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The Plague Of Profanity

Are you as sick of hearing profanity being uttered as I am? We are exposed to it at the supermarket, over the back fence, and at ball games. It fills our novels, movies, and is profuse on television — in fact, it is a pervading evil influence in today’s society.

We hear it — not just from sailors (“cuss like a sailor”), or from the French (“pardon my French”) — but from all strata of society. It used to be the case that a gentleman would never use profanity in the presence of a woman — and deep down he knew he shouldn’t use it anywhere. Now, women can swear with the best (or worst) Small children, who have not learned to discuss much of anything yet on an intellectual basis, can spew forth a “blue” streak. It almost seems as if some of their first words are of the “four-letter” variety.

A Good TV Viewing Rule

It was a matter of recent news interest when a young genius — ten-year-old Greg Smith who has just entered college — talked about his TV-viewing habits in an interview on CBS’s 60 Minutes. “I have a rule,” he said, “that after three bad words, after three curse words, it turns off.” Many probably assessed him as some sort of little “religious nut.” Following that rule will jettison a lot of TV. A recent study by the Parents Television Council found the use of profanity during the so-called “family hour” (8:00 to 9:00 Eastern time) is up 58 per cent from two years ago. And the nature of the language (e.g., sexual explicitness) is getting qualitatively worse.

The Bible Is Not Silent

The Bible is not silent on the proper use of human language. Paul wrote: “Let no corrupt speech proceed out of your mouth, but such as is good for edifying as the need may be, that it may give grace to them that hear” (Ephesians 4:29). The term rendered “corrupt” is the Greek sapros, akin to sepo (“to rot”). It denotes that which provides no good service. Our words in the presence of others ought to be such as build men up, rather than debasing them (cf. Job 4:4). Again, the inspired apostle wrote: “…but now do ye also put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, railing, shameful [filthy – KJV] speaking out of your mouth…” (Colossians 3:8). The term signifies that which is base, characterized by shame. As a result of their studies of the Greek papyri, Moulton & Milligan suggested that the word generally denotes “foul or filthy” language (Vocabulary of the Greek New Testament, London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1963, p. 14). In connection with Colossians 3:8, the noted Scottish scholar, William Barclay wrote: “There can never have been a time in history when so much filthy language is used as it is today. And the tragedy is that today there are many people who have become so habituated to unclean talk that they are unaware that they are using it” (Colossians, The Daily Bible Study, Philadephia: Westminster, 1957, p. 184). Take note of the fact that these comments were written forty-eight years ago. If such was the case then, what is it now?

Profanity – An Invasive Influence

Profanity is such an invasive influence; it’s a mind-maggot. It gnaws its way into the recesses of one’s thinking, and, if harbored, will make its presence spontaneously felt at the slightest provocation. This is what happens when we allow ourselves to be unnecessarily and regularly exposed to its vileness. We may soon begin to “cuss” mentally even if we don’t verbalize profanity outright. “But we can’t cut ourselves off from the whole of society”, someone complains. That is right, of course. But we can attempt to minimize our exposure.

Conclusion

There is a filtering device on the market called TVGuardian — or TVG for short. This device attaches to your television set and VCR. With a pre-programmed “vocabulary,” it filters more than 90% of the profanity in most TV movies, videos, etc. It costs about $170.00, and is worth every penny of that amount! How refreshing it is to be able to relax occasionally, watch a program or movie, without being inundated with verbal trash.