i have 3 things to post about. *points at title*. haha. yeah.
first, vulgarities.
it’s kinda annoying to me how churches/christians criticise ppl who use certain ‘vulgar’ words, and insist that those words should not be used. James 3:10 (“Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be.”) is often used to justify it, but in my opinion, that is a weak argument. the usage of certain words, such as fuck/shit/damn, etc etc, does not necessarily denote cursing. from websters new world college dictionary, 4th edition, a curse is: 1. a calling on God or the gods to send evil or injury down on some person or thing. 2. a profane, obscene, or blasphemous oath, imprecation, etc. expressing hatred, anger, vexation, etc. 3. evil or injury that seems to come in answer to a curse. 4. any cause of evil or injury. logically, “curse” as a verb, or “cursing” is the act of saying a curse (only applies to the first 2 definitions, of course). so, cursing is calling on God or the gods to send evil or injury down on some person or thing; or expressing hatred, anger, vexation, etc by using a profane, obscene, or blasphemous oath, imprecation, etc. the thing about both definitions, is it’s a matter of intent. “using a profane, obscene, or blasphemous oath” in itself is not cursing, it has to express hatred, anger, etc. it’s all based on the intention. so it’s illogical to say that certain words should not be used (or, in the very least, it’s illogical to say that using of certain words is cursing), and as such, that verse cannot be used to effectively enjoin the usage of certain terms. how is it cursing when someone says (as is quite common in today’s society, at least in my previous schl, for example) something like “for fucks sake”. how is that any worse than saying “for goodness sake”. it’s the same intent, so if the latter is not a curse, the former should not be considered one. similarly, in a phrase like “damn good” or “fucking lame”, etc, etc. it’s not a curse, it’s used to emphasize something. these usages of the words are quite common in today’s society, and i don’t see how or why churches are against the words in those contexts, as it’s obviously not a curse. it’s used in the same intent as “very”, but just with more emphasis, so how is it a curse? admittedly, sometimes the words are used as a curse, but not always, and as such, it seems illogical to conclude that the word itself should not be used. it’s just a [edit: should be “the”, typo error] context in which it’s used.
another argument christians tend to use against ‘vulgarities’ (i don’t like to call them that, as a vulgarity, similar to a curse, is based on intent, but for simplicity’s sake, i will), is that it gives a bad impression. honestly, which do u think will be more well-thought of, someone who uses vulgar words or someone who is against it and tells everyone not to use those words, etc. personally, i think it’s the former. obviously, i can’t comment on this too conclusively, as it’s a personal thing, but, if i was a non-christian, i wouldn’t care much about whether a christian uses certain words. what would matter is how he treats ppl. the usage of words (of course, based on intent, as stated above) is not important. and a person who is against vulgarities and tells people not to use them, would come across as naggy and busybody, and too goody-too-shoes. he won’t come across as someone i admire cos of good virtue or anything. the words we use doesn’t affect wat virtues we represent, the intention does. obviously this point is quite related to the first point, so i’ll leave it at that for now.
ok, on to the 2nd thing: the carling cup. haha. this will be on a much lighter note.
the final was good. a classic match, with everything in it, beautiful passing and movement, efficient solid defence, chances for both teams, even a fight and a player knocked unconscious. it was a great match to watch, and it’s given me great hope about arsenal’s future. arsenal’s youngsters, with an average age of 20 (not including the keeper), matched up with chelsea’s superstar squad. drogba and shevchenko cost more than the whole arsenal squad yesterday (if i’m not wrong), and the fact that the gunners were more than a match for them, is a very bright sign. arsenal had more shots, equal possesion, and almunia didn’t have much to do other than the goals. full credit to chelsea, they took their chances well, and arsenal could and should have been more clinical, but the arsenal teams are young,and will only get better. the future certainly is bright for arsenal. =D.
on a side note, i find it ironic that the arsenal players involved in the fight (toure, fabregas, adebayoor – who i don’t think did anything actually, and eboue – from what i hear, didn’t really see), are the more experienced players. it was the experienced players that lost their cool, not the youngsters. isn’t that ironic. but on the positive side, it shows good aggression on the players side, at least they showed passion and desire, that they won’t get bullied, and yeah, if that aggression is controlledwell, this team could become one of the best ever.
3rdly: death
this links quite well to the carling cup. in the last 24 hrs, i’ve received 2 nice reminders of how fragile human life is, how quickly we can lose it. first was john terry’s injury. and on that point, let me digress a bit. though i’m an arsenal fan, i do have utmost respect for terry, he’s a great defender and a brilliant leader. so i wish him all the best, and hope he gets better. ok, back to topic. it was kinda…horrifying how close he got to dying in the match. and yeah, it’s a reminder of how quickly one can die.
the second reminder was much more personal, and as such, much scarier. today as i was walking, one of those poles ppl use to hang clothes dropped less than six inches in front of my face. it was very freaky. if the pole had fallen on me, i probably would be dead by now. and if i was walking any faster, or if i hadn’t slowed down to check my phone, it probably would have fallen on me. i’m still kinda freaked by it. now i keep getting a weird feeling that something’s going to fall on me. like when i lie on my bed, i get this weird paranoia that the light is going to fall on me. this isn’t good.
but well, as rachel said, maybe god’s trying to tell me something. it’s served as a timely reminder of how fragile our human life is, and that yeah, we should make the most of it. as she said, “it’s something you have to know; like you’ll never know what things will happen”. it’s one of those things which u know in ur mind, but it doesn’t really become real to u until u experience it, i guess. and yeah, it was a close experience today. so hopefully, it’ll help spur me on to live properly for god again. yep.
ok, that’s about it. haha. my longest post so far, i think. =D
