"When in Rome..."

[glimmer]

First, swearing really is a cultural thing, and not a peculiarly Catholic thing.

Ridgerunner, that is the most darned interesting post I have read today. You should write a book on The History of Cussing.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Glimmer:

Thanks for the compliment, but I think someone already has written a book on the history of cussing.

 

[glimmer]

Thanks for the compliment, but I think someone already has written a book on the history of cussing.

In that case, I’ll just speak in tongues and you interpret: “#@$%!!! &%$!!! #@#%^ arrrggghhhh &%$!!!” :bigyikes:

 

[McKevin]

Glimmer:

Thanks for the compliment, but I think someone already has written a book on the history of cussing.

This is a good explanation as far as the history of culture is explained…but consider these verses from God’s Word. And then tell me is it still OK to curse, swear, or cuss? Also, consider that Christ has called us to be in this world but not of this world and one thing that definitely sets us apart is our language.

Matthew Chapter 12:

36
I tell you, on the Day of Judgment people will render an account for every careless word they speak.
37
By your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned."

Luke Chapter 6:

45
A good person out of the store of goodness in his heart produces good, but an evil person out of a store of evil produces evil; for from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks.

Ephesians Chapter 4:

29
No foul language should come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for needed edification, that it may impart grace to those who hear.

Ephesians Chapter 5:

1
So be imitators of God, 1 as beloved children,
2
and live in love, as Christ loved us and handed himself over for us as a sacrificial offering to God for a fragrant aroma.
3
Immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be mentioned among you, as is fitting among holy ones,
4
no obscenity or silly or suggestive talk, which is out of place, but instead, thanksgiving.

1st Timothy Chapter 4:

12
Let no one have contempt for your youth, but set an example for those who believe, in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity.

2nd Timothy Chapter 2:

16
Avoid profane, idle talk, for such people will become more and more godless,

James Chapter 3:

8
but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
9
With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings who are made in the likeness of God.
10
From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. This need not be so, my brothers.
11
Does a spring gush forth from the same opening both pure and brackish water?
12
Can a fig tree, my brothers, produce olives, or a grapevine figs? Neither can salt water yield fresh.

OK - all you Catholic cusser’s - does this speak to you to draw you closer to Christ and tame that tongue or can you write these scriptures off?

 

[Zooey]

:yup:

For me (and Miss Manners, I’m from the South), the f-word, s-word are obscene. As a lady, I sincerely feel disrespected by the person who would use it in my presence. It is a matter of great kindness to me.

I’m a “Nazarene” in RCIA now and I don’t fully recognize the depictions the posters here are presenting. I have only known one Nazarene church among a city with 15 to be no make-up, jewelry, dresses only and they were considered very out of the loop.

The don’t drink, smoke, gamble, dance, go to movies, etc. are disciplines as the RCC would put it. They have been tweaked in several ways. The Nazarene Manual now reads something along the lines of “Choose wisely your entertainment.” They still don’t drink, and I cannot agree that to abstain is biblical.

I have to agree with Contarini, that Nazarenes, dear Christian folk that they are, are the “wimps of the holiness world”. Why, they were wearing earrings when I was growing up in the '50s!!

Me too! My “Burning Bush” ancestors had some connection with the founder of GBS (Martin Wells Knapp, wasn’t it? Or am I mixing him up with someone else?), and GBS was actually one of the first places I visited in the U.S. (I remember sitting on the floor in their bookstore reading a book. )

It was indeed Martin Wells Knapp…And women still cannot cut their hair (not even a trim!) from the day they arrive for the 1st day of orientation, till they leave with a diploma, just as he decreed back in the day.

My grandmother started wearing a wedding ring after moving to Britain (my grandparents ran a Bible School in Glasgow and did evangelistic work all over Britain for years), because the holiness custom was not understood and many people didn’t think my grandparents were really married. My mother followed suit, and when we moved back to this country this was one of the points of conflict with the stricter holiness folks (one of the more minor reasons why we didn’t fit into that culture any more–we were really like Rip Van Winkle).

I have known a good many cases where this was the thing that sent people to the jewelry store; it makes me wonder what folks thought about it in Knapp’s day.

My mother once gave my father a hard time for saying “shucks.”

My mother has been writing novels recently, and in one of them she had a [worldly] character say, “Don’t give me that ****.” My mother has an extremely good ear for language, and is trying to make her characters as lifelike as possible. I had a struggle of conscience as to whether I should tell her what it meant. I kept quiet until she asked me directly.

Someday, I hope to chronicle “The Tale of my Great-Aunt Jennie, the New Preacher at Sunday Dinner, the Jar of Homemade Pickles Falling Off the Top Shelf of the Pantry Down the Skirt of Aunt Jennie’s Best Dress, & the ‘S’ Word”…
o <<<Aunt Jennie; <<<Uncle Fred; :bigyikes: <<<<<the New Preacher).

. By the way, did your Nazarene church have aisle runners? Man, ours had some real characters. They would get “blessed” during the singing and run all over that church

We had a preacher who jumped into the 3rd row pew from the front, & then took off around the aisles–without missing a word of his sermon!!

Just dear old Brother Stogsdill. A little old Elmer Fudd of a man and he would run with a hanky. However, he was the only one and I will tell you he was blessed with the Spirit of the Lord. He died when I was young, maybe 12-13, and he was never replaced. No more runners. I miss him.

They were dear servants of God. They drove me crazy then, but I miss them, too!

I remember a time when I was about 13 and my family and I were sitting at the table in the dining room of the parsonage playing 500 rummy when a lady from the church stopped by. The next few weeks were strained by the scandal of the card playing preacher and his family

Oh, my; I can only imagine!! Didn’t you have the “Christian cards”? The ones with numbers & colors instead of the suits? (There were Christian dice, too. They had 1, 2, 3, etc, instead of the dots. People thought we were terrible because my grandmother refused to “waste money on such nonsense”. But we had the cards!!)

Bless you all, this has been a joy to remember…and McKevin’s thread hijacked as a result!!
McKevin, I was serious about the Holy Name Society! I believe there is such a thing, & you might be the right person to revive it. I, too, wince when ever I hear the Lord’s name used in vain. Not because of childhood so much, as because He deserves better!! God bless you in your walk with Him!!

 

[Jeanette_L]

McKevin -

I sympathize with your discomfort, I had to come to terms with it myself, but I had to do it before I entered the Church!

I come from a pretty conservative Christian upbringing, mainly split between Pentecostal and Fundamentalist/Baptist circles. My decisions concerning the validity of the severeness of their restrictions had long been made and I had found myself wandering around the less strict Evangelical circles for years. But even there, the standards for the Christian life were light years away from what I had always observed in the Catholic lifestyles that I had been exposed to for many years.

When I was finally (and reluctantly ) making my way toward Catholicism theologically, I was still resistant to the fact that I could actually be called to join the Church, partly because of the poor witness of the nominal Catholics that I had always known. I had unfortunately never been introduced to Catholics who had a very vibrant faith and lives that reflected it until I actually entered RCIA (other than those on EWTN, of course!).

All this had to be put to rest before I came Home. And I had to realize that a lot of the things (not all!) that I had been programmed to believe was spirit filled, authentic “Christian” living, was in fact, just a cultural bias, not a Biblical bias. And the rest that just didn’t seem to cut the mustard in the lives of those around me, well, it just wasn’t any longer important to my decision. Christ in the Eucharist was far more important than what was happening in the lives of those who were attending Mass, but seemingly not there, if you know what I mean!

There’s a lot of sorting out to be done, but if you keep your eyes on Christ, who is the reason you were called home to the Eucharist, you will survive the culture shock. And you may in turn be a great light to those around you in your new environment!

God Bless!

 

[McKevin]

Bless you all, this has been a joy to remember…and McKevin’s thread hijacked as a result!!
McKevin, I was serious about the Holy Name Society! I believe there is such a thing, & you might be the right person to revive it. I, too, wince when ever I hear the Lord’s name used in vain. Not because of childhood so much, as because He deserves better!! God bless you in your walk with Him!!!

Thanks for the msg Zooey and I will look into the Holy Name Society! God bless you.

**Glory! ** (read this like an old Nazarene would shout it!)