The Profanation of Our Culture

Some Love to Hate Haters

Have you noticed that almost anything a celebrity says about anything passes for news these days? Lebron James commented on Kobe Bryant’s death. Shaquille O’Neal commented on Kobe’s death. King James commented again on Kobe and his death. Magic Johnson weighed in on Kobe’s tragic helicopter crash. Lebron said something else about Kobe and the crash. But it’s worse. Not only do we get those breaking stories, but anytime someone claps back, it’s a news story. No matter who said what, no matter how irrelevant, it’s a news flash. But it gets worse still. The clap back is usually hate-filled and foul. Never mind the irony of the PC culture cancelling haters. It’s lost on them; they love to hate haters.

Recently, Josh Brolin posted a revealing picture of his wife online. Someone commented: “Why show your wife’s body off on the internet? It’s not good, God wants her to cover her body and not expose her body.” Brolin’s comeback? “I just spoke to God and God asked me to please ask you to shut the ____ up and go take a shower.” Here we have a snapshot of what our culture has become. He could have replied thoughtfully, judiciously, or simply ignored the comment. Yet, his response was juvenile, blasphemous, vulgar, and abusive all at the same time.

When There’s No God, Anything Goes

When the Christian worldview goes, civility goes with it. Civility is rooted in the existence of God, a standard of right and wrong, and a resulting sense of decorum. Heretofore, it was an unspoken assumption that we’re civilized people dealing with the same. We’re people created in the image of God dealing with the same. But no more. Without God, we have no reason to be civil. We can act on impulse; feelings; hatred; and the like. And what’s more, we don’t have to limit our clap backs to mere words. When there is no God, there are no rules. Some have already figured that out.

Our culture has become profane. It wasn’t long ago that one would never find foul language in news items. Today, I can hardly read a news item without some of the worst profanity. It goes without saying the profane is everywhere.

The Church is Not Immune

Sadly, it’s crept into the church. Major Christian leaders tout scatological language as having no consequence despite the fact that cultures do assign meanings to words. The notion that the Paul’s use of the word dung in Philippians is akin to the s____ word in our culture is as offensive as it is wrong. It might have been graphic, but not foul. Those are two different things. God may be more graphic than some of us in communicating certain realities. But, He’s not profane. Such is the exact opposite of His very nature.

Our culture is verbally abusive. I object to overusing concepts like abuse as it undermines the weightiness of genuine physical abuse. But if there is such a thing as verbal abuse, our culture has found it. Brolin is a mere copycat.

The Categorical Imperative

The rejection of God affects everything from salvation to civility; from ethics to manners; from words to invectives. That’s why it’s imperative we keep speaking: that we keep speaking the truth in love; the truth about everything. Because that’s what God is about. Let’s trade the profane for the praiseworthy, and maybe others will do the same.

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