Dealing with profanity and blasphemy in fiction?

[nesguy]

I enjoy reading a bit of fiction, but lately I’ve been wondering how I should be dealing with instances of profanity and blasphemy in what I read. Normally, I should think this would be a no-brainer since it isn’t me who is saying these things, but the character. However, I’m the type of reader who “hears” what he’s reading in his mind, rather like I’m a narrator speaking the passage on the page. An English-major friend in college once told me that not everyone reads this way, and so it’s what has me thinking about the way I read and what I read.

Given this, is it wrong/sinful of me to read (i.e. to say in my mind) the phrase “Oh my G…” because in reading it, it’s being said in my mind?

To counter this (and I use this somewhat for profanity, as well), I’ve taken to a word replacement scheme, whereby “Oh my G…!” becomes “Goodness me!”; “What the h…?” becomes “What in the world?”; and so on. However, this isn’t 100% effective, and to be honest, quite tiresome. It also destroys some of the escapism that reading offers by having to constantly be on guard. I’d like to hear people’s advice on their own methods of avoiding this, and their opinion on the potential sinfulness of the reader.

I’d like to just note that I’m not reading particularly tawdry fiction, either. I read a bit of science fiction and fantasy (Star Trek, Wheel of Time, etc.), and yet still encounter such troubles in my rather mild choices.

 

[nickybr38]

Perhaps I’m not the best person to say anything because I watch and read all manner of violent and profanity filled stuff but I wouldn’t worry about it.

In every day life you’re going to meet people who swear just as much as anything you read in books. So long as you’re not the one doing the swearing I think you’re all right.

But that’s just my opinion. I’d love to hear what others say on the issue.

 

[mariacharlie]

Hello,

I did not realise the point you made, that not all people are narrative in their minds, thank you for that.
I am constantly narrative and my minds voice is loud. It is a very important question because I read novels that have some profanity and blasphemy and I had not thought about it before. I suppose the only way to avoid this would be to only read Christian material but that would be very limiting from an educational and entertainment standing. I am not suggesting it is entertaining for me to read profanity and blasphemy but they do crop up in the most innocent of material.
Sorry I cannot answer your question but thank you for making me aware of it, I think possibly that God knows it’s not me talking, when my mind reads words but I stand to be corrected.

May God bless you
Mariacharlie

 

[chococat]

When Im reading and see Gods name spoken in vain or as a curse, I make the sign of the cross on myself., sometimes I get a lot of blessings LOL. The other four letter words, I just ignore, as I hear them quite often in the spoken language in general conversation.

 

[Poseidon]

You’ve got to be kidding. If this is the type of moral dilemmas you worry about then either you’re so holy that this is really your biggest problem, or you’re missing the bigger picture, and I’m guessing that you are dealing with the second issue here. Jesus said feed the poor, heal the sick, and clothe the naked, not spend your life inventing sins that you’ve committed.

I realize that you may not like this coming from an atheist, but surely you can see that this is just silly.

 

[Needtostop]

I enjoy reading a bit of fiction, but lately I’ve been wondering how I should be dealing with instances of profanity and blasphemy in what I read. Normally, I should think this would be a no-brainer since it isn’t me who is saying these things, but the character. However, I’m the type of reader who “hears” what he’s reading in his mind, rather like I’m a narrator speaking the passage on the page. An English-major friend in college once told me that not everyone reads this way, and so it’s what has me thinking about the way I read and what I read.

Given this, is it wrong/sinful of me to read (i.e. to say in my mind) the phrase “Oh my G…” because in reading it, it’s being said in my mind?

To counter this (and I use this somewhat for profanity, as well), I’ve taken to a word replacement scheme, whereby “Oh my G…!” becomes “Goodness me!”; “What the h…?” becomes “What in the world?”; and so on. However, this isn’t 100% effective, and to be honest, quite tiresome. It also destroys some of the escapism that reading offers by having to constantly be on guard. I’d like to hear people’s advice on their own methods of avoiding this, and their opinion on the potential sinfulness of the reader.

I’d like to just note that I’m not reading particularly tawdry fiction, either. I read a bit of science fiction and fantasy (Star Trek, Wheel of Time, etc.), and yet still encounter such troubles in my rather mild choices.

I have the same issue as you! I just do what you do, and change those phrases in my mind, (as I am also a very narrative reader; I thought everyone read like that?). I really don’t know the answer to your question, but I thought it might help to at least know you’re not alone. Maybe you should ask in the apologist forum?

 

[mariacharlie]

Hi,


Thank you kindly for your response, but no I do not perceive any question as silly.
It is a question that is open to philosophy and open to enquiry.
For your information and not for my own ego, be sure.
I have helped healed the sick I was a registered nurse for 13 years, I have visited prisoners as a volunteer I am a qualified counsellor, a member of the British Society of Counselling and Psychotherapy and because I had an idea (no doubt from God) to work for myself (in IT) I can give to aid, to help feed people who are struck by awful circumstances. There is no silliness in a question that can be explored up and beyond a simple word such as ‘silly’
I am not Holy either,
I know you’re an atheist but I hope my God blesses you regardless,
With the kindest regards,
Mariacharlie

 

[animalis]

The matter of a worldly book is a matter for the sin of folly, which is opposed to wisdom and chiefly sins against Charity because of the nature of the Gift of Wisdom. In order to describe, here is a quote from S. Thomas Aquinas, "Folly, …denotes dullness of sense in judging, and chiefly as regards the highest cause, which is the last end and the sovereign good. Now a man may in this respect contract dullness in judgment in two ways. First, from a natural indisposition, as in the case of idiots, and such like folly is no sin. Secondly, by plunging his sense into earthly things, whereby his sense is rendered incapable of perceiving Divine things, according to 1 Corinthians 2:14, “The sensual man perceiveth not these things that are of the Spirit of God,” (Summa Theologica, II-II, q. 46, a. 2) As you can see we should be always open to the Spirit of God, as S. Paul says, “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thess 5:17, cf. Rom 1:9, 1 Thess 1:2, 2:13, 2 Tim 1:3). And St. Luke said of Jesus, “And he spoke also a parable to them, that we ought always to pray, and not to faint…” (Lk 18:1)

With that in mind we use the virtue of prudence to live up to these demands of a Christian. And so to read things that keep our mind away from contemplation or affective prayer or to tame our passions so that we can grow to that end, as it said, “The sensual man perceiveth not these things that are of the Spirit of God,” (1 Cor 2:14) to put obsticles in the way of prudence in this are sins against prudence. There are a number of them pertaining to different things but I haven’t studied them much so I know little about them.

And finally there are the particular sins of the moment like the enjoyment of the blasphemy, ect. in the fiction. Be such that the reader led to enjoy the book then slip into the enjoyment of the blasphemy that would be a sin with the sin of folly that has been already committed by the reading of the pages and the sin against prudence. If there is no enjoyment of the blasphemy or any other sin, there is still the two sins of folly and the sin against prudence.

 

[mariacharlie]

Ok and thank you I am going to digest this all tomorrow.
Sleep well all my brothers and sisters in Christ
Mariacharlie

 

[nesguy]

The matter of a worldly book is a matter for the sin of folly, which is opposed to wisdom and chiefly sins against Charity because of the nature of the Gift of Wisdom. In order to describe, here is a quote from S. Thomas Aquinas, "Folly, …denotes dullness of sense in judging, and chiefly as regards the highest cause, which is the last end and the sovereign good. Now a man may in this respect contract dullness in judgment in two ways. First, from a natural indisposition, as in the case of idiots, and such like folly is no sin. Secondly, by plunging his sense into earthly things, whereby his sense is rendered incapable of perceiving Divine things, according to 1 Corinthians 2:14, “The sensual man perceiveth not these things that are of the Spirit of God,” (Summa Theologica, II-II, q. 46, a. 2) As you can see we should be always open to the Spirit of God, as S. Paul says, “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thess 5:17, cf. Rom 1:9, 1 Thess 1:2, 2:13, 2 Tim 1:3). And St. Luke said of Jesus, “And he spoke also a parable to them, that we ought always to pray, and not to faint…” (Lk 18:1)

With that in mind we use the virtue of prudence to live up to these demands of a Christian. And so to read things that keep our mind away from contemplation or affective prayer or to tame our passions so that we can grow to that end, as it said, “The sensual man perceiveth not these things that are of the Spirit of God,” (1 Cor 2:14) to put obsticles in the way of prudence in this are sins against prudence. There are a number of them pertaining to different things but I haven’t studied them much so I know little about them.

And finally there are the particular sins of the moment like the enjoyment of the blasphemy, ect. in the fiction. Be such that the reader led to enjoy the book then slip into the enjoyment of the blasphemy that would be a sin with the sin of folly that has been already committed by the reading of the pages and the sin against prudence. If there is no enjoyment of the blasphemy or any other sin, there is still the two sins of folly and the sin against prudence.

I’m sorry, but I’m having a really hard time understanding your point here. Are you suggesting that reading fiction is a sin against prudence if it’s not specifically directed toward spiritual growth? That, even if you aren’t sinning against prudence, you commit a sin of folly just by spending time reading non-Biblical/Spritual texts? If that’s the case, then you haven’t actually answered my question, and frankly, I’m not sure what you’re suggesting is actually an accurate interpretation of Aquinas. The phrase you have bolded, “plunging his sense into earthly things”, is not given context in the passage you are quoting. If we look at the context of 1 Cor. 2:14, it’s not talking about enjoyment of worldly goods, but the embracing of worldly wisdom. The context tells us that that Paul, and therefore Aquinas in his text, are speaking about the explanation of the Christian worldview. I seriously doubt Aquinas was advocating that Christians never indulge in amusement. Similarly, who is to say that the books I choose to read do not lead to me to spiritual growth? I’m not suggesting that Star Trek fiction is written with edification of the Spirit in mind, but occurrences of such are not limited to Spiritual texts.

While your admonition to think and read more spiritual topics has merit, my question can be equally regarded pertaining to non-fiction, as well: reading the news, a history book, etc. I’d invite you to answer my question again bearing that in mind.

You’ve got to be kidding. If this is the type of moral dilemmas you worry about then either you’re so holy that this is really your biggest problem, or you’re missing the bigger picture, and I’m guessing that you are dealing with the second issue here. Jesus said feed the poor, heal the sick, and clothe the naked, not spend your life inventing sins that you’ve committed.

I realize that you may not like this coming from an atheist, but surely you can see that this is just silly.

You may not like this coming from a Catholic, but we take the utterance of our God’s name very seriously. As such, it is worth asking for clarification regarding how to properly respect that when we come across acts which do injustice to that name. You have presented two extreme situations (I’m either holy or an idiot), and that is condescending because it paints me as a caricature with limited reasoning. It does not take into account the very real possibility that this is one among many concerns in my life, but at this moment in time I choose to discuss this particular one. Perhaps it is because I find it the easiest to broach on a message board, or I’ve had a recent discussion about not using the Lord’s name in vain, or one of many reasons.

I ask you, do you find it silly that Jews write God as G-d because it would be blasphemy for them to erase the holy name of God? Therefore, to prevent that, God’s name is never fully spelled out? I’m sure they have many things they find much more important that this, as well, but at some point in time a question was asked just like mine about how to properly respect the name of their God.

I openly invite you to discuss this topic further, but if you choose to do so, please bear in mind that this is a Catholic forum where topics you may not find important can have great relevance to those who profess this faith. It is our choice to do so, and we are no less reasonable for our beliefs than you for yours.

 

[nesguy]

Anyone else have any thoughts on the matter?

I thought of this thread again today as I was listening to some Phil Collins on the radio, where a repeated line from the song “In the Air Tonight”, is the line “Oh Lord!”, although not in a holy exclamation kind of way. I caught myself singing along to it, and realized a bit late I was being careless about use of the Lord’s name. I’ve really started paying more attention to this since I started the thread a few days ago, and it amazes me how much the OMG phrases have permeated our culture. I mean, you can’t go out of the house without hearing a blasphemy these days. It’s really quite troubling!