It's no secret that our family supports Ron Paul. We receive frequent email updates from Campaign for Liberty. Recently Matt Hawes sent a letter decrying the oppressive nature of certain governing elements. He used some naughty words for shock value. I copied my response to him, and post it here.
Dear Mr. Hawes, I appreciate your [Campaign for Liberty] updates. Quoting your recent letter:
"And your neighbor is back to spying on the block for something else to complain about.
"Which will probably be your screaming."
Very clever tie-back to your initial reference to our urge to scream in frustration [about tyranny]. Your communication skills are excellent. May I ask you to please hone those skills a little further? As an intelligent man, I'm certain you want to use the best word for the job. That must be why you said, "Tyranny s----" - a quick trip for the reader toward understanding you precisely.
Words are tools. The Creator gave us language so we can communicate with each other. While saying "s----" is efficient, it is offensive to me, and likely to others (as offensive as the f--- word). "S----" is a sexual term which has crept into modern language by way of frequent slang usage. My under-age children read these updates.
We don't use that kind of language in our home, because it does not reflect the character of our matchless, sovereign, loving Lord Jesus Christ, who we represent as Christians. His other name is "the Word." Because our attitude toward our everyday vocabulary affects how we view the Word of God (the Bible), I jealously guard the use of my words, and encourage others to do so.
Ideas have consequences and those ideas are expressed verbally. The lack of reverence for, blatant disregard of, and even rebellion against the commands found in the Holy Scriptures is directly proportional to the dumbing-down, twisting and denaturing of the English language. It may seem like I'm "preaching" at you, but this nation's slide into socialism results from these very corruptions. Most of what Ron Paul represents and defends is based on the Holy Bible. Everything wrong with America, the things that you write about in your updates, the things that cause me to support Ron Paul, ... all these things are a result of rebellion against the Word of God Almighty. Frankly, much of our legislation would be unnecessary if the population all obeyed the Lord's commands. I hope you can see that our use of words and -the- Word correlates to the moral climate.*
Having expressed what I believe is the best reason to choose our words with care - to honor and glorify our Creator and Master - I add this: usage of those types of words dishonors and defiles the reader, AND degrades the quality of your writing, which otherwise is quite excellent - concise and effective. Would you please refrain from employing such verbiage in future updates?
Thank you for reading this and for considering my request.
Working with you for the betterment of our beloved nation,
Respectfully,
Julia Kautt
*I'm indebted to my dear friend, Marci Putman - the politically active, home educating mother of several children, an intelligent and thought-full woman - for her recent influence on my thinking in this area.
Dear Mr. Hawes, I appreciate your [Campaign for Liberty] updates. Quoting your recent letter:
"And your neighbor is back to spying on the block for something else to complain about.
"Which will probably be your screaming."
Very clever tie-back to your initial reference to our urge to scream in frustration [about tyranny]. Your communication skills are excellent. May I ask you to please hone those skills a little further? As an intelligent man, I'm certain you want to use the best word for the job. That must be why you said, "Tyranny s----" - a quick trip for the reader toward understanding you precisely.
Words are tools. The Creator gave us language so we can communicate with each other. While saying "s----" is efficient, it is offensive to me, and likely to others (as offensive as the f--- word). "S----" is a sexual term which has crept into modern language by way of frequent slang usage. My under-age children read these updates.
We don't use that kind of language in our home, because it does not reflect the character of our matchless, sovereign, loving Lord Jesus Christ, who we represent as Christians. His other name is "the Word." Because our attitude toward our everyday vocabulary affects how we view the Word of God (the Bible), I jealously guard the use of my words, and encourage others to do so.
Ideas have consequences and those ideas are expressed verbally. The lack of reverence for, blatant disregard of, and even rebellion against the commands found in the Holy Scriptures is directly proportional to the dumbing-down, twisting and denaturing of the English language. It may seem like I'm "preaching" at you, but this nation's slide into socialism results from these very corruptions. Most of what Ron Paul represents and defends is based on the Holy Bible. Everything wrong with America, the things that you write about in your updates, the things that cause me to support Ron Paul, ... all these things are a result of rebellion against the Word of God Almighty. Frankly, much of our legislation would be unnecessary if the population all obeyed the Lord's commands. I hope you can see that our use of words and -the- Word correlates to the moral climate.*
Having expressed what I believe is the best reason to choose our words with care - to honor and glorify our Creator and Master - I add this: usage of those types of words dishonors and defiles the reader, AND degrades the quality of your writing, which otherwise is quite excellent - concise and effective. Would you please refrain from employing such verbiage in future updates?
Thank you for reading this and for considering my request.
Working with you for the betterment of our beloved nation,
Respectfully,
Julia Kautt
*I'm indebted to my dear friend, Marci Putman - the politically active, home educating mother of several children, an intelligent and thought-full woman - for her recent influence on my thinking in this area.
1 comment:
I only read your blog on occasion, but I was glad to find your piece, Julia. Although I do not discuss politics online, I couldn't agree with you more that people who otherwise have good ideas and writing skills completely lose their reader when they start slinging swear/slang words. We don't use them in our home either, but obviously my children hear them when we go places. So, I have been careful to explain what they mean in real terms and again reinforce that their use is inappropriate for emphasis and actually makes the user appear ignorant when they may actually not be (except on the topic of using swear words for emphasis! LOL!). Thanks for this reminder. We sometimes have "swear" night and my kids think it's hilarious that they get to use all the baddies, but I feel it keeps them from using them in everyday language. They get it out, they laugh hysterically, and then it's over until another time. For my kids, this works to keep the language out of everyday use.
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