In fact, like I said above to Jay, I can do an equal amount of harm with my rated-G words as I can with my NC-17 ones.

peace|dewde

By: matthew lane

matthew lane — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 08:30:07 +0000

for the record, i don't think it sucks. i think it's fucking awesome. sorry, monkey fighting awesome. or monday to friday awesome. or maryland farmer awesome. church people love euphemisms, because they mean the same thing in intent, yet don't sound dirty (unclean). i guess this means intent doesn't matter, just the sounds you make with your mouth. therefor, i'm going to try to be as offensive as possible whenever i speak from now on, without using actual profanity. because then i'm expressing the same thing, without having to lose my soul in the process. it's a real win-win situation! or lose if you understand that when i say you look distinguished, i mean old, and healthy, i mean fat. if i said 'fucking distinguished' or "fucking healthy", i would especially mean it, but then you would be offended right off the bat, instead of analyzing the nuance and being offended later by the realization of what i was actually saying. which is, again, that you're old and fat. it's much more preferable that i not offend you to your face, rather than cause you to wrestle with what i might have meant due to your own insecurities. this may even bring me pleasure.

By: matthew lane

matthew lane — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 04:06:22 +0000

i'm a believer and i *like* to cuss. maybe jesus is not in my heart, a fellow believer might wonder. or maybe we just need to get over petty issues and focus on truly important matters like loving our neighbor. most of my neighbors cuss, as well. i'm not trying to be like my neighbors, but i really do enjoy their company. sometimes it's fun talking to them as a mere mortal human being, instead of a hyper-religious churchgoer blessed with eternal life and an agenda to make everyone and everything holy and clean. for some reason i thought that was jesus' job. in fact, pretty sure he already accomplished it and love would solve 100% of our problems in this world. but, maybe my fellow believers are right, and we should keep talking about whether or not cussing sucks.

By: Chris F.

Chris F. — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 16:05:19 +0000

Fucking vindicated!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20090712/sc_l...

By: mongerOfWar

mongerOfWar — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 02:09:50 +0000

You should totally invite me over more often. I'll gladly teach your daughters to cuss!

By: Glenn

Glenn — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 19:15:45 +0000

Granny's theology is more susinct than most and makes great wisdom. I'm so late in reading this blog, but have enjoyed the dialogue.

By: human3rror

human3rror — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 13:16:54 +0000

lame.

By: Wendy

Wendy — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:21:58 +0000

I have never viewed cursing as a Christian/Non-Christian thing. I see it as a temper/non-temper thing. I guess if you want to tie it back, it goes under self-control? I just know that I was a cussing fool before I had kids, now I try to demonstrate that the more carefully you select your words, the more people "hear" you, but that includes all words. I think that most people curse when they are trying to emphasize something or when angry. That, I don't even notice. I do notice when people have the 'F' word as their go-to adverb – it makes me think they are illiterate or from New Jersey (shout out to Elliot). And I do HATE HATE HATE it when a pastor does it to look cool. It comes off as fake, bogus, sad, pathetic… whatever. I can't explain it, I just hate it. Its like when they try to use cool phrases, so the problem I have isn't with the exact words.

By: MTMTMT

MTMTMT — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 20:32:48 +0000

I'm with the dude that brought up the stumbling block! I am a believer who struggles with potty mouth. It is something I am convicted about personally so while it may be good for the goose it aint good for the gander and well yeah… if my pastor is a pissin and a suckin away at the pulpit well yeah… it most definitely could cause me to stumble… a little leaven leavens the whole lump!

I'm with Granny too… don't want no one smellin like poo around me if they aint wearin diapers.

By: Adam_S

Adam_S — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 17:46:13 +0000

When you say that Jesus didn't use the same language I am not sure you are completely correct. The langauge that Jesus used to describe the Pharasees was very strong (our bibles usually tone it down a bit). And because we don't know everything that Jesus said to claim that Jesus never did something can be hard. What we can say is that he didn't sin. So the language that he did use was not sinful. Paul was not without sin, but the langauge that he used in a couple places was also quite strong. As was noted above, he used the rough equivelent of s**t, and told a people that they should cut their balls off if they were going to teach things inappropriately about cirucumcision. My hebrew and greek scholar friends all agree that our bibles are cleaned up versions of what is sometimes there.

By: Mikes

Mikes — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 17:21:57 +0000

So right. When people are stumbled with what we say, that's when we change and tame our tongues.

By: Mikes

Mikes — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 17:20:21 +0000

First of all, i'm not offended with profane and cuss words because I understand if they say that. Maybe because of the culture they are in or maybe because that's how they have been brought up. I have no power to judge. BUT As a Christian, even though I understand (and I'm not irritated), I do not conform. I need to be a model to what is right. There's a power in every word we speak. As the Bible had said, "I believe therefore I spoke" and on other verse it says "from the outburst of your heart the mouth speaks.". With both of these verse, when christian say profane words, it reflects what we have in our hearts. We are first among the rest should try our best to tame our tongues.

With what you said, "for us to reach them, we need to speak their language" If you mean to go with them and to ride along what they do. That's incorrect! Jesus came and dined with tthe sinners but he didn't use the same language the sinners use because he's diffeent. we are different. we reach them by being one.

By: Jay

Jay — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 13:59:21 +0000

Good points. I didn't think about it like that.

By: dewde

dewde — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 13:26:33 +0000

I love your point about not needing to do drugs to reach drug addicts or not needing to drink in order to reach alcoholics. I think that exposes serious flaws in my line of thinking.

With the whole blessing and cursing deal, I don't see how profanity has anything to do with blessing and cursing someone. I can use my words to destroy my home and cripple my daughters emotionally for the rest of their lives, in essence… curse them, without a single expletive.

"You'll never be good enough."

"I wanted a son, not you"

"You are proof God makes mistakes."

Conversely, I can bless a person when they are at their lowest point. I can physically pick them up off the floor, look at them through tear-stained eyes and say, "I will never fucking leave you, man. I know you're dealing with a lot of shit right now and you think you can't count on anybody. You can't count on God. You can't count on me. You can't even count on yourself. Well I want you to know two things. You can always, ALWAYS count on God. And, as long as I'm breathing, you can always count on me."

peace|dewde

By: stephenbateman

stephenbateman — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 04:24:50 +0000

good call. Same point though that the language extends way beyond a handful of "the bad words"

By: Chris F.

Chris F. — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 21:06:11 +0000

Bingo. This is a perfect everyday example of how biblical interpetation is dependent on cultural norms. Cultures change and mature, and interpretation of the bible follows suit. When your main motivating factor is your relationships with your family or peers (as it should be), it shouldn't matter what the Bible says. But, conveniently, it's possible to reinterpret the text just in time to realize that you were right all along.

By: dewde

dewde — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 20:35:27 +0000

That makes a whole heap of sense to me.

peace|dewde

By: Chris F.

Chris F. — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 20:23:25 +0000

Dude, I even got my E-meter. Let me in! Let me in!

By: dewde

dewde — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 20:15:36 +0000

You don't get to learn about the Holy of Holies until Operating Thetan Level III. So it's above your clearance ATM.

peace|dewde

By: celiadyer

celiadyer — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 19:41:22 +0000

Dewde, what a great post! So glad for your comments to Ed from Texas, I might have to add my own. It profoundly discourages me that anyone is wringing their hands and writing about something so trivial with all the misery and loneliness in need of love and grace. In our previous couples small group, we had a Federal Judge in our midst who, let's just say, you're lawyer would be wringing hands if your case was assigned to him. He shared his exemplary life experiences in our group each week (well-intended but obnoxious nevertheless). One night, he told us he had not uttered a word of profanity in 12 years to which my husband replied, "No sh*t?" which cracked everyone up. (I didn't ask him if he had *thought* any words of profanity, just sayin'…). Great and bold post.