KAITLIN SCHLUTER | arts & culture editor
This past week, L.A. County residents were encouraged to take up a bar of soap during the county’s first “No Cuss Week.”
According to an article from The Los Angeles Times, L.A. county supervisor Michael Antonovich created the week in response to the wishes of South Pasadena High School student McKay Hatch. Hatch, at age 12, formed a “No Cussing Club” on his middle school campus to alleviate the foul language of students who suffered from a bad case of “potty mouth.”
When Hatch was in middle school, the club’s website reported having 50 members. Continuing to grow, the club currently has over 20,000 members worldwide, and has even attracted the media. TV personality Dr. Phil has been seen posing with Hatch and the club’s vibrant orange T-shirts that read “Wanna hang with us? Don’t cuss!”
But in light of the season of Lent, I began to consider if giving up cussing in this manner is really what we as Christians are called to do. Sure, adopting “Mother Trucker” or “Oh, Fudge” instead of less tasteful versions for a week or the full 40 days of Lent is honorable, but what about the other 325 days a year?
We should be making the same efforts to limit our use of “bad words” because if we don’t attempt to, we are letting society and culture influence us rather than our own beliefs.
When I was in middle school, I had this deep fascination for the actor Orlando Bloom, whom I am embarrassed to admit covered the walls of my room and binders. My friends at the private school I attended shared this crush and during recess one day, someone asked me if I thought he was good–looking. I replied with the less nice version of “Darn Straight.”
The teacher on duty heard me and as she began to approach my little group, my heart began to race because I just knew she was going to tell my grandmother what I had said. My grandmother happened to be the most feared teacher in the school and I thought I was going to die. What I hadn’t realized and considered in this situation however, was my influence from the music I heard on the radio and the movies I watched. I was influenced and shaped in a negative way.
“When we are around [cussing] a lot and use it, not only do we shape language but language shapes us in the way we think,” Practical Theology Professor Cheryl A. Crawford said.
Crawford’s brother had convinced her to rent The Sopranos season DVD collection and after completing the set, she couldn’t help but notice that the phrases on the show had become a part of her vocabulary.
Crawford took action and stopped watching the show in fear something might slip during class.
“I realized that it had become part of my internal language,” Crawford said.
But internal language isn’t the only form.
Crawford categorizes the uses of cussing into three areas. The first being a contradiction to the third commandment: using God’s name in vain or supplementing the phrase with the favored acronym “OMG.”
Then there’s the use of other words that are accepted as foul language that have become a part of one’s daily vocabulary. And lastly, there’s the explosive type of cussing, when a word slips out when you fall down the awkward steps or miss the trolley.
As for the use of God’s name, this is the largest concern when used out of context. The repeated use of his name transfers the magnificence of the word into something less holy and more of a phrase. It loses its respect.
“God’s name meant so much even to the earliest Hebrews and I think we kind of lost that,” Crawford said.
Some students are trying to counter outside influences and work to have a vocabulary more favorable to God. While some APU students chose to honor the season of Lent by sacrificing a trip to Pinkberry for frozen yogurt or a view of their latest status updates on Facebook, freshman psychology major Arianna Weatherley has given up cussing.
On the east coast, she lived in an area that didn’t appear to be as religious and used foul language often. Weatherley admitted it was hard to not be influenced by that environment.
“I think it’s something our society should be without,” Weatherley said. “On TV it has gotten more natural to [cuss] than before. They should cut back.”
From the sociological view, the role of culture and cussing continues into the realm of the subculture of Christianity.
“Christians have a very particular value system dealing with certain behavior,” Department of Global Studies Assistant Professor Nori J. Henk said. “Language is at the top of the list, unlike other subcultures.”
So, before you blast that Snoop Dogg or “Get low” song, stop to think about the influences surrounding your life and whether the positives outweigh the negatives. When you’re listening or hearing others speak, are you letting their words consume your personal culture or are they separate?
Matthew 12:34 says “For out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.” Using the “F” word excessively isn’t advancing the kingdom of God or in any way improving your image of self-control. I encourage you to take this season of Lent to re–evaluate the condition of your heart and use these 40 days as the beginning steps.
