Is cussing really immoral?

[Eudaimonist]

Poor language is the single most expensive habit held by the public at large.

Expensive in what way?


eudaimonia,

Mark

 

[bricklayer]

Expensive in what way?


eudaimonia,

Mark

Those with heavy urban accents, for example, will never know what it cost them. They will most likely not be told why they didn't get the position, the contract, the sale, the promotion, the date.

 

[dlamberth]

For the life of me, I can't come up with a legitimate reason to think that "swear" words are morally questionable, at least as far as use around children or other "inappropriate" situations goes.

If those around you would be affended, than yes, I'd have to say that swearing would be morally questionable. Different people have different levels of acceptance. So some level of swearing might be morally OK with one group of people but not with another.

.

 

[DaisyDay]

I'd say more vulgar than immoral. Cussing isn't always or even usually meant to offend as much as be emphatic.

The only cussing I would call immoral is blasphemy and then only if the cusser is an adherent of that particular religion.

 

[Hawisher]

It's not immoral in the slightest, except as used to express hate towards another. What it really is is juvenile, ridiculous, and foolish, except in rare situations.

 

[TheyCallMeDave]

For the life of me, I can't come up with a legitimate reason to think that "swear" words are morally questionable, at least as far as use around children or other "inappropriate" situations goes. (Maybe if a nuclear device was set to go off if a nearby computer registered a person cussing in the vicinity, cussing would in that case be wrong.) Consider it this way, in reference to a word that will be indicated by means of the way I propose it to be considered:

It is not the sound of this word that is immoral, for it is part of another word for a certain kind of resilient insect, and by itself is a word for a certain kind of bird.

It is not the meaning of this word that is immoral, because scientific words referring to my manhood are not immoral.
​

How, then, does the combination of a particular sound and a particular meaning make a word immoral to say, at least around children/etc.? So I think it's maybe a bit ethically superstitious, you might say, to think of cussing as somehow unethical (except, again, in triggering-a-nuke kinds of scenarios).

Its actually fairly easy to establish that such things as cussing is an immoral offense ; while certain behaviors depend on the Standard you wish to appeal to as to whether something is truly right or wrong....another logical deduction can be made in the following manner :

If your not sure if cussing is right or wrong, then pay attention to YOUR REACTION when someone cusses YOU out or cusses out your loved one. This reaction will reveal if it is of an absolute offense or not.

Likewise, there are in fact absolute moral laws inherent to us and all we need to do to conclude so, is : Pay attention to how we respond/react when someone violates us whether by word or action . If it werent absolutely wrong, then we should maintain a response of nuetrality or indifference. Another method we can determine if WE are doing something that is absolutely wrong, is whether or not we try to HIDE the action we've commited , for, there would be no reason for a coverup or excuse making IF the action were correct or appropriate.

In summary, its not the words or actions that we DESIRE to occupy...but rather...the REACTION we have when Others use it toward Us (or, our reaction to hide something we did whereby we know, intrinsically, was wrong to do) .

Its a pretty simple deduction isnt it ? In fact, it is the very teaching of Christ : .To do unto others as you would have them do unto you' . Of course, the foundational Court of Arbitration is by comparing words said or actions commited..... as it relates to Gods character, nature, or Person . That is the ultimate moral Barometer which sadly, most people dont want and could care less about so they can live their life the way they choose with an exclusion of / or minimumization of moral culpability -- such people call this 'freedom' and 'entitlement' (unjustly so) and is one of the chief reasons for the moral degradation of this once great Nation called America .

 

[Omnia sunt communia]

You should not treat another person in a degoratory, humiliating, disrespectful, disparaging or diminishing way. You should treat people with respect.

But this is about the content of what you are saying. It is not necessarily about the words that might express a certain content. Just because a word is classified as a cursing/swearing word doesn't mean that the utterance of the word is disrespectful. And you can also express a very disrespectful content with elegant and proper language.