Sadly, the title above is probably understood by everyone 10 years old or even younger throughout the English speaking world and probably caught your attention. It is a word that is used as a noun, verb, adjective, adverb, etc. and is readily used by people who may lack the intelligence to use an actual descriptive adjective, adverb, etc. available in the English language. Sorry dockworkers but in the past it was part of the language associated with the waterfront, army and the uneducated in the ghettos. Today it has crept into our everyday usage so that it is common to hear on the subway, on any street in the city and most disturbingly, on our TV sets. Yesterday I was at a traffic light with a sports car that had the windows down, and some song was blaring and spewing f-bombs, (see, I don't even feel comfortable writing the word☺). It is vulgar, and in my view anyway, makes it hard to respect the individuals who frequently use it. We stream from Netflix. It seems to me, Netflix feels the need to create programs where the characters use this word and its derivatives ad nauseum. When I see stand up comedy posts on Facebook or other social media, almost every comedian drops frequent "f-bombs" as though this is what the public wants to hear. Add to this the fact that comedy today seem to be redefined as being only about sex. Perhaps it is, but that is even more disturbing. Have we come down so low? Why has it become acceptable? It used to be a word one might use to exclaim pain after hitting your thumb with a hammer but there are better ways to describe pretty well everything else.
Our children are being exposed to this foul language at a very young age and there is no way to protect them from it except to lock them up and take away all electronics. There used to be a standard for what was acceptable public speech but today our moral compass is broken. We are all effected. At one time we would cringe and turn off anything that used foul language more than in exceptional cases. (I will accept that in some settings, like a war film for instance, foul language and cursing may be appropriate to some degree to reflect how people in this setting speak, but it can be tempered a little.)Today, I still cringe to hear it but it takes much more to turn off a program. We may even overlook it and recommend the program to others. And while I may not be the most intelligent person around, using * or other symbols to hide some of the spelling does not fool me.
A second point is of even much more of a concern to me as a Christian. Foul language should not be acceptable but is not the end of the world, although the Bible does caution us not to let unwholesome talk come from our lips, (oops, I'm not perfect either), as long as my children and grandchildren do not use it. What is more disturbing is found in the 10 Commandments, a basic guide to good living. God says "You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, FOR THE LORD WILL NOT HOLD ANYONE GUILTLESS WHO MISUSES HIS NAME." God seems pretty serious that he does not want his name, which includes the name of Jesus Christ, to be misused as a curse word. He will not overlook this command.
There was a time when the media had at least a little respect for this, changing the spelling to cover up what was really said, like using "gawd" instead of "God". Newsflash, God knows what you mean no matter how you cover it up. Today, using God's name in vain is part of everyday speech. Even very young people are quick to say, without thinking, "Oh my God" when there is no actual attempt to acknowledge God. My wife and I often joke about how religious so many people are, but in reality, the Christian community ought to be outraged by this blasphemy. We know what OMG stands for and it is acceptable to even use it on product labels. Why? When I hear someone in anger scream out the name Jesus or Christ, the hairs in my neck almost stand up. If you do not believe in God, why is there no respect for those who do? How many people curse by saying "Allah", "Buddha" or some other deity? It seems internationally acceptable to use the God of the Bible as a curse. I would like to offer my name out there as a replacement. Next time you feel the need to scream something, say "Gerry!". It may not have the same effect but I will not be offended and neither will the God of the universe.
I'm afraid as Christians we have failed. Some time ago a Christian friend of mine recommended we watch a show on Netflix, Jeremy's Farm, because it was so funny. We watched it and agreed. We also recommended it to others. Jeremy, as well as others in the show, constantly scream "Jesus Christ" and other unholy curses, as well as using foul language. The fact that not only do we accept this for our entertainment, but promote it to others is kind of embarrassing. If other religions were violated so publicly, there would be demonstrations in the streets and demands that these shows be shut down immediately. We do turn off many Netflix shows because of language, but also overlook it some times because the show is otherwise OK. I am not sure that is what God had in mind when he gave Moses the 10 Commandments.
Okay, these are the things that sometimes occupy my mind before I go to sleep. My rant is over. Now on to things like planning travel vacations.
