The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-11-14
Profanity. neutrality-suspicious..

Profanity. Swearing-Damn-Da
Editor Morning News: read your arti-
Gle with interest on the Value Of an
Oath" There is very loose idea in the
public mind as TO what is profanity,
swearing and an oath. Let US analyze
the words and see the difference. Pro-
family is the taking Of Gods name in
vain; that is. in calling upon God TO do
this. that or the other thing to man.
thing or being. Asking God TO curse for
you, which YOU would curse IL you could
to destruction or humiliation. The ar
clients and the Jews of old. were ever
calling upon their Gods to curse what
they hated or disliked. But Jehovah, the
God of the Jews. said He must not be
called upon IN such manner. except in
prayer, honor and alteration. Profanity
then is in using Gods name in cursing
anyone or thing. To curse is not neces-
sarily swearing. but in the loose use OF
words oaths. swearing. cursing. and pro-
family meant the same thing.
An oath is a promise. a word Of honor
assurance, vow, not cursing II may also
be an affirmation, assertion. confession,
declaration, protestation, etc Swearing
is the same thing. for 10 take an oath or
swear in court means the same.
Profanity belongs to the religious senti-
ment. II is impiety, irreverence, bias
phemy desecration, sacriligousness. re-
Wiling, scCTfing. To use sacred thing or
speak of them lightly, or to turn a church
into a stable, or for any other use would
be called Dissertation, PROCLAMATION, prosti-
tuition and abuse. II will be seen at once
when word is understood and properly
used 1t has a definite and positive mean
ing. And II is a great pity that cur
schools and colleges do not teach more
pure English and less Latin and Greek
We want the fruit of words and not their
roots. / prefer to eat the fruit first and
chew the roots when / have nothing else
to do.
Cursng is not profanity in the strict
sense OF the word, though when God s
name is used. it becomes profane, very
much so. To curse is to call down a male
diction, imprecation, denunciation, exc
Grafton, anathema. ban. prescription, eN-
communication, calumniation. scolding.
railing, threatening, defying, menacing,
etc. great deal of curslng is done, and
well sprinlIled with profanity
The churches are experts at cursing So
called hertics. and they have their hands
tull just about now. and will continue to
have as men grow independent in thought
ana have the moral courage of their con-
Victions.
As 10 the words damn" and dam, 80
they are neither oaths or swearing. they
are only ahjectves or adverbs at best in
the way they are used. Leave out Gods
name and one may curse at another all
day and not be profane. II is the interpre-
tation We put upon a word that conveys
the idea that Is meant.
Damn" is strong and expressive word
but by no means profane, any more than
lluls villain, StOuuNIei. inlel. SWIn0lNr.
drunkard, libertine. Those are all strong
and expressive words and convey a d.
rect meaning to the mind
Damn is nothing more than a contrac-
ton of the Latin word, damno-damn-arc,
which means to condemn, to dislike, to
disellow, to devote to or consign over to
down, to blast, to destroy After the war
of the revolution. the old continental bills
issued during the war were called i'm by
congress. and when handed in the word
damn was written on the face, they
We're no longer passabe, they were to be
destroyed, and the expression was very
common with our forefathcrs, that such
and such a thing or man, was not worth
a continental DAMN" of no value or use.
A very good Latin word to express utter
worthlesSness. No profanity or oath or
swearing in that Washington, Adams, JEFF
ferson. Madison used the expression freely
in their day for it meant something.
DAM" is an India word. and II is a
coin of half cent. Wellington carried the
word to England with him from India.
and he was often heard to say, that such
a man or thing was not worth a dam. -
as a cent is the lowest value we have In
money. Thus the reader will see at once
what it Is to be profane
take an oath. or use an, ex-
and some times very strong things. To say
a man or thing is not worth a damn" OIL
dam" Is to put him down very low as
to his character or Importance in a com.
munity or the article offered Is worthless
To say a man is not worth cursing is a
contradiction, for he Is being cursed when
he is damned. Jesus did not say anything
about damnatiOn, for he did not speak La
tin, he spoke in the Aramic language
which in his tongue meant destroyed oil
lost. He was talking to the Jews about the
Jews who had embraced the religion OF
the Greeks and Romans they were the
lost sheep Of the house OF Israel, he was
after saving. So much then for so-called
bad words. r. NJ o.