Religion & Respect for the Doctorate

7th Grade Vocabulary???

A very illuminating observation, Bill.

The use of such language is indeed reminiscent of a 7th grade male adolescent who, to cover some self-perceived inadequacy, feels the need to use offensive in-your-face verbage. The kiddie feels like such a man when he uses such language, however, the adults in the group recognize the elementary attempt at self-justification for what it is. While the 7th grader is convinced he has impressed everyone, the adults, of course, understand that the little boy has impressed no one. Unfortunately, some little boys never mature to adulthood, therefore, spending the rest of their lives using 7th grade tactics.

 

Re: 7th Grade Vocabulary???

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That's right! So, Steve, I want you in the principal's office now!

 

Levicoff

These comments are unworthy of you.

BA+MA+PhD=child.

 

A characteristically good answer from Steve (French aside), though now that he mentions biblical mandates about titles, I've always wondered how churches that recognize scriptural inerrancy can hold public prayer services in light of Matthew 6.


Cheers,

 

Tom, your PM mailbox is full. Please empty it so I can ask another question about ZA & Aussie schools.

To clean out your mailbox, make sure you do it "from the begining."

 

Huh.............????

North

 

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Huh?


Steve's reference to 'He Who Is' ,which he says is applied to him, (OR is the One who knows him??) is similar to a common translation of the divine name , from the verb 'to be', "Eheyah asher Eheyah"--(YHWH) revealed to Moses in Exod 3:14.

 

Even the Carpathian peasant, who doesn't usually give a flying, uh, whatever about colorful language, finds the conjunction of coprology and blasphemy a bit much.

 

Done. I hope I made myself useful!


Cheers,

 

Good observation, Bill, although I have no desire to attribute divinity to myself. The "He Who Is" comes from the nickname once used by the faculty manager of a radio program I did several years ago. The guy happened to be a priest, and I can't remember the last time he had read Exodus 3:14.

It does kind of remind me of a dialogue I once saw spawned because someone typed "I AM" in all upper-case letters as part of an entire upper-case sentence, then was accused of attributing divinity to himself. (Uninformed readers should read Exodus 3:14 - it makes the rationale behind this more obvious.)

Nonetheless, I do enjoy how three little words can spawn a dialogue that has ranged from theology to morality.

And Tom (Head), your observation about Matt. 6 was right on in terms of this thread. I think you may be the only one who actually understood what I had to say prior to the three words that set the other guys off.

 

Re: 7th Grade Vocabulary???

I expect that Russell's motivation for posting his by now routine responses to any and all obscenities is precisely to enable him to take the high road by playing the adult.

Frankly, I find this whole exchange interesting. Pushing the envelope isn't necessarily a bad thing. Nor is defending the envelope. It's an inevitable social process where both sides remain in dynamic balance.

As I see it, there is nothing inherently worse about being obscene than not being obscene. Using a sexually-loaded word like "fuck" as a slang expression standing for 'provocation' is really no worse than using a military expression or something instead.

The point is less the use of the word than the violation of the boundary of decorum that it symbolizes. The social envelope is arbitrary and symbolic, but it serves to keep social exchange safely within predictable channels.

It's interesting that such an important social negotiation can so often be motivated by people acting for such trivial reasons.

There! I've put myself in kind of a scholarly *meta-position* "looking down" on *both* Steve and Russell, "objectively" analyzing both of them!

(If you learn anything at all in university, it's how to appear to do that.)

Now I'm in the Adult position and they both lose face!

Ha ha, ha! Fu.. Oops, almost blew it there...

 

I got the reference Bill but was somewhat confused about the statement & question being in the same post.

North

 

Re: Re: 7th Grade Vocabulary???

Thank you, Bill, for the objectivism. Nevertheless, one's choice of terminology in a public forum is indeed important.

In a recent post you mildly reprimanded Bill Grover and me for our theological banter, stating that many would not (or do not) understand, and could easily be misled into thinking that we do not take seriously the Christian faith. If lighthearted banter could so easily be misunderstood, what about blatant in-your-face obscenities? It seems to me that this is little more than double-talk. If Bill and I could so easily be misinterpreted, what of Steve's blatant obscenity? While Steve's degrees are not from theological institutions, much of his research has involved theology. He often speaks as an authority in this discipline, however, such language does not lend itself to Christian spirituality. Again, double-talk.

It is true that on several occasions I have responded to off-color language. Perhaps I have an idealistic view that educated individuals have learned, not only to discipline their study habits, but also their vocabulary. Of course, this is not the case, and only reveals that education will not, can not, answer the ills of humankind. Obscene language is unneccesary in any context, much less a public forum.