Asking the Clergy: When is it sinful to use foul language?

Public discourse has become even more coarsened of late, with previously taboo words bandied about in politics and the media. This week’s clergy discuss how coarse language may not only hurt other people’s ears, but it also offends God.

The Rev. Martin Hawley

South Bay Bible Church, East Moriches

‘When is it sinful to use foul language?” is like asking what the minimum standards are for an exam, or what is the least amount of exercise I must do so I won’t have a heart attack. When Jesus began to teach, he never dumbed things down. Jesus taught that lust was the same as adultery and anger the same as murder (Matthew 5:21-28). The quick answer is “. . . men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken,” (Matthew 12:36). Our speech was created to glorify and esteem God and build others up. “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen,” (Ephesians 4:25). Therefore, when we are careless with our speech or use it to tear others down, we sin. The penalty for sin is death (Romans 6:23). That’s the bad news! “What a wretched man I am,” said the Apostle Paul, “Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God — through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:21). We break the spirit of God’s law by using careless words, and we deserve punishment by God for doing so. However, Jesus came to earth, never sinned, and died. Jesus, having no sin to die for, died for your sin and my sin; thus, He paid the penalty for all who would believe and place their trust in Him. That’s the good news!

The Rev. William McBride

Religious director, Interfaith Community Religious Education Program, Brookville Multifaith Campus

There are two ways to answer this question. If you take the meaning of foul language to be words that are “out of line,” then foul language by definition is sinful. Words that are out of line divide people. And sin, according to theologian Virgil Elizondo, is that which divides. The other answer is more difficult. A way of setting its context is to ask ourselves, if Jesus, the carpenter, were hammering a nail and accidentally hit his finger, What would Jesus say? He also deliberately used words describing people’s offensive behavior, which Jesus’ critics claimed were offensive. Jesus was mindful of his choice of words and tried to use them to build up the faith community. His words were not occasions of sin. Since preparing for my First Confession in the Catholic Church, memorizing the Second Commandment and Act of Contrition, I have known in my heart that certain words were sinful because they took the “name of the Lord Thy God in vain” and “offended thee my God who art all good.” I examined my conscience to confess the use of certain bad words or chronic bad verbal habits like gossiping and belittling language. Certain words were always confessional material. Today, seeing some of these words in headlines can be quite disturbing to a person of faith. A constructive response to the question of foul language might be to ask ourselves, “Are we are being mindful in our choice of words and do these words express the values we believe in?”

Sister Anjani Seepersaud

Coordinator of Global Harmony House, the Raja Yoga Meditation Center of the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual Organization, Great Neck

For the Brahma Kumaris, any language or actions which take us away from our true nature, our original state of peace and love, which God has made us, is sinful. A sin is not acting in accordance with our truth. This is a high bar to live up to, but it is also a clear guide on how to see ourselves and others. We are spiritual beings, souls, with an innate nature of peace, love and joy. When we loose that awareness of being a soul, we move in the realm of sin. When we do not see the goodness of God in the other, it is sin. When we forget our true nature, become angry or influenced by negativity and speak foul language, that is sin. It is very easy to be in a state of sin and to speak from that consciousness. Seeing only someone as they present themselves physically is a sin. God wants us to see the perfection in each being and hold that awareness of how great all his children are. It therefore becomes our spiritual duty to reconnect to God, reconnect to our original state of being, and only share the pure words based on our experience of this eternal truth. We believe this time is coming close for us to understand this and move out of a world of sin and only speak that which is not foul.