Counteract crude speech with civility

Years ago, I watched shouting matches of the British Parliament and legislators in other nations actually mixing-it-up physically. I was so grateful our politicians “did the people’s business” during those days, indeed, with strength, force and persuasion, but for the most part always with respect and dignity.

Now I am ashamed!

I’m ashamed when a congressman from N.Y. spews out venom with unmitigated vitriol in the House of Representatives; when vice presidents — past and present — unabashedly use the “F” word in a public forum; when a church group with hate-filled banners callously protests at funerals of brave young men and women who died to preserve our freedom of expression — I am ashamed.

In my lifetime, I’ve seen several presidents and scores of legislators come and go; yet never have I witnessed such wholesale disregard for public civility and the law of sowing and reaping. It would be na Øve to suggest our society ever will be absolutely free from verbal toxins, but it is equally na Øve to assume our nation can escape forever their negative impact.

A recent film played a grungy old man teaching a teenage boy to “man-up.” After being introduced to the local barber, the boy was told to leave the shop and re-enter greeting the barber with language that gave new definition to masculinity. He repeated the exercise under the tutelage of the two “man-up” experts until finally the boy felt comfortable spewing out a string of arrogant expletives that earned him the praise of his deluded teachers. What a sorry standard for maturity.

The Bible is quite explicit in reminding us “the power of death and life is in the tongue” (Proverbs 18:21); and that we must “put off all filthy communication out of [our] mouth” (Colossians 3:8).

God commanded, “Neither shalt thou profane he name of thy God: I am the Lord” (Leviticus. 18:21). And I have a feeling the Apostle wasn’t thinking about conversation peppered with expletives and demeaning comparisons, such as shamefully rage from classrooms to congress today, when he wrote our “speech [should] be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer every man.” His challenge was “salty speech” that is rational and redemptive.

A teacher from California wrote in the Signal Newspaper that profanity seems to be becoming mainstream. He noted that profanity is everywhere.

The Dallas Morning Star correspondent, Jeffery Weis, who has written extensively on this subject and who coined the word, “Civilogue,” to define people whose speech is civil, makes a strong call for action to counteract the increasing blight of crude, insensitive and often immoral speech.

I doubt that washing-out the mouths of “word-handicapped” folks will solve the problem, but there are some things that can be done. To their credit, Facebook added a “Profanity Block List” and eBay now carries the warning that, “we just don’t allow using hateful, offensive, profane, or vulgar language in almost all public areas of the website.”

Whether or not one is religious, It will do all of us good to follow the wisdom of the great Apostle Paul, “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers” (Ephesians 4:29). It would make us all proud again.

The Rev. Guy BonGiovanni is director of Life Enrichment Ministries Inc. in Canfield.