Why This Bible Thumper Is Going to Keep Using Plenty of Profanity

The prophets were angry at idolatry, and so am I.

Jan 05, 2023

cross silhouette on mountain during golden hour — Photo by Samuel McGarrigle on Unsplash

This post is the twenty-second in an ongoing series on antisemitism and culture. See the previous installments here:

These writings are part of my ongoing effort to overcome my PTSD by forcing myself to try to write and publish something every day commenting on and analyzing current cultural affairs and their impacts on politics, faith, and, well, everything. “Politics is downstream from culture,” the late Andrew Breitbart popularized among conservative bloggers while he was alive. I’d go a step further: Everything is downstream from culture. The cultures you embrace determine who you are and who you become. You become what you worship.

By now, many readers of this Substack and its series on antisemitism have probably noticed a seemingly strange contradiction. On the one hand, I advocate for Biblical moral values: I've made the logo of this publication a photo of myself holding the copy of the Bible I’ve possessed since third grade. On the other hand, though, I often speak very frankly and roughly, letting loose my PTSD-fueled rage - particularly using the epithet “fuck” a fair amount when I’m very angry about something or someone.

Is this a contradiction? Aren’t all good Christians who promote the Bible supposed to speak in a proper manner, all lovey-dovey? WWJD? Would Jesus say “fuck” and call people “assholes” or declare one thing or another to be “bullshit”?

Well, the truth is that the things which Jesus said so angered the Roman state, which had conquered Jerusalem, that they tortured and crucified him. His language and ideas were so offensive that his own people turned him over to the Romans to die in the most painful, degrading way imaginable. His ideas were controversial, radical, even offensive in his own time, and they still are today:

Matthew 19:24:

And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

Or try this on for size:

Matthew 5:28

But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

And since I believe that we as Christians should imitate Christ as much as we can, I believe we should do the same. We need to say things which so anger those with power, authority, and influence that they want to do the equivalent of crucifying us. Further, I believe we should follow the spirits of the Biblical prophets - being angry voices in the wilderness, calling out the idols people worship and the evil they practice. This particular idea is woven so tightly into my faith that it gave this publication its name.

And I think that writing “fuck” when necessary - indeed, believing that writing “fuck” can be necessary - fulfills the spirit of my faith in practice. In part, it's because I believe in intensive honesty. “The poet must stand naked,” Allen Ginsberg, the beat poet who influenced me so much long ago, once proclaimed.

When we are so angry that we need to use profanity to express ourselves accurately, then we should. We need to let people know when some action or sentiment so angers us that we feel the need to use profanity to express our rage.

And injustice enrages me. Frankly, I don't understand how it doesn't enrage everyone.

So as I continue to write on this Substack about antisemitism and other forms of injustice and evil - like Vladimir Putin’s genocide in Ukraine - I’m going to keep expressing my anger and disgust in honest terms.

And I seriously don’t care about the consequences. If some potential employer finds this Substack or my Twitter and is offended by my declaration of “fuck antisemitism,” well, I've thought about that, and I've decided that person wouldn't be somebody I particularly want or need to work alongside. I’m going to speak honestly on this Substack, and we’ll see where it gets me. As many people as I may offend, there may be other people who appreciate the frankness and honest anger with which I write. It's true that some people have let me know that they don’t want to read my writing anymore. But more have gone out of their way to let me know how much they relate to what I write, and that they appreciate it. We’ve grown more rapidly in subscribes since I started writing more aggressively.

However, I will certainly note that there are some profanities I choose not to use. As I’ll explain in an upcoming premium post about the book I’m drafting on the Substack this year, I do regard myself as a serious feminist of a fairly militant variety. I despise men who do not treat women with respect and love. So I will never refer to a woman - even one I despise who expresses antisemitism and craziness like Marge Greene or Ilhan Omar - as a “bitch” or the “C-word.” You also won’t find me using any sort of ethnic slurs.

My beloved psychedelic influence, George Carlin, is infamous for his “7 dirty words routine”:

Carlin’s scary 7 words you can’t say on television are: "shit,” "piss,” "fuck,” "cunt,” "cocksucker,” "motherfucker,” and "tits.”

I'm with him - part of the way. On this Substack, I will certainly describe some ideas as various forms of “shit.” I’ll say “fuck you” to numerous public figures whose evil actions I despise. I'll even label some especially horrible men as “motherfuckers.” And I don’t really care for the term “piss,” but I suppose there may be times where I’d want to say “this son of a bitch really pisses me off,” or some variation thereof.

But I don’t especially need the rest of the terms on Carlin's list to properly express myself. “C***” remains the queen of swear words in our culture, even worse than “fuck,” and as stated above, I find it especially degrading and sexist to use it to refer to a woman. I’m also not that interested in using it as an insult toward men, due to its implied sexism.

“Cocksucker” is another epithet I’ve never especially cared for, since its homophobic insinuation is offensive. While I’m not interested in engaging in the act myself, I have plenty of respect and appreciation for the gay men - and straight women - who do. This shouldn’t be an insult. Those kind enough to perform the act of fellatio should be appreciated for their benevolent services to mankind.

Finally, “tits” is just a term I find too juvenile to want to employ. It’s hard for me to imagine when, exactly, I’d need to write that word instead of just “breasts” (not that I plan on writing about that beloved part of the female anatomy too much on here either). What’s there really to say? Aren’t we all in agreement that breasts of all shapes and sizes are incredible? They provide us nourishment when we're brand-new to the world, and very vulnerable. Even gay men seem to appreciate them. So thank you, ladies, for putting up with the hassle of logging those suckers around all the time.

(Editor's Note: Hmmph. -SS)

So does that all make sense? The bottom line is that, while I don't wish to be lewd, describing something as “bullshit,” saying something “pisses me off,” declaring, “fuck you!” or insulting an especially evil man as a “motherfucker” or a “son of a bitch” all seem justified to me, intertwined as such language is in my mission of speaking my anger honestly.

What do you think? Should I stop swearing so much? Is there a better way to express the extreme anger that my PTSD fuels in response to the evil and idolatry so prominent today which my hyperarousal prevents me from ignoring?

Why This Bible Thumper Is Going to Keep Using Plenty of Profanity

The prophets were angry at idolatry, and so am I.

Matthew 19:24:

Matthew 5:28

If “fuck” is not the right word to use when condemning antisemitism and those who engage in genocide, then what the fuck is?

Discussion about this post