Obscenities

MeridianFlight

MeridianFlight

New Member
Does anyone ever notice how many Christians substitute their favorite pseudo-obscentity for the "real thing" in a game of "How close to the edge can I get without falling off?" For example, the popular use of the word "crap" in certain situations?

How is "crap" any more acceptable then the other four-letter word it replaces? Who determined this? Isn't context everything?
 
Well, who determined that a swear word is bad anyway?

Anyway, Mandarin speakers say the N-word all the time! :)
 
I'm a heavy "crap" user myself. I like it. It's euphonic, and a general multi-purpose word. Is there any difference between the heavy words and the word crap? Not to me. I am not offended by any of the "cuss words," and it's a good thing because certain of my LOB teammates are prone to some interesting phrases on teamspeak sometimes. :)

Mainly, I use crap because it doesn't offend anybody. If I could be guaranteed that nobody would be offended by my use of "the real thing" then I would go ahead and use "the real thing." The main thing in language isn't that we ought not to use any specific word, but that we ought to construct our speech in a way that doesn't offend others, because if we offend others, we are not walking in love.

I am offended by racial epithets, but that's an entirely different matter to me. Calling someone a racial epithet, even jokingly, is not walking in love.
 
Which is why rather than worry over what a swear word literally is or is not, one should be concerned with ensuring they are not using any word as an expletive.
 
I feel pretty much the same way kraniac does on this one, I don't see why we have to be so offended when people cuss. While that doesn't mean we should cuss ourselves, I don't think it's a very attractive thing for an unbeliever to feel like he should have to censor himself for me. The only time I would probably find it acceptable for myself to use a cuss word would be in a joke or quote of something, or around people I know won't be offended. After all, what makes a swear word a swear word at all? Bloody is a cuss word in England, but in the US most people just think it's something British people say all the time! I guess my point is that people just take words they're offended by and make them into cuss words.
 
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hescominsoon said:
epithets, cursing, putdowns or anything else...how do these swearings or putdown ecourage others to seek the Gospel of Christ when the very messengers act like everyone else?

It is also very easy, if others are cursing around you either stnad up for yourself and Christ and ask them to sotp or remove yourself form that area. Trying to justify cursing or any other type of non-edifying language simply dmages or destroys your ministry for Christ and make this increasingly hostile worls even more diffulcult for Christians to live in.
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How would telling unbelievers to stop acting the way they act be encouraging them to "seek the Gospel of Christ"? If I were an unbeliever and a Christian told me to stop using language I commonly use it would make me feel very uncomfortable around them and thus turn me off to the Gospel pretty effectively.
 
I agree with Killerah.

Not to mention that if you are judging every last one of your communications on the basis of "how is this going to get others to receive Christ" you have pretty much killed any chance of showing love to unbelievers.

Here's what I mean:
My LOB teammates are unbelievers. Some of them were made to attend church as a child, but never saw the point, some of them are agnostics, and some are simply unconcerned with religion at all. But all of them have already decided on their own terms not to receive Christ.

Would I like to see them saved? I very much would. But I'm not going to get them to reconsider their decision by (1), objecting when they swear and therefore holding them to a standard to which they haven't agreed, and (2), only telling them about Jesus over and over, and how they should be saved.

The first comes off as judgmental, and the second keeps me from establishing a real friendship with these people and showing the love of God to them. My teammates know that if they want advice on religion, they can always ask me. But I'm not going to bring the subject up repeatedly and beat them over the head with it while they're trying to engage in what is, after all, a recreational activity.

Francis of Assisi put it best: Preach the gospel always; when necessary, use words.


EDIT: to respond to HCS's post which was made while I was writing this one...

I think that, irrespective of religion at all, cursing has no place in a professional environment. However, the scenario you mentioned is a good way to illustrate my point. Do you think that her coworkers have changed their speaking habits? I doubt it. What they do now is make a conscious effort to avoid certain words when she's around, which makes them self-conscious and uncomfortable around her. Communication has just been made more difficult.

Now, with my teammates (I keep going back to them since they are the best example I have of personal communication with unbelievers), I don't swear. Everyone else does, but simply because I eschew vulgarities, either totally or in favor of their euphemisms ("dang," etc), I have made them conscious of the fact that their speech doesn't have to be that vulgar, but I have done it without condemning them for following a different system. On one occasion, $arge commented, "I wish we could all be like Landslide. Every time we lose a round, we're all yelling long, involved strings of cusses, and Landslide's over here just saying, 'Well, darn.'"

But to each his own viewpoint. If others' cursing bothers you enough that you feel the need to request that they desist, then certainly do so. Communication is a two-way process, and though we may be required to give up more ground because we adhere to a stricter standard, certainly most people don't want to make you uncomfortable either.
 
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hescominsoon said:
Peple respect you standing up for your beliefs internally even fi they don't hsow it or outwardly ridicule you for it. The truth can be uncomfortable..even offensive...but it need sto be put out aka the Great Commission.

Where Gen works when she first started there many of hte folks there walked around cursing and saying vile things to and about each other. Gen stood up for herself and Christ and told folks when they were around her she would not tolerate such language. She has stood by that to this day..kindly asking folks to please not curse in her presence. NOw nearly three years later the amount of cursing around her is nearly zero and the amount of cursing in general is reduced. She is not beating them voer hte head with the bible but she has made it known in no uncertain terms of her belief in Christ. She is a walking window to the Gospel of Christ jsut like that. She does not run around cursing or using putdown or iptephs to fit in..she refuses to fit in(jsut as the bible tells us to BTW)...she stnads up for Christ every day. This is but one example.
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I do the same thing, when I was battalion commander last year in JROTC, I made a battalion wide rule of no cursing as cadets. All my leaders agreed and enforced the rule.

Seems that people have at least some respect if they accept your request anywhere to stop cursing in your presence, if people respect you they might listen further.
 
Two points I'd like to make:

1. One handles situations differently based on the context of the situation and one's own personality. Genesis goes to work each day to earn a living. She is fulfilling her responsibility. kraniac, on the other hand, participates in LoB largely for fun. Also, kraniac is not as upset by profanity as is Genesis. Talon, unlike Genesis and kraniac, had authority in the situation he mentioned. He introduced a rule to ban profanity in order to train those under his leadership for professional situations.

None of the aforementioned responses are "more correct" or "better." All are seeking to glorify God and distance one's self from those things that upset one's spirit.

2. A "no profanity" rule was established and is enforced on Tribe of Judah game servers in order to create a welcoming environment for as many players as possible. One can easily claim that constant swearing, hateful language, and "who pwnz j00?" behavior can easily ruin even the best of games. One would have a harder time proving that an environment with no hostility and no profanity is more uncomfortable.

The "no profanity" rule was also established to set ourselves apart from the average game server, where hostility and profanity is the norm. Ideally, those joining and playing on Tribe of Judah game servers would immediately notice a difference in atmosphere. I understand that some Christians also struggle with hostility, but, for the large part, I have seen ToJ's members help create a welcoming environment for all gamers willing to play the rules.

Also, keep in mind that we are not asking players to be "perfect" while on our servers. We are asking them to respect our rules while they are using our resources, which we pay for and operate. Imagine walking into your local McDonald's, screaming obscenities at the top of your lungs, and, when asked to stop, complaining that your "freedom of speech" was being impeded? That's the very sort of nonsense that our game server admins face on a regular basis.

When you are using another person's resources or property, you respect the rules that the owner sets forth. This simple bit of common sense has apparently eluded most of the online gaming community.
 
I think that telling people is dependant on the reason.

An analogy would be like saying "I'M A CHRISTIAN!!!" in the middle of the quad is DEFINATELY not the best way to witness to people, but rather, it's to naturaly let them know. My braINS a little bit funny from Mocktrial but, i think that's what i mean. XD
 
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