profanity

Profanity is an interesting concept.

Profane (as an adjectived) is defined by Meriam-Webster as:
1 : to treat (something sacred) with abuse, irreverence, or contempt
2 : to debase by a wrong, unworthy, or vulgar use.

Profanity (as a noun) is defined as:
1 a : the quality or state of being profane b : the use of profane language
2 a : profane language b : an utterance of profane language

So what is it that's sacred that's being desecrated when we use the word fuck (as Bono did)? Could it be sex? Now that's an interesting concept. Members of organized religions would probably be screaming yes right about now but let's stop for a second and consider the word sacred.

Here are several definitions of the word sacred, also provided by Meriam-Webster:

1 a : dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity {a tree sacred to the gods} b : devoted exclusively to one service or use (as of a person or purpose) {a fund sacred to charity{
2 a : worthy of religious veneration : HOLY b : entitled to reverence and respect
3 : of or relating to religion : not secular or profane
4 archaic : ACCURSED
5 a : UNASSAILABLE, INVIOLABLE b : highly valued and important {a sacred responsibility}

All these definitions of sacred are used at one time or another I suppose and the one you use would probably be determined by the context of the situation. What I find interesting is that the religious-minded persons in our society are being allowed to define what is and is not profane. Profane language is language that desecrates something that is considered sacred, it's nasty, dirty, etc. So who determines what those nasty and dirty words are? Why, it appears that those words become dirty if they profane something defined as sacred by the religious sector.

Sex is (laughably) defined as sacred by organized religions. I say laughably because they don't treat it as a sacred thing, to be revered and respected, they treat it as a nasty dirty thing that's shameful and disgusting. Of course, that's an entire field of study in itself so I won't make more comments about that. The point I'm trying to make is that the tenants of organized religion creep into our lives whether or not we believe and follow those tenants. In ways we often don't even consider. Why are certain words considered profane while others aren't? Because religions decide based on their set of internal regulations.

I'm not doing too well with this topic because it keeps boggling my mind how entwined these religions (mainly Christianity) are with our society. Even people (like me) who don't subscribe, adhere, believe, or respect these institutions have our lives affected by them in some way. For a country that screamed (at one time) "Separate the church and state!" we haven't done that great of a job. I guess you could also make the point that you can't ever truly separate the two because the same people who are involved in running the state are probably involved in some kind of religious activity. You cannot separate someone's beliefs from their actions or their lives. Sad but true.

On another note, this whole discussion about profanity apparently doesn't affect politicians (the very people who are supposed to be separating the church from the state) because we wouldn't want to interfere with *their* First Amendment rights. Here's a short excerpt from the article I referenced about Bono:

"...If passed by the five-member FCC commission, Powell's proposal would outlaw Bono's profanity in almost all instances, singling it out as the one word that would nearly guarantee an FCC fine if uttered between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. on radio and broadcast television. Exceptions would include if the profanity is used in a political situation; the FCC's indecency rules include no mandates that might chill political speech..."

Because political speech is so much more important than any other kind... (I wonder who's getting the money from the fines & what it's being used for?)