Daniel Amos Message Board | Print: Would Terry ever use the "S" word?

Posted by audiori on 07-11-2010 at23:56:

I remember when I was about 6 or 7 saying the word "shoot" in sunday school... one lady gasped.. another kind of freaked out. (I always thought it was funny that it was a word like that that caused a ruckus.) A friend I knew in regular school happened to be visiting that day..as if on cue, he started talking to me about some rock band that we both liked. He was completely clueless, but it couldn't have been better timing if he had rehearsed it. The upset ladies continued to stare. I was almost convinced I was going to be run out of there with pitchforks or broomsticks or whatever they used to do that in those days.

After that day, Jason and I both indepdently developed a weird ability to say almost anything about anyone without being heard by the teachers. Other kids would obviously hear it and start laughing.. the teachers would ask what we said and no one would tell them. It made the teenage years very fun. Big Grin

Posted by dennis on 07-12-2010 at08:58:

RE: Back in the day....

quote:

Originally posted by joey

quote:

Originally posted by dennis
RK

quote:

Originally posted by joey

quote:

Originally posted by Joey T.
when Terry actually posted on the Daniel Amos message board, he brought the subject up one time. He told a story from Tony Campolo. Let's not turn this into a pro or against thing against Campolo, but he told this story... I don't remember the whole thing, but the main point was that Tony said to his audience one time "There are children dying all over the world every day, and most of you don't give a sh*t." Then he paused for a few seconds and said "The real sad thing is that most of you are more upset that I said sh*t than that the children are dying...." Frown

I remember Terry posting that.
It was a long time ago.

still holds true...

Sadly yes.

Posted by Audiori J on 07-12-2010 at10:43:

Hate to derail, but it was me that told that story about Tony Campolo. It happened at a thing called Youth Encounter in Illinois that I used to design the stage and T-Shirts for.

My opinion of cussing has always been that it's not a sin to use offensive words, culture defines them as offensive not God. But on the other hand, I would use discretion on when or who I would say anything deemed offensive around. Even if the words themselves are not evil, there really isn't a good purpose in trying to offend anyone.

Posted by dennis on 07-12-2010 at18:57:

The occasionally cuss word made Johnny Cash more credible.

Posted by audiori on 07-12-2010 at19:38:

The catch is to know how and when to use them.

Overuse comes off as meaningless and immature.

Posted by joey on 07-12-2010 at22:02:

Shocked

quote:

Originally posted by dennis
The occasionally cuss word made Johnny Cash more credible.

or gesture.... Tongue

Posted by sondance on 07-12-2010 at23:14:

quote:

Originally posted by audiori
The catch is to know how and when to use them.

Overuse comes off as meaningless and immature.

i was meaningless and immature once... things have kind of gone downhill since then but i swear less

Posted by dennis on 07-13-2010 at00:24:

quote:

Originally posted by joey

quote:

Originally posted by dennis
The occasionally cuss word made Johnny Cash more credible.

or gesture.... Tongue

Well yes, there's that too.

Posted by dennis on 07-13-2010 at00:27:

quote:

Originally posted by audiori
The catch is to know how and when to use them.

Overuse comes off as meaningless and immature.

Yup, choose your words carefully for maximum impact.

People who swear too much sound just as ignorant as someone who says "like " all the time.

Posted by Ron E on 07-13-2010 at07:06:

quote:

Originally posted by dennis

quote:

Originally posted by audiori
The catch is to know how and when to use them.

Overuse comes off as meaningless and immature.

Yup, choose your words carefully for maximum impact.

People who swear too much sound just as ignorant as someone who says "like " all the time.

Huh, I like that last part. Never thought of that comparison.

Posted by Jimmy Brown on 07-13-2010 at08:57:

quote:

Originally posted by sondance
i was meaningless and immature once... things have kind of gone downhill since then but i swear less

Thank you for the "Quote of the Day" here at work. I was about to have to use Chesterton again.

Posted by Audiori J on 07-13-2010 at10:36:

The people that cuss a lot remind me of when you see a 12 year old at the mall smoking. As if everyone is supposed to say, 'ooooo he's an adult!' When in reality you want to take it out of their mouth, grab them by the arm and say 'I am going to call your mother.' It's someone trying to hard.

Posted by sondance on 07-13-2010 at14:40:

evocative language choices can become complicated.

there is the peer group point of view, e.g. how many 12 year olds are trying to be viewed as adult by adults? if the audience is just as immature (frustrated, bigoted, hateful, hopeless, etc) as the performer, then in a way they all understand one another pretty well, ridiculous or not… rappers may come to mind.

if an evangelist addresses a crowd and swears, then it is simply weird for him/her to expect the crowd to understand and appreciate why; too many (even if they are conflicting) boundaries are crossed… maybe this is another way of saying the point of view is not clear.

for a Christian performer or teacher, like it or not, point of view should not be muddled, i don’t think. sometimes i struggle with uncle Terry’s point of view but that is also true ofthe apostle Paul or pseudo-apostle James. i have an unofficial theory, carefully steering clear of infallibility implications, that New Testament authors are not immune to the struggle to be clear about what they mean. couple that with our distorted ability to understand first century culture and… yikes.
i’d like to see contemporary Christian teachers, and the more astute Christian artists, address this head on. i’m not sure any really do.

i’m sorry what were it we was yammering about?

Posted by dennis on 07-13-2010 at18:20:

Thumb Up!

on the flip side.

The Big Lewboski has the f-bomb in it something like 500 times, but it is a well written and smart film.

Posted by Audiori J on 07-13-2010 at21:00:

My personal view is that there are many different factors to consider;

1. Can a word just be evil, I don't think so.
2. Is it the definition of the word?
3. Or the intent of the person using it?

If it was simply a matter of definition, then saying 'shoot' is the same as saying 's*it.' I think, personally, it all falls on the spirit of the person using the word. In this sense, my brother and I could use cuss words that don't offend each other to each other without any intent of offending each other and I think that is fine. Likewise a person could intend to offend someone and actually offend them even without using a defined 'cuss' word, I think this would actually be an issue. And I think a person could be disrespectful to other people by not caring if they offend or not, that could be an issue, not that the words used are evil.. but that their spirit is not exactly where a Christian should be.

I think this is where those verses about 'foul language and praising God should not come out of the same mouth'.. it's not specific words really, but we can't have a heart for God and at the same time purposefully try and offend our fellow man or not care if we do.. no matter what words we use.

I personally think every culture defines their own 'cuss' words, and they change from time period to time period, there is no list of 'Thou shalt not say these ten words..' defined by God.

I think it all comes down to a person's heart. What their intent is, what their spirit is, how sensitive to those around them they are.. and so on. That's my opinion.

Another point to be made, is often you can't please everyone no matter how hard you try. Some people will be offended by things we say no matter how carefully we say them or even if our intent is pure. And sometimes when speaking the truth, that itself can be offensive. Some people see the Gospel itself as offensive. You can't stop sharing the Gospel because you don't want to offend anyone, even if that is a politically correct place to be. I think the scripture means we can't represent Christ and be purposefully foul at the same time, or show compassion for others and be calloused to others feelings at the same time.

I am not a Campolo fan by any stretch, but I like what he said. People were more offended by the word' 's*it' than by the fact that people were going to hell. In other words they adhere more to man's rules than to God's, they are more in tune to cultural standards than to Spiritual Truths.

Posted by larryl on 07-13-2010 at21:23:

quote:

Originally posted by sondance

for a Christian performer or teacher, like it or not, point of view should not be muddled, i don’t think.

to me... especially with performers, this brings up the question "is the performer a 'christian performer' (wow, typing that, i think no one should be), or are they a 'performer who is a christian'?"

this is an important distinction i believe.

right by damm.

Posted by sondance on 07-14-2010 at00:11:

quote:

Originally posted by larryl

this is an important distinction i believe.

soitenly

Posted by sondance on 07-14-2010 at00:27:

quote:

Originally posted by audiori
After that day, Jason and I both independently developed a weird ability to say almost anything about anyone without being heard by the teachers. Other kids would obviously hear it and start laughing.. the teachers would ask what we said and no one would tell them. It made the teenage years very fun. Big Grin

ah yes, the indispensable audiorii, we should have known... one of my buddies in high school suffered a similar twitch of character only he would say things of questionable taste just within ear shot of a teacher but without giving away its source, while masquerading as an innocent victim of a rowdy crowd... or it may have been a police officer or some surly brute on the varsity wrestling team... many's the time i sought the protection of anonymity... in his case the challenge was to not laugh