2nd August 2004

Quaker Whupass

posted in The Proprietor |

Cognitive dissonance is my name. I have a verbal style befitting an infantryman under pressure, and the value structure of a pacifist. I want to influence outcomes by cutting out the bullshit and going straight to a bottom line. What do we need to do? How are we going to do it? And just shut up about your extraneous nonsense.

In considering when and how a Quaker might use rude and abusive language, the verse from the 19th Psalm emerges: “Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in thy sight o lord, my strength and my redeemer.”

At this point in my life theism is a stretch, let alone monotheism or even christocentric monotheism. But, accepting that there is a god just for the sake of argument, do you think she really gives a care about rough language?

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  1. 1 On August 2nd, 2024, phaTTboi said:

    If the judeo-christian progeny are right, God mainly cares about being taken seriously. Protestant versions of the generally accepted text of the first, second, and third Commandments demonstrate this, and the third (in this version) contains the prohibition against taking God’s name in vain.

    The prohibition is against blaspheming, not against talking dirty, or being unoriginal. But personally, I’ve found that attitude that requires profanity isn’t particularly impressive. Dick Cheney says it make him feel good, and I suppose for most people, getting the emotional release of saying something profane balances any social negatives. A lot of people even go for the social negatives, as if by doing so, they can make the object of the profane utterance feel particularly square or puritanical.

    But what is immediately affecting, truly frightening, viscous, and memorable is the person who drops his voice 10 db, and says something in a measured, cold way that makes the person to whom the comment is directed something less than a person. That’s the technique of sociopaths and venomous snakes, and it works its way quickly into nightmares and phobias. No profanity necessary.

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