Even when the curses aren't spoken, but are represented by the universal wordless symbols, it still conveys to the reader that the writer is thinking and wanting to express words so ugly, so offensive that they won't even put them into print, leaving the reader the burden of filling in with the 'appropriate' words.
Even a child knows what the symbols in a cartoon or comic strip mean. "Mommy, that man is saying a BAD word, isn't he?"
If we wouldn't say it,
is it okay to intimate it
so that others think it?
Is this the communication that Christ wants His Body to share with the world?
The great psalmist, King David, prayed this prayer:
"Set a guard over my mouth, O LORD;
keep watch over the door of my lips.
Let not my heart be drawn to what is evil,
to take part in wicked deeds with men who are evildoers;
let me not eat of their delicacies."
My paraphrase, in this era of fast access written media, would be:
"Set a guard over my fingers, O Lord;
don't allow me to type what I would not say
in your own presence;
Don't allow me to be attracted to anything evil
or to act in the same ungodly ways as those who are evil;
I do not want my mind and soul
to receive nourishment
from the same sources that feed their hearts and minds."
We were taught about 'mince' words, too. Words like 'shoot' or 'darn' mean the same thing as the cuss words the same way minced onions are real onions, just in a different form.
ReplyDeleteI've given up reading a lot of the currently fashionable 'Christian' authors as their books have words I don't want in my mind. Words that are commonly accepted in day to day society but words my goats and chickens don't speak so I seldom hear, so these word glare out at me. 'Course, now that I've said (typed) this, my mouth will come out with something fowl (pun intended) anyway.
Debbie
Yes, euphemisms. I almost referenced that in my post.
ReplyDeleteJust in your blog neighborhood.
ReplyDeleteI agree! I think we have to be different than the world, so we need to try not to "mince" words and use any words that would disgrace our testimony.
People forget the verse, "Keep your tongue from evil." You can't sugar coat it...foul words are foul words.
ReplyDeleteThe Enemy would love to get us started with a few smalls words because eventually it will grow.