Why and when exactly is profanity wrong?

[Michael85]

A traditional Catholic practice when one hears the name of Our Lord Jesus Christ taken in vain is to cross oneself and say ‘Sit nomen Domini benedictum’ (Blessed be the name of the Lord).

 

[animalis]

St. Theresa of Avila wrote of her father in her autobiography. She judged him to be a good man because she never heard her father use bad language. I agree with this judgment. When people are trapped in profanity - the condition is due to imprudence and neglect.

To be a Christian, the use of communication is paramount in importance.

“But I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall render an account for it in the day of judgment.” (Mt 12:26)

“And withal being idle they learn to go about from house to house: and are not only idle, but tattlers also, and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not.” (1 Tim 5:13)

“And these words seemed to them as idle tales, and they did not believe them” (Lk 24:11)

“But sanctify the Lord Christ in your hearts, being ready always to satisfy every one that asketh you a reason of that hope which is in you” (1 Pet 3:15)

In exhortation concerning the tongue, Pope Saint Gregory the Great said, words which are not idle are either necessary or pious. The Pope is a certain witness to the Christian faith. Therefore, it is certain to do good and avoid wrongdoing with his exhortation concerning the tongue.

 

[JanetF]

People say that saying curse words is wrong because the culture finds them to be offensive, but certain words may or may not be offensive to certain people depending on the context. Like when I was in elementary school, even saying **** or idiot was taboo, but its not really taboo when you get older. So where do you draw the line and how can you tell if saying a certain potentially offensive word is sinful or not?

Personally I draw the line at whether I would dare to utter the word in a church. If I wouldn’t then it’s probably not a good word.

 

[SyroMalankara]

I try to keep it to a minimum, deliberately avoid it when the kids are with me. However, I have been known to utter a few, especially after kicking the wooden chair leg with my pinky toe.

Chair deserved it though.

 

[Sky_River]

Personally I draw the line at whether I would dare to utter the word in a church. If I wouldn’t then it’s probably not a good word.

christiantoday.com/article/what.the.f.word.actually.means.and.why.it.should.bother.us/79708.htm

We’re probably all still agreed on the ugliness of violence. As Christians, we probably all still agree that in hitting one another, we strike the image of God in another person and marr his image in us. Sex and violence are never things that should be twinned together, yet in this word that’s exactly what we find. Are there really so many more important things to get upset about?