Meanwhile the so called evangelical faction of the American political system is sponsored and followed by the same hate-mongering network that brings you Family Guy and The Simpsons. That seems like a bit of a contradiction. And the “kids” are taking the grown-ups to tasks on there inconsistencies. So if they use the f-word, and it gets some attention, great. That is how they feel. If they lack the vocabulary to emote in a less controversial manner, who cares. There aren’t that many Mark Twains running around these days. If the king james bible is the standard then why don’t all the grown-ups who have it all figured out get together, squash the whole denomination thing, and have one church. Oh, that’s what I thought.

In the words of the great Bazan himself, “if all that’s left is duty i’m falling on my sword.”

Basically,”because I said so” just doesn’t cut it anymore.

My generation sees the prohibitions on drinking and swearing in the same way we see the crusade against popular music or going to the movies. Ultimately, we see it as a non-essential judgment based on an older generation’s views. Now, if I chose not to drink or swear that’s fine, and many in my circle chose not to. The point is that we want to be able to have a glass of wine and hold our heads high in the church. We want freedom from the judgements of others, which are not based on biblical teaching, but on personal preference. It is my experience that most young christians who swear do not accept using the Lord’s name in vain, and generally refrain from insulting someone with that language. Yes, it may not be the /best/ thing for a christian to do, but my generation sees greater sins in the established church’s inability to engage meaningfully with the LGBT community, or the addiction of evangelicalism to partisan politics and “left-behind” eschatology. Essentially, the young christians of my generation are tired of empty, vain orthodoxy. We see a cup of cold water as more meaningful than a creed. We’d rather have people drink and swear than gossip and exclude.

When it comes down to it, we hear the shrill voices bemoaning our “… sure way toward cultural captivity, popularity, and Christian impotence”. The church of the future does not care for political power, it does not care to be the authority on ‘family values’. We want to be a refuge in a senseless, violent world, a place where those in need can be provided for, materially and spiritually.

We don’t want to fight the culture war.

If Jesus were to come back today, and He were to speak modern English, I’d be willing to bet he would use a lot of words that most Christians would find ‘offensive.’ Whether one chooses to “swear” or not, the words they use have little to do with how they speak.

For instance, does the non-cussing Christian judge the cussing Christian for their cussing, ultimately doubting their salvation and faith? Likewise, does a cussing Christian look upon a non-cussing Christian with their own sort of disdain, perhaps with an attitude that speech “worldliness” makes them more appealing to non-believers. It seems to me we Christians shouldn’t be poking each other with issues like this, “Hey, you curse, you must not really be a Christian” or “Hey, you don’t curse, you self-righteous a**hole, and you’ll never reach the people I can reach.”

That said (and hoping not to sound judgmental), I think it’s a bit misguided for someone to put forward an argument that a “cursing Christian” might be some sort of outreach to non-believers who curse. To me, that’s like a Christian saying, “I smoke marijuana in order to reach out to drug dealers.” If the cursing comes out in language as a “slip up,” I can accept that a lot more readily than a Christian saying “I will continue to curse and use profanity as a way to reach people like that.” Seems like “sinning” to reach the sinners is not what Jesus came to do, nor what he asks us to do.

I’m one of the several…whatever you call us…who was raised in a traditional conservative home, went to Christian college and then realized “what the heck?” (Saying “heck” was a big step for me, I’m sure many of you can relate)

Since then, I’ve swung the pendulum and offended my own sensibilities, not to mention my mother’s. The conclusion I’ve come to is this: cussing is not inherently evil. There is a time and a place for it; quite honestly, if I use a word, I mean it. It’s not just a flippant placeholder. Conversations with people who drop a bomb every other word are inane and difficult to sit through for very long. But, as I mentioned earlier, I’ve found that I have a better chance of actually getting to know a person when they know that I’m not squeamish about language. It’s communication. If you view and use it as such with the correct attitude, a lot of good can be found.

(on the whole kid issue . . . yeah, I’ve thought of that and that was one of the reasons for me coming off the pendulum. I don’t have kids, but my friends do. Their vocabularies don’t need to expand that far yet)

Ah, well, I cited the Victorians as people who managed to ask the “big questions” (what a useful phrase, that!). Apparently, I didn’t realize it was so uncouth and unrespectable to be a fan of the Victorian period.

Sally,

“Your liberties begin to sound pretty indicting when they issue from your toddler’s lips.”

As someone who is young, evangelical, and (for now!) without children, I think this is extremely wise and forward thinking advice that many of my peers (including me) forget. Thanks.

Matt

As one who used to swear like a sailorette, and stopped, to me the issue is one of obedience. I really don’t care what “kind” of Christian people think I am — I can’t control the connections that happen in other people’s minds. What I can control is my own behavior and speech. And it seems worth it to me to submit my speech to a standard beyond the standards of the culture, for the sake of cultivating in myself a habit of obedience, if nothing else. If I’m dependent on the mainstream culture’s linguistic currency for my “intensifiers,” then, well, I just sound like everyone else, don’t I, and in ways that I don’t think signal that I’m necessarily “genuine,” or “being real,” or whatever the buzzwords are. There my actions have to speak for me, one way or the other. In the meantime, it’s incumbent upon me to weigh the value of the outward effects of my language against its possibly corrosive effects on my own soul.

Of course, all this may be moot, as I’m neither evangelical nor all that young any more. It is worth considering, however, if you subscribe to this particular “freedom” and don’t have children yet, the impact that indulging this freedom will have when you do have children. Your liberties begin to sound pretty indicting when they issue from your toddler’s lips.