“In Our Language There Is No Profanity”

WHAT is profanity? It is “abusive, vulgar, or irreverent language.” (The American Heritage Dictionary) Another dictionary defines the verb “profane” in this way: “To treat (something sacred) with abuse, irreverence, or contempt.” Unfortunately, in many countries profanity is the language of the street. Whereas in the past men were usually guilty of such obscene talk, today it is more and more common to hear bad language pouring out of the mouths of women. However, in some cultures profanity has not always been a part of everyday speech. Take, for example, the testimony of Apache Indian James Kaywaykla.

James was born about 1873 in New Mexico, in the United States. In his later years, when he was nearly 90 years old, he related the following:

“One morning I was awakened by the sound of Grandfather’s voice. He sat in the opening of our brush arbor, facing the rising sun, and singing The Morning Song. This is a hymn to Ussen . . . thanking Him for one of the greatest of his gifts​—the love between a man and woman, which is to Apaches a sacred thing. * Never do they make obscene jokes about sex, and the fact that White Eyes [white men] consider conception and birth a matter of levity is something they cannot understand. It is, to them, on a level with taking the name of God in vain. I am very proud of the fact that in our language there is no profanity. For the privilege in sharing the creation of new life we give thanks to the Creator of Life.”​—Native Heritage, edited by Arlene Hirschfelder.

Nearly 2,000 years ago, the Christian apostle Paul wrote: “Let a rotten saying not proceed out of your mouth, but whatever saying is good for building up as the need may be, that it may impart what is favorable to the hearers.” He also wrote: “Let fornication and uncleanness of every sort or greediness not even be mentioned among you, just as it befits holy people; neither shameful conduct nor foolish talking nor obscene jesting, things which are not becoming, but rather the giving of thanks.”​—Ephesians 4:29; 5:3, 4.

How can profanity and obscene jesting be eliminated from the heart, the mind, and the mouth? Paul’s counsel to the Philippians might help us all: “Brothers, whatever things are true, whatever things are of serious concern, whatever things are righteous, whatever things are chaste, whatever things are lovable, whatever things are well spoken of, whatever virtue there is and whatever praiseworthy thing there is, continue considering these things.”​—Philippians 4:8.

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[Picture Credit Lines on page 31]

All photos: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division; Apache symbol: Dover Publications, Inc.