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Swearing and the Bible


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It may be OT or belong in Chatter, but I was wondering something. How evil would this be on a scale of one to ten...

 

Swearing a lot when explaining Bible stories?

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It may be OT or belong in Chatter, but I was wondering something. How evil would this be on a scale of one to ten...

Swearing a lot when explaining Bible stories?

Like -5? I don't know. I'm pretty sure I swear when I tell Bible stories. And I don't even mean it in a particularly irreverent way.

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It's not exactly swearing, but I was trying to explain the christian concept of easter to my 8 yo and zombie jesus came up. Hey, the kid knows zombies, not so much with coming back from the dead miracles or whatnot.

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Guest Anonymous
It may be OT or belong in Chatter, but I was wondering something. How evil would this be on a scale of one to ten...

Swearing a lot when explaining Bible stories?

What do you mean? In a Sunday School class of pre-schoolers it might not go down too well, but in a group of fellow snarkers discussing Paul's misogyny, it would be almost unavoidable, wouldn't it?.... ;)

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My daughter learned in Sunday school that you weren't even supposed to say "heck" because you really meant hell. So I said, "Well then I should have gone ahead and said the real word then, huh?" Stupid. I honestly don't recall anywhere in the Bible where it says not to say "bad words" and even if it did, is that THE most important lesson you can get out of it?

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It may be OT or belong in Chatter, but I was wondering something. How evil would this be on a scale of one to ten...

Swearing a lot when explaining Bible stories?

If that's a problem, I'm in trouble. :lol:

(Mr. Dawbs grew up 'unchurched'. Sometimes, Bible stories are important for 'this is what your wife believes' and/or 'this is what your wife was raised believing/your in-laws-believe/etc' reasons. Sometimes they're important because good literature requires some knowledge)

I mean, this is pretty close to how, not that long ago, at 2 am, I explained Bathsheba to Mr. Dawbs:

What? No, you can't read "Far from the Maddening crowd" w/o knowledge of the story of King David and Bathsheba....

So, David was king. Same guy that beat the shit out of Goliath. Lots of back story, he's now king.

So King David has a sleepless night. He goes up on the roof and he sees a hot woman taking a bath. He spends a while being a voyeur, then he sends a servant and invites her up for drinks and sleeps with her.

Here is where your wife gets fucking angry because some fuckwits think that Bathsheba is the 'badguy' here and that she must have seduced David intentionally. Never mind that she was on the roof--the place that is protected from view for 99.999% of the city--so she was being modest. Nevermind that he's the fucking king--how the hell do you say "oh, no, please don't hit on me, I'm married" to the absolute monarch of the kingdom?

The whole "under the law at the time, he couldn't have touched her" argument holds no water because...oh, I suppose I need to explain that David goes on to be a murderer

Okay, so Bathsheba ends up pregnant.

David knows that this is a problem, so he sends for Uriah, Bathsheba's husband to try to convince her to go home and sleep with his wife..."

(I'll stop now, you all get the idea and I think most of FJ knows the story better than I do ;) )

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Well, there's swearing in the Bible, if that helps. Philippians 3:8, NIV: "What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ." Apparently the word Paul used for garbage was fairly obscene and the equivalent of saying "shit."

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Dawbs, that is exactly it! :)

I get a kick out of explaining Bible stories to my pals. I went to a school where we had daily Scripture lessons and religious assembly. So I can always shock normal people by relating some of the juicier parts of the Bible. "What, it really says THAT? No, you're having a laugh now."

My brother didn't get the same dubious benefit and he's just now trying to read the Bible (he's interested in religions.) So last night I was trying to explain some things to him and realised I swear quite a lot. My explanation included the time when God said "Don't fuck with me, pal", that Jonah was a sulky bastard with a petted lip and that Paul was a fiscal, so no one would give him shite. And what all the bollocks with the gourd was about.

My brother said "Seriously you should start a blog, JFC's Bible Explanations". I write a lot better than I speak and he's been reading an NIV so not too many usages of "fuck" in there.

I laughed but now thinking of the Message I am kind of tempted. It surely couldn't be worse than that. (Or actually maybe it could. No definitely it could. Actually, scratch that, it will be :D .)

I need, however, to know if this would be a bit dodgy. I figured FJ ,being wise in such matters, would be able to help :) Realistically it would only ever be me and my brother who read it...

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My explanation included the time when God said "Don't fuck with me, pal", that Jonah was a sulky bastard with a petted lip and that Paul was a fiscal, so no one would give him shite. And what all the bollocks with the gourd was about.

My brother said "Seriously you should start a blog, JFC's Bible Explanations". I write a lot better than I speak and he's been reading an NIV so not too many usages of "fuck" in there.

Hah, reminds me of

bar3GOzDNzg

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That was a thing of, if not precisely beauty, greatness. :D :D :D

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My daughter learned in Sunday school that you weren't even supposed to say "heck" because you really meant hell. So I said, "Well then I should have gone ahead and said the real word then, huh?" Stupid. I honestly don't recall anywhere in the Bible where it says not to say "bad words" and even if it did, is that THE most important lesson you can get out of it?

Stupid shit like that is the reason I was afraid to use the word "Hello" as a child. Everything was just "hi".

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I've spent a year and a half in the US now and I've had the hardest time wrapping my mind around the fact that "hell" is a bad word. I mean, I curse a fair amount when in the right company, and I too was taught as a child not to overdo it on the bad words, but "hell" was never considered one. I mean, it's just a metaphorical place, right? But here it's like some parents freak their shit at the idea of their kid hearing that word. I'm genuinely not sure why. Isn't it a religious term, mainly? Why isn't there a similar reaction to "devil"? What's so bad about saying "hell"? This is a genuine question. I don't get it.

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I've spent a year and a half in the US now and I've had the hardest time wrapping my mind around the fact that "hell" is a bad word. I mean, I curse a fair amount when in the right company, and I too was taught as a child not to overdo it on the bad words, but "hell" was never considered one. I mean, it's just a metaphorical place, right? But here it's like some parents freak their shit at the idea of their kid hearing that word. I'm genuinely not sure why. Isn't it a religious term, mainly? Why isn't there a similar reaction to "devil"? What's so bad about saying "hell"? This is a genuine question. I don't get it.

There actually used to be a similar reaction to 'the devil' (hence the use of 'old scratch' and other names in puritan writing).

Actually, thinking about it, I'm relatively certain that my grandmother never ever EVER used the words 'hell' or 'the devil' except in discussing theology. The devil would have, in normal conversation, been 'the tempter' or some-such.

I kow in my family 'Hell' was a big deal because using it usually meant you were saying something like 'go to Hell'. (although I unprofessionally used it at work w/ a member of the public recently. which I can kick myself for)

I still remember wanting to take out an ER nurse who yelled at my (unmedicated, having waited for 3 hours) husband (then BF) for his 'language' when he said 'it hurt like Hell'. In reference to his arm--the one where he had broken off part of the radius and had that broken-off-y-bit lodged in his palm, an inch up from where it had started.

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My daughter learned in Sunday school that you weren't even supposed to say "heck" because you really meant hell. So I said, "Well then I should have gone ahead and said the real word then, huh?" Stupid. I honestly don't recall anywhere in the Bible where it says not to say "bad words" and even if it did, is that THE most important lesson you can get out of it?

I was taught the same thing as a kid. You couldn't say hell or heck. Gosh was another bad word - as in "oh my gosh!" because what you really were saying was "Oh my God!" and that was taking the Lord's name in vain. We also were taught that saying Geez (like "Geez, that sucks") was swearing because it was close enough to sound like Jesus, and that was taking the Lord's name in vain, too. :roll:

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There actually IS swearing in the Bible - Paul says 'shit' and an expletive regarding castration. I do believe the Hebrew for filthy rags (used in the book of Zephaniah and elsewhere) is expletive too.

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It may be OT or belong in Chatter, but I was wondering something. How evil would this be on a scale of one to ten...

Swearing a lot when explaining Bible stories?

I think the intent of the word is worse then the word itself. Its bad to say things that will hurt your fellow man. You can be sugar sweet to someone and still say hurtful things to them. I hate it when people say bless their heart or just saying. They act like its an excuse to be an jerk to someone.

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I think the intent of the word is worse then the word itself. Its bad to say things that will hurt your fellow man. You can be sugar sweet to someone and still say hurtful things to them. I hate it when people say bless their heart or just saying. They act like its an excuse to be an jerk to someone.

Yep. A lot of our swear words relating to bodily functions were not considered to be expletive in the middle ages - vulgar maybe, but not worthy of censorship. On the other hand, oaths relating to religion in some way eg 'by His nails' or 'by His blood' were considered very shocking and offensive but wouldn't be considered so today by many people. It's all about context and intent. I have no problem with swearing as long as it's not swearing at someone - so to say that something was a fucking nightmare is fine imo, but not to call someone a shit (unless it's meant affectionately of course).

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Yep. A lot of our swear words relating to bodily functions were not considered to be expletive in the middle ages - vulgar maybe, but not worthy of censorship. On the other hand, oaths relating to religion in some way eg 'by His nails' or 'by His blood' were considered very shocking and offensive but wouldn't be considered so today by many people. It's all about context and intent. I have no problem with swearing as long as it's not swearing at someone - so to say that something was a fucking nightmare is fine imo, but not to call someone a shit (unless it's meant affectionately of course).

I do have a dirty mouth at times but its never directed at a person (well except terms of endearment). There are just sometimes where I feel better after I swear at a situation. I think that the fact that we are shocked by words relating to bodily functions says a lot about our society. It means that we think our bodies are dirty and something to be ashamed of. We (as a society) are ok with violence and dont think a whole lot about it. I truly think this is backwards.

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My brother said "Seriously you should start a blog, JFC's Bible Explanations".

Yes, please do! That would be awesome. I'd read!

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Also JFC, I do always internally say your abbreviated username as 'Jesus Fucking Christ' :lol:

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I was taught the same thing as a kid. You couldn't say hell or heck. Gosh was another bad word - as in "oh my gosh!" because what you really were saying was "Oh my God!" and that was taking the Lord's name in vain. We also were taught that saying Geez (like "Geez, that sucks") was swearing because it was close enough to sound like Jesus, and that was taking the Lord's name in vain, too. :roll:

Heck, geez, gosh, crap, and freaking were all off-limits in my house, because it was "just like you were saying cuss words". I could never understand why "Oh my goodness!" or "Oh my word!" were okay while "Oh my gosh!" wasn't. Same with "Shoot!" Also on the "bad words" list was shut up, stupid, and butt.

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Heck, geez, gosh, crap, and freaking were all off-limits in my house, because it was "just like you were saying cuss words". I could never understand why "Oh my goodness!" or "Oh my word!" were okay while "Oh my gosh!" wasn't. Same with "Shoot!" Also on the "bad words" list was shut up, stupid, and butt.

I remember getting in trouble for "Egads" as a kid.

And I remember being a high-schooler, writing a 'humor' section of my student newspaper which mom saw (not intentionally) and getting reamed out for being a bad example because I used "#@%!".

Apparently pretending to swear in keyboard characters was a big fucking deal. :roll:

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My daughter learned in Sunday school that you weren't even supposed to say "heck" because you really meant hell. So I said, "Well then I should have gone ahead and said the real word then, huh?" Stupid. I honestly don't recall anywhere in the Bible where it says not to say "bad words" and even if it did, is that THE most important lesson you can get out of it?

Actually it's in several places. "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." Ephesians 4:29 "For, Whoever would love life and see good days must keep their tongue from evil and their lips from deceitful speech." 1 Peter 3:10. "With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water." James 3:9-12.

I do agree with you about it being the most important lesson, if you look at all the verses about loving each other and how to treat your fellow man and compare it to the handful of verses about sex and swearing it doesn't add up.

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Also JFC, I do always internally say your abbreviated username as 'Jesus Fucking Christ' :lol:

LOL! I always think of it as sort of like KFC ;) With some tasty chicken.

I may well start this blog. I will need the assistance of experienced FJists if I do...

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