Tuesday, March 25, 2008

 

Well, I'll be...

Tall Skinny Kiwi links to a paper on the Theology of Profanity. The conclusion:
Language changes, as does connotation and the definition of profane. If the church remains unawares, more and more young people will be unbiblically condemned for using language that is for them completely normal and acceptable. Grudem expresses his concern, “Using words commonly thought to be offensive in the culture seems to me to be sort of the verbal equivalent of not wearing deodorant – or of going around with spilled food on our shirts” [Piper]. Yet, even within the church, Grudem would be hard pressed to find young people who hold the same words irreverent as he does. This is not to say that profanity is something for which the church should aspire. But history proves that what was once profane is no longer, and what is now profane may not have always been and will not always be.

Rather than fight these changes, the church has the opportunity to lead the way in cultural language trends, showing sensitivity, awareness, and acceptance to formerly marginalized people. By using gender inclusive language, refraining from new and developing curse words, and even allowing the use of former profane explicit expletives, the church can demonstrate its acceptance of an entirely new generation of people.
I tend to agree with that analysis, but I think there is both more at stake than mere cultural relevancy. In fact, I think this argument leaves the door open to morph the church in radical ways to reach "the latest generation." Heck I remember this discussion when I was in my 20's. Long before the current generation started claiming profanity as their own.

The paper divided profanity into three types:

essentially, "damning," "gross," and the n-word. I think the key to a theology concerning profanity in the church lies in those distinctions. The excommunicatory is, I think, forbidden. The explicit is in poor taste, but dear friends the church has been guilty of poor taste in many ways over the millennia.

The exclusionary is where things get problematic. These words can simply be insulting, which is a bad idea when you are trying to win souls, or they can cross the line into excommuncatory, in which case, we have established that we have a problem.

Profanity, like drinking, is about intent and moderation. Banning it entirely is legalistic. Using it for verbal punctuation is a problem.

"Common sense" seems the watch word here.

Technorati Tags:, ,
Generated By Technorati Tag Generator


|

<< Home

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?

Site Feed

Blogotional

eXTReMe Tracker

Blogarama - The Blog Directory