GN Commentary: April 29, 2009 - Foul Language: Can't We Live Without It?

Ugly words, profanity, vulgar language. We hear it all the time, don't we? So should we talk that way?

Related Resources

The Third Commandment: From Profanity to Praise
The use of God's name in a degrading or in any way disrespectful manner expresses an attitude of disdaining the relationship we are supposed to have with Him. Having a relationship with God demands that we represent Him accurately, sincerely and respectfully.

Dirty Talk—Does God Care?
Profanity and cussing are rampant. You hear it everywhere. Some say it doesn't really matter how we talk. Learn what God says about this important subject.

The OM_! Phenomenon
When the moments do come that cause you to react with surprise, shock, humor or pain, avoid the disrespectful slang.

Freedom to Be Profane?
While the media may influence our choices, we still bear the ultimate responsibility for what we choose to say and how we choose to say it.

Video Transcript

Ugly words, profanity, vulgar language. We hear it all the time, don't we? It's even come to the attention of the Supreme Court. On Tuesday, the US Supreme Court ruled, by a narrow margin, in favor of the "fleeting expletives" policy of the Federal Communications Commission. You may not have heard of that rule. I hadn't, at least not until yesterday. It's the policy that threatens broadcasters with fines for the on-air use of even one curse word.

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, writing for the court majority, said the FCC policy, adopted in 2004, is "neither arbitrary nor capricious," while acting FCC Chairman Michael Copps hailed the decision, and called it "a big win for America's families." Copps said the "decision should reassure parents that their children can still be protected from indecent material on the nation's airwaves."

Whether or not you agree that the law of the land should be invoked to prevent cursing, you can hardly miss the coarsening of our language. Television programs that include more bleeps than dialog; public displays of angry profanity; the cheapening of the names of God. Personal aspects of our lives once considered private and not to be discussed in polite company are now the 'stuff' of the basest of vulgarity.

I remember the first time, as a teenager in England, I heard a British journalist use an expletive on television. It shocked the nation and caused huge outrage. But now, we hear the same talk in public and all too frequently in our popular entertainment.

So what do we think of people who talk that way? Do they really impress us? Or do we just see them as poorly educated and boorish?

Nearly twenty centuries ago a Christian writer advised: "But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth" (Colossians 3:8). He also wrote, "Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers" (Ephesians 4:29).

It was good advice then—and it's good advice now.

For GN Magazine, I'm Ralph Levy.