Those who intentionally offend the basest of sensitivities
May you lose the capacity to communicate.
Those who speak for the sake of "Shock value" stop speaking.
Why offend? You must want to be heard, to have impact (awww.... thats sad) and you cant think of any easier way to manipulate the emotions of others than to offend. Its manipulation you know, if you didnt think it would cause them to feel-you wouldnt have said it.
So you speak not because you have anything important to say but just because you want to have an effect. I know this because I have done it.
People swear for the same reason. Thats why there arent words to replace those, its not the word itself or its meaning, its the effect that you cant replace. You swear because it offends, it even offends you and if it wears off you will come up with some disgusting combination to take its place.
"Emotion is the heat on the brand of your memory" -Me
If you intentionally cause me to feel emotion thats manipulating. What are you trying to get? What do you want? Whats your motive? If your reason for getting my attention is just because you want attention find something better to do.
A lot of entertainment plays on this. An intentional attack on the sensitivities of its viewers. Show you something that you hold sacred and then destroy it. We judge the value of our entertainment by its emotional effect. Emotional effect can be good, with purpose. When something plays on the strings of my heart I should step back and say "OK, you have my attention. Now where are you trying to take me? Im listening, Now... why?"
Todays revolution is against pointless emotional manipulation.
We should engender in ourselves sensitivity to the beauty of life. Hold it sacred. Our souls should cry out in revolt when we witness the debasing of these virtues. Our heart can become calloused with constant abrasion, you wont feel anymore.
Indurated Pericardium
I never thought id use that.
Im as guilty as most anyone else, I revolt against that part of myself. Get thee hence!
Those who speak for the sake of "Shock value" stop speaking.
Why offend? You must want to be heard, to have impact (awww.... thats sad) and you cant think of any easier way to manipulate the emotions of others than to offend. Its manipulation you know, if you didnt think it would cause them to feel-you wouldnt have said it.
So you speak not because you have anything important to say but just because you want to have an effect. I know this because I have done it.
People swear for the same reason. Thats why there arent words to replace those, its not the word itself or its meaning, its the effect that you cant replace. You swear because it offends, it even offends you and if it wears off you will come up with some disgusting combination to take its place.
"Emotion is the heat on the brand of your memory" -Me
If you intentionally cause me to feel emotion thats manipulating. What are you trying to get? What do you want? Whats your motive? If your reason for getting my attention is just because you want attention find something better to do.
A lot of entertainment plays on this. An intentional attack on the sensitivities of its viewers. Show you something that you hold sacred and then destroy it. We judge the value of our entertainment by its emotional effect. Emotional effect can be good, with purpose. When something plays on the strings of my heart I should step back and say "OK, you have my attention. Now where are you trying to take me? Im listening, Now... why?"
Todays revolution is against pointless emotional manipulation.
We should engender in ourselves sensitivity to the beauty of life. Hold it sacred. Our souls should cry out in revolt when we witness the debasing of these virtues. Our heart can become calloused with constant abrasion, you wont feel anymore.
Indurated Pericardium
I never thought id use that.
Im as guilty as most anyone else, I revolt against that part of myself. Get thee hence!
posted by Spike at 4:53 PM
13 Comments:
Happy belated Birthday and nice blog- I'm really enjoying it :-)
I'm sorry I had anything to do with the inspiration of this entry.
Swearing is a release. Those words take emotions outside of the self where they can be looked at with clarity. It's like sticking a pin into your skin and letting the pus drain out, it's not going to be pretty. True, swearing is a shoddy, low-grade kind of release, there are better more effective ways, but maybe not ways that sting as bad. Which goes along with what you said about people swearing to offend themselves (at first and sometimes). It's a pretentious "live to feel pain" thing.
I'm talking about myself when I say all this. I'm really very ashamed of myself.
The thing that offends me the most about foul language is taking the Lord's name in vain. "Vain" meaning worthless. I certainly don't want anyone using my name to indicate something worthless. And isn't that exactly what we're doing when we cuss? We're lost for something intellectual to say instead?
I feel to address your commenter wmmows: Squeezed puss isn't exactly how I'd want you to associate with MY name! That's a cop out for dealing with your "release." There are much better ways to "punish yourself" than offending yourself and others with your language...do something that doesn't offend others, but just yourself (since that seems to be the release you're looking for)...like maybe chopping off your hand.
Connie, to clarify, in no way did I present swearing as a positive thing. Every sin has a root, and I was exploring one particular root of foul language, that's all.
However I HOPE I would cause offense (def: anger, displeasure, wounded feelings) if I cut off my hand. I hope it would cause more offense than all the swear words I know. And I know some obscure ones.
I understand that this is just one root of sin. I was hoping to clarify myself before anyone caught my comment. I lived in Okinawa for a time and because it was a small island with no place to go, offenders usually got caught and the punishment for stealing (demanding attention) was to cut off the offending hand so stealing was not an option anymore. And believe me, I include myself as being one that offends (I was called on it once when I didn't even know I'd offended someone...I felt terrible and immediately made amends. I wasn't happy to be called on it when I was rude!)...anyway, I was thinking of swearing in the same way I was thinking of stealing... we steal God's good name, or someone's sensitivity or whatever, just to make a "statement" or get some attention. And I surely wasn't harassing you (after I wrote it, I thought it sounded like that)...I was just wondering why, when we feel like calling attention to ourselves in a vulgar way, we feel we must aim it toward others. I don't use vulgar language, but I tease people (to boost my ego??). Why isn't it just as satisfying to keep our mouths shut and find another avenue to get that attention. Any suggestions?
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
My 2 cents:
Regardless of how hard we try, we're all going to make poor choices and say and do things we shouldn't including vulgar language, manipulation, teasing etc. I find that in my personal life the most important thing I can do is to just forgive people (including myself), apologize when needed and love such that offense is not easily taken and is easily forgotten.
I’m a total idiot. Everyone around me knows this- particularly my siblings and husband. I say stuff that is just unbelievably useless and stupid and often hurtful. My hope and aim is that the relationships involved are such that my loved ones can put whatever screwed-up, dim-witted thing I have said into context with the whole of my behavior and worth and just forgive me as I would them.
I think the cultivation of charity (including humility, forgiveness, love and compassion) is more important than and will have a greater influence on our personal behavior and happiness (not to mention the happiness of others) than behavior modification alone or the futile earthly pursuit of personal perfection.
I hate it that you can still see that a comment was there even after it gets deleted. Curiosity kills cats because it DRIVES THEM INSANE!
If someone wouldn't mind saying, "I deleted that because of a stupid typo," or something, even if that's a bald-faced lie, it would relieve my mind much. It would be especially plausible if said person were Marcianne, seeing as how she commented right after the dirty deleter.
Connie: Love the explanation behind the cutting-off-of-hands comment.
I deleted that entry because my paragraphs weren't spaced in an aesthetically pleasing fashion- to my taste anyway.
And that would be the all-too-boring truth.
I am appeased.
*Deep cleansing breaths*
I have heard from a couple of little birdies in my tree that you, marcianne, are anything but a total idiot. I hear you are a truly amazing woman and are well loved...and it is enough to be well loved. That goes for you as well jamie.
Birds lie: that's why "bird" is a euphamism for "woman".
But I say snarky things to hide the fact that I'm blushing.
I was actually speaking of this very topic the other day at work. another person and myself were talking about various subjects pertaining to the way the world thinks and acts and why (my favorite Q.). just a little backround info at my work there is a problem with cusing. Anyway to make a long argument short we came to a mutual conclusion that there is no realistic reason, or benifit for cusing whatsoever. and that really it shows a lack of education, which is funny because my english teacher cuses up a storm, an english teacher, in college, what is the world coming to?
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