"Life, Love, and the Pursuit of Writing Well"
That’s okay sweetie, mommies aren’t exactly feeling the love for their children all the time, either.
But don’t worry, that feeling is usually fleeting and we wouldn’t trade you for all the chocolate or cute kitties in the world. (Mostly).
(And OMG, I miss that little boy voice. Soooo cute. And no, he’s not mine. But I’d take him. With the mother’s permission, of course. I’m not like … oh never mind.).
Lori could feel nearly every muscle, every nerve, tighten painfully. She placed her hands on the washing machine and held on. She watched the water pour into the tub. Her anxiety was nearly palpable.
She could just make out her baby’s shrill cries over the noise of the machine. Two days now she’d listen to her daughter scream so loudly it made her brain vibrate. She couldn’t take much more. She was tired and frustrated.
“If only I had a hammer!” She yelled into the basin. She gasped at the sheer energy of her outburst and immediately felt sick.
It was time to get help.
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Write up to 100 words, fact or fiction….
This is a themed writing meme hosted by Jenny Matlock. The goal is to write something that does not exceed 100 words (not including said prompt). The prompt this week is in bold.
We went to Jazz’s band competition this weekend.
It was in Broken Arrow Oklahoma and if you aren’t into the whole marching band thing, let me tell you, Broken Arrow Oklahoma is THE band that no one can beat. In fact, they win the Bands of America competition nearly every year because they’re THAT good.
They usually have a cutting edge program complete with unusual props, moves and fun (sometimes dark) music. Last year? Their girls dressed up as snakes and enticed the band the whole program. It was a bit, erhm, disturbing, but pretty awesome to watch.
They won, of course.
This year, as the final scores were being tallied up, they performed their program as an exhibition – their program is loosely based on the “Wizard of Oz” complete with bicycles and cutesy head bobs … yeah, it’s pretty awesome and though I’m glad our kids got to see their program, Jazz later told me, “Yeah, there’s no way we’re going to win now.”
However, I told them that though the Broken Arrow band is awesome, they’re all flash and little substance, sort of like a flash website, it’s cool for about two seconds and then it becomes annoying.
But enough about the competition, let’s sing the praises of Jazz’s band.
And sing them I will.
Because these kids played their hearts out. And their formations were tight, their music was spot on and I’ve never seen them perform as well. Their band director added some moves, so a lot of the show was new to us and WOW. It was spectacular.
(Side Note: And I’m not just saying that because of Jazz. There were two veteran OK band members sitting behind us and I amused myself by listening to their critiques. When our school finished their show, one girl sat back and said, “Welp, that’s it. They’re going to win.”)
The show is called “No Strings Attached” and it’s about some marionette dolls that escape their strings and cause mischief throughout the program. What’s really cool about this show? The band director got ALL the band members involved. (Hence the above picture where they’re all sitting down in various poses).
We arrived shortly after 1:00 p.m. And the day was gorgeous, but it was hot. And we ended up sitting directly in the sun for several hours (we all have lobster necks to prove it). So by the time they breaked, we were already all pretty worn out. And our kids hadn’t even played yet.
But it really was the perfect weather to have a band competition.
Twenty bands competed and we stuck around to find out if our kids made finals. We figured, if they didn’t make it, then we would drive the three hours home. If they made it, we’d end up getting home at two o’clock in the morning.
The time came to announce the twelve finalists. Our kids won the visual performance award, which was a good sign, but still, my heart raced and I felt weak. Would they make finals?
Our kids were the first group to be announced to the finals.
It looked like we were going to be driving home in the middle of the night.
We honestly didn’t mind. 😀
After we found out they made finals, the bands that didn’t make it took off and the place thinned out a bit. Me, Kevin and Dude drove around until we spotted a Sonic and ate dinner. When we got back to the school, we ran into Jazz as we were heading back to the stadium.
He acted like he was glad to see us and he was excited to be performing in finals. He was hanging out with his buds and they were blowing off nervous steam. He didn’t think they were good enough to win and though they WERE good, there was a lot of tough competition. I didn’t want to lie to the boy, but I didn’t want to get his hopes up too, so I told him, “You guys definitely have a good enough show to make the top 5. Just do your best and have fun.”
He seemed a bit cheered up by that.
The kids were set to perform at 9:00. By this time, the sun had gone down and there was a cool breeze. In fact, I had the foresight to pack some jeans for me (which I changed into before finals began) and to take jackets (which we all used), so we were actually pretty comfortable. (The stadium also had fancy theater seats as opposed to the normal stadium benches).
Nine o’clock came around and our kids marched out onto the field. Even though I was nervous for them, I wasn’t petrified for them like in other competitions. Whatever happened, happened. They made it this far and that alone was something to be proud of.
They performed. And they did a spectacular job.
When it was time for the winners to be announced, I was on the edge of my seat. Every time the announcer called off a name, I was like, “NOT (insert school name here).”
He kept reading. Ninth place ….. sixth place …. fourth place ….. my heart was in my mouth by this time and the girls behind me? Were totally cheering for our school.
When third place was announced and it was just our kids and one other group left, I nearly had a heart attack. Crossing my fingers, we waited to hear who won ….
(Jazz is the skinny saxophone dude in the middle).
Unfortunately, it wasn’t us, but we came in SECOND PLACE and we were all ecstatic with that honor. It was a TOUGH competition, not to mention a CLOSE competition. (The announcer read off the scores and the difference was literally a tenth of a difference).
We drove straight home, though we had to stop just inside the Missouri state line so Dude could go to the bathroom. We nearly stayed too long because we were in a race to get back into town before Jazz did (he insisted on riding the bus home with his band mates) and though we made it back, we only beat Jazz by twenty minutes.
(Side Note: I had given him a key to the house as a backup plan, just in case we didn’t make it back in time. At least he wouldn’t be stranded in the middle of the night).
It was a loooooong day, and we were all exhausted, but it was fun and I’m so glad we did it!!
The band goes to St. Louis this weekend for the Bands of America competition. They’re scheduled to play Friday night with more bands competing on Saturday. They won’t find out if they made finals until Saturday night, which means a looooong waiting period for our kids.
Me, Kevin and Dude are planning on going up Friday, watching their performance Friday night and then driving back on Saturday. We didn’t feel like sitting around all day, watching other bands perform before finding out if they made finals. Plus, there’s no guarantee they WILL make finals. (Not to mention, tickets are expensive!) There are 50 bands in the competition and only 12 make finals. Though our kids are good, well, the odds are against them.
But we’re thinking positively here. At least we will have gone, yelled our support and got to see them perform again.
Man, I love this time of year. 🙂
Every Sunday I provide videos and valuable links to the Truth or Tradition teachings. We’ve been following the Truth or Tradition teachings for many years now and they have truly blessed our family. We have found peace and happiness through our beliefs and we walk confidently for God. My hope, by passing on this information to you, is that what you find here, or on the Truth or Tradition website, will guide you to a better, more blessed and abundant life.
If you would like to read my views on religion and how we got started with the ministry, you can read this.
Let’s get started:
FAQ: I know some Christians who say they are “pacifists,” and that war is always wrong. Some go so far as to say they would not defend themselves even if someone tried to kill them. One called me a “militant” Christian because I said I would. What does the Bible say about war?
While there are verses that some have interpreted in a pacifist way, we assert that the belief that a person should not defend himself, his family, his society, or his nation comes from a misinterpretation of the Bible. Even a cursory reading of Scripture will show that if one were to put a sub-title on Genesis 3:7 – Revelation 20:10, it would be “God at war.” With whom is He at war? And what are they fighting about?
God is at war with the spirit being we know as the Devil, Satan, or Lucifer, who rebelled against Him, and then twisted the hearts of Adam and Eve to get them to disobey Him. Satan is the same one who has since wreaked havoc on mankind, stealing, killing, and destroying everything and everyone he can (John 10:10). As the antithesis of God, who is love, Satan is pure hate.
What God and the Devil are fighting over is people. Knowing that his doom is certain because of the finished work of Jesus Christ, the Devil’s goal is to hurt God as badly as he can. He does so by trying to keep people from hearing the truth of God’s Word about Jesus Christ and thus getting saved. If people get saved, he still does all he can to make their lives miserable and to kill them. This relentlessly cruel being, who disguises himself as an angel of light, is in reality a liar, a deceiver, a murderer, and the personification of evil. If you give him a millimeter, he will take a light year.
God and the Lord Jesus are the epitome of love, and they will one day bring peace on earth, but they know that the wicked stand in the way of peace, and must be dealt with. When it comes to the pure evil that Satan embodies, the only way to have peace is by war, including eventually destroying him and all his allies. In the battle between good and evil, on the side of good there is God and his armies, both angels and human. On the side of evil is the Devil, his demons, and the people who knowingly or unknowingly side with him. Although it will not always be this way, the background of the spiritual and physical universe we are living in today is conflict. That is why the Bible says that God is a warrior. “The LORD is a man of war” (Exod. 15:3, KJV).
If the pacifist position were correct, it would seem logical that throughout history God would either prevent war, or at least not take sides in human conflicts, but that is not the case. God is certainly no pacifist, and the acts of our warrior-God fighting on behalf of His people, often via his angels, are seen all through the Bible. Some pertinent examples are: God removed the wheels of Egypt’s chariots as they pursued Israel, and drowned them in the sea (Exod. 14:25, 28); He threw hailstones down on the Canaanite army (Josh. 10:11); He rained down fire from heaven and burned up the enemy soldiers who came to get Elijah (2 King 1:9-15); He killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers who were attacking Jerusalem (2 Kings 19:35); He blinded the false prophet Bar-Jesus, who stood against the teaching of Paul (Acts 13:9-11). In the future, He will throw huge hailstones, weighing about 100 pounds each, upon his enemies (Rev. 16:21).
God’s angels are warriors also, and are in His army. In fact, God is called, “LORD of hosts” more than 200 times in the Bible (cp. 1 Chron. 11:9; Ps. 46:7-11; Isa. 13:4; Jer. 11:22; 51:33; Nahum 2:13; Haggai 2:6). Unfortunately, the average Christian does not know what the phrase means, and it has even been translated out of some versions, such as the NIV, which uses the phrase “LORD Almighty” instead of “LORD of hosts.” This change greatly dilutes our understanding of the spiritual battle. The Hebrew word translated “hosts” means “armies” (as does the Greek word in Luke 2:13). The angels are a major part of the army of God, and the Bible reveals that angels join God in His fight against evil, as the following verse shows:
Revelation 12:7
And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon [the Devil], and the dragon and his angels fought back.If God is a warrior, and His angels are also warriors and fight with Him, what about Jesus Christ? Scripture reveals that he also is a warrior. The warfare he waged while completing his earthly ministry was spiritual and mental. He cast out evil spirits, stood against the evil rulers of his day, and helped people in every way he could. His ministry was short, and its purpose did not involve going to war on earth to defend God’s people. However, when Jesus comes back, he will show himself to be the consummate warrior, something that is foretold in the Old Testament and portrayed in Revelation. Consider the following prophetic verses from Isaiah about the Lord’s return to conquer the earth from the grip of evil, and how he is pictured with his robes spattered with blood.
Isaiah 63:1-4, and 6
(1) Who is this coming from Edom, from Bozrah, with his garments stained crimson? Who is this, robed in splendor, striding forward in the greatness of his strength? “It is I [the Messiah], speaking in righteousness, mighty to save.”
(2) Why are your garments red, like those of one treading the winepress?
(3) “I have trodden the winepress alone; from the nations no one was with me. I trampled them in my anger and trod them down in my wrath; their blood spattered my garments, and I stained all my clothing.
(4) For the day of vengeance was in my heart, and the year of my redemption has come.
(6) I trampled the nations in my anger; in my wrath I made them drunk and poured their blood on the ground.”The book of Revelation, which is still future, also shows Jesus coming from heaven and fighting against evil.
Revelation 19:11, 13-15a
(11) I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider [Jesus Christ] is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war.
(13) He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God.
(14) The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean.
(15) Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations.”After Jesus defeats the enemies that now threaten the earth and sets up his 1000 year kingdom (Rev. 20:4-6), he will not rely on the “good nature” of people to keep order in society. Scripture is clear that he will keep order by wielding a “rod of iron” (Rev. 2:27; 12:5; 19:15 KJV). Although this may seem cruel and harsh, it is not, because no one has to be a criminal, and being harsh on criminals protects the innocent. Christians and civil authorities should take note: if Jesus will rule his kingdom with a rod of iron to keep order and protect the innocent, why would we think our society should be ruled differently? Our lenient laws have caused our unsafe society, and we and our children will not be safe until we decide to be as harsh on the guilty as Jesus will be. [For further study read, The Death Penalty: Godly or Ungodly?.]
Jesus is clearly a warrior, and the fact that there is no verse in the Gospels showing him protecting his family or society does not mean that he would not have done so. Likewise, nothing in the Word says that Jesus did not support the punishments prescribed by the Mosaic Law, including the execution of criminals. We saw that he will certainly execute his enemies in the future.
We have seen that God is a warrior, so are His angels and so is Jesus. But what about Christians? First, we must remember that throughout the Old Testament, the people of God were, like God, warriors. Moses, Joshua, the Judges, David, and the kings of Judah all led armies, and God helped them win their battles when they stood with Him. Examples of God helping His people win battles include His telling Joshua how to conquer Jericho (Josh. 6:2-5); telling him that an ambush was the way to destroy Ai (Josh. 8:1,2); telling David how to attack the Philistines (2 Sam. 5:22-25; 1 Chron. 14:14-16); and telling Israel how to attack the Syrian army (1 Kings 20:13,14). The faithful of the Old Testament understood that there were occasions when fighting and war were necessary, and they relied upon God, their weapons, and their training during those times.
Psalm 18:34 and 35
(34) He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
(35) You give me your shield of victory, and your right hand sustains me; you stoop down to make me great.Psalm 144:1 and 2
(1) Praise be to the LORD my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle.
(2) He is my loving God and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield, in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples under me.Did all that change when Jesus came to earth? Did God stop asking His people to fight evil, and did He stop helping them in battle? We assert that God still wants people to fight evil, and still helps them win. To understand Scripture, we must realize that unless God clearly changes a commandment He has given, it is still to be believed and obeyed. And we see no revision of God’s commands to protect oneself, participate in the protection of society, or go to war to protect one’s nation.
Some people may disagree, saying that Jesus taught us to love our enemies (Matt. 5:44), turn the other cheek (Matt. 5:39), and warned us that, “all who draw the sword will die by the sword” (Matt. 26:52). But these verses do not refer to protecting one’s life, family, or nation. Jesus loved his enemies too, but he loved them by giving them every conceivable chance to turn from evil; he did not “love” them by letting them harm the innocent, for that would not be love. We saw above that when evil people refuse to take advantage of the loving opportunities they are given to turn from their wicked ways, Jesus will one day kill them to protect society. God loves His enemies too, and even gives them blessings, knowing that it is His kindness that might lead them to repentance (Rom. 2:4). But when the wicked do not respond to His love, and are a danger to the innocent, God will fight against them just as He has in the past, and the final end of the wicked and unrepentant will be His throwing them into the fires of Gehenna (Rev. 21:8).
It is important to remember that just a few hours before Jesus was arrested, he said to all his apostles, “If you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one” (Luke 22:36), but then told Peter while he was being arrested, “all who draw the sword will die by the sword” (Matt. 26:52). Jesus would never tell his followers to buy swords and then say it was wrong to use them. Why did Jesus make that statement to Peter? The answer is that although the priests and soldiers who arrested Jesus were immoral, what they did was not illegal, because they had the governmental right to arrest Jesus. Thus, Peter, although he thought he was doing the right thing in defending Jesus with his sword, was actually breaking the law. Had Jesus’ trial been fair and unbiased, he would have been released soon after his arrest. Many innocent people are falsely accused, arrested and jailed, but then released at trial. By using his sword, Peter was breaking the law, and neither God nor Jesus give us the right to do that.
On the other hand, we do have the legal right to defend ourselves and our society against evil, and Jesus knew that, so he told his followers to buy swords. Evil people are a danger to those around them, which is why self protection, and the outgrowths thereof, (such as the protection of one’s family, society, and nation) is vital to survival. Since Jesus told his followers to buy swords the night of his arrest, and never modified that command after his resurrection, there is no reason to believe that things should be different today. We need to be willing and able to protect ourselves and our society.
More evidence that God expects us to fight for what is right in today’s world is that, both in Philippians 2:25 and Philemon 2, Paul refers to another Christian as a “fellow soldier.” He also writes to Timothy, his young protégé in the faith:
2 Timothy 2:3 and 4
(3) Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.
(4) No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs—he wants to please his commanding officer.We assert that the term “soldier” goes beyond just spiritual warfare, and, if necessary, also includes the physical warfare that all too often is a part of life.
There is still more biblical evidence that a person in the military is not out of favor with God due to his chosen profession. The first Gentiles recorded as becoming Christians were a Roman soldier, Cornelius, and his family and friends. Cornelius was guided by an angel to hear the Good News from Peter himself (Acts 10). With so many non-military people in Palestine, the fact that God chose a soldier as the first Gentile to get born again speaks volumes about His acceptance of the military.
Still another, though non-biblical, reason for believing that God supports Christians in war are the firsthand accounts of God helping Christians in battles. While early records are understandably scarce, thousands of accounts from the Revolutionary War to this present day clearly show that God still supports godly troops.
Along with the physical battles that we fight against evil, the spiritual battle continues to rage around us. It started in Genesis and will not end until Revelation, so every Christian must be a spiritual warrior. Ephesians 6:12 tells us that in this administration of the Sacred Secret we fight against spiritual forces, demons, that work in people to obstruct God’s purposes.
If and when the spiritual battle escalates in the physical realm to the point that an evil person (or a nation of them) is going to harm us, the message of Scripture is clear: With God’s help, fight back and prevail! We know that when Noah came off the Ark after the Flood, God instituted civil government as the means to keep order on earth. This meant that mankind was responsible to execute people who murdered others (Gen. 9:5 and 6). Wicked people may not fear God, but they do fear other people (government officials) who have the power to execute them. God has made it our responsibility to keep evil at bay.
As a point of interest pertinent to this topic, Exodus 20:13, properly translated, reads: “You shall not murder.” All murder is killing, but not all killing is murder. Throughout Scripture God defines and encourages three kinds of killing that are justified and often necessary: 1) self-defense; 2) society-defense (execution of criminals); 3) national self-defense, which we call war.
Some Christians say that it is not their place to determine who lives or dies, so they would not defend themselves if someone tried to kill them. Not only is that contrary to God’s command to dispense out justice in our society, it lets the murderer decide who lives and who dies. What sense does that make? It is easy to see why Satan promotes the lie that war, either individually or nationally, is always wrong—it’s a good way to get some of God’s people to give up their lives.
Certainly, no government is the ultimate standard for when war is godly. As per Acts 5:29, we must obey God rather than man, so if or when a government edict contradicts what God tells us to do, we obey Him. We may not always know which wars precipitated by governments are the right thing to do, but the Bible makes it very clear that for the sake of God and the purposes He desires to accomplish by way of us, we must take up arms if we are threatened with destruction. Thus, in God’s view, there is a time for war.
Ecclesiastes 3:1 and 8
(1) There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven…
(8) …a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.As Christians, we are guaranteed the everlasting victory, but until the Lord Jesus comes for us, we must trust and obey God in order to stand against our mortal enemy, Satan, and against those wicked people in whom he works. If and when evil threatens us, we are foolish and irresponsible if we do not defend ourselves to whatever degree is necessary to stop those who would destroy us. Jesus gave his life—and it provided deliverance from sin for all mankind. If we needlessly or foolishly give up our lives, it does not provide deliverance for anyone, it just means there is one less righteous person to help and bless people. Jesus won by giving his life. We win by fighting for God and His people, defeating evil whenever we can by whatever godly and legal means are available, and staying alive to bless and serve God’s people.
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More from Write From Karen
This was originally published on Write Anything, October 19, 2008.
Welcome back to Write Anything NaNoWriMo workshop week!
Today? We’ll be talking about setting. My good friend, and blog colleague, Paul Anderson, wrote a wonderful entry about setting. Thank you, Paul!
In the meantime, here’s a short primer to get you in the mood. 🙂
Setting evokes a vivid sense of place and time. It grounds the reader into your story and solidifies what is happening to your character. Setting can simply be the canvas you use to paint your story on, or it can actually BE a character in your story.
From Josip Novakovich’s Fiction Writer’s Workshop:
When and where does your story take place? Setting means a certain place at a certain time, a stage.
There is a common argument against detailed descriptions of setting: They can be outright dull. Many writers avoid laying out the setting because they fear boring their readers, but the lack of a vivid setting may in turn cause boredom. Without a strong sense of place, it’s hard to achieve suspense and excitement – which depend on the reader’s sensation of being right there, where the action takes place. When descriptions of places drag, the problem usually lies not in the setting, but in presenting the setting too slowly.
The importance of the setting could be expressed in this formula: Setting + Character = Plot. Out of a character’s relationship with the setting, or out of the character’s conflict with the setting, you get the plot (or at least a part of the plot, or a dynamic backdrop for your plot).
But the setting can be more than simply someplace for the character to hang out.
Here are some questions to consider when writing about your setting:
Source: First Draft in 30 Days
Nigel Watts, Writing a Novel and Getting Published, has this to say about setting, “Characters and their actions need to be anchored in some sort of physical reality, otherwise they will lack a sense of substance. The setting of a novel is like the flour in a cake: perhaps less compelling than the nuts and dried fruit, but if you forget the flour in the recipe, you’ll have no cake.”
I know setting, for me, is one of the hardest aspects of writing. I tend to get so caught up in what my characters are doing and who they are talking to, that the setting becomes a blur, just some empty black space in the background; I’m sure my readers sense that as well. So, to make a setting real for your readers, you need to research it. Visit the place you want to set your story in. Read about it. Google it. Use any resource that you can. Watch movies that were filmed there, talk/email people who know the setting well. Read guide books (a personal favorite of mine), study street plans.
Don’t just look at the big picture, but pay attention to the details.
And don’t think you’re off the hook if your setting is imaginary. You must be prepared to answer questions about your imaginary setting or it won’t seem real to your readers.
Recreate a setting, don’t just describe it. “What the reader is seeking to do is vicariously experience what you are evoking … this means supplying them with sensory clues so they can make it real themselves. In this way, they will be able to think themselves into your skin because they will compare your experience with something similar to their own,” says Watts.
Now that you have a sense of what setting is all about, let’s try some exercises:
Are you trying the exercises? Have they helped you develop an idea for your story? These may seem like a lot of unnecessary work, especially right before NaNoWriMo, but if you’re truly stuck for ideas, or setting is one of your weaknesses (*raises hand*), then give it a shot. You’ll be surprised how your creativity snaps to attention and the ideas will likely flow as quickly as your fingers.
Next: character
With all due respect, Sir, we could do with a little less of your “laser-like focus” please.
In fact, your “top priorities” are strangling this country.
This was first published on my Blogger blog, January 24, 2005.
Oh my gosh. Good grief. Holy cow. Monkey tails. Innocent sayings in lieu of profanity. It warms my heart to hear my children, playing in the back room (they get one hour of video game time on school nights) to hear them exclaim, “Oh my gosh! He stole my hat AGAIN.” (Gosh, instead of taking God’s name in vain).
We must be doing something right. In today’s society it seems the norm for people/children to simply utter curse words. I can’t preach too loudly, I rather have a potty mouth on me – especially when I’m angry. (I have a fierce temper!) It makes me feel proud and guilty all at the same time when the kids are quick to point out, “Mom! You said a bad word.” Does it make it okay to say curse words when you’re angry?
What’s the alternative?
I tell my children, “it’s sometimes okay to say bad words when you’re angry.” Their eyes grow large and you can just tell they are dying to try out a few, just let them roll off the tongue, all in the name of “testing the waters.” However, I have yet to hear them. I do hear Dude mumble under his breath from time to time and as long as I don’t actually “hear” the words, I let it go. But is it okay to teach them to curse under duress?
I suppose my rationale for that is – it’s better than hitting or throwing something. It’s better than verbally hurting another individual for their own bad mood/disappointment. It’s better than them holding in the anger and turning to drugs or something equally damaging. In my book, it’s the lesser of two (or several) evils. Does that make it right?
What exactly is offensive about these “bad” words? After all, they are only words. A series of letters put together in a random order. And have you ever wondered who exactly deemed these words “bad?” My boys ask me that sometimes, I have no clue. Not only is it decided that that particular word will be considered “foul” but what motivates people to agree? I mean, for instance, I could start a rumor that the word “mud” is now a bad word. If you say mud, then you’re a bad person and should have your mouth washed out with soap. (Soap: a dirty word for some people, let me tell you).
“But why is mud a bad word?” you might ask. “Because it implies all things dirty, therefore, it’s a bad word.” I guess if my explanation sounds good, you might go along with it and say, “Okay. From here on out, mud is a dirty word.” Now comes the problem of publicizing it. Does one pay the media to start running ads about the newest taboo word? Can a person go to the bank and say, “I’m wanting to borrow some money so I can advertise the newest curse word.” Are bad words the product of a domino affect? For instance, have you ever played this game: stand outside in a crowded area, look up and point. Act fascinated. I GUARANTEE you’ll have people stopping around you and looking up to see what you’re looking at.
Is that how the birth of a bad word happens?
Someone just says, “My pigs were having a heyday in the mud today.” *GASP* “Please tell me you did not just say the M word.”
“The M word?” your confused friend asks.
“Yes! Haven’t you heard?” (This would be a good time to look around for any people who might be listening. Really heighten the suspense). “It’s a bad word,” you hiss.
Are people so willing to fit into society that they would go along with it? What does that say about our society?
Write From Karen 