The Farmville herald. [volume] (Farmville, Va.) 1890-1934, 1902-11-21

kings actions as those Of a madmal
and Of an egotistic, cracked braine'
person. Wherever we have noted tn
lmbecile act Of an unbalanced min'
we have compared 1t to the insane am
bitions Of the hero Of the celebrate,
Spanish romance which Cervante0
wrote. But were the picture Of a kinl
lighting the waves with whips an,
lashes or the escapades Of Don Qulx
ote ever more ridiculous and lmbecil,
than the act Of a great, big, strong
man cursing a stone merely becaus,
his toe stubbed against Il or swear
Ing at the axle merely because the
grease ran dry or blasphemlng the
iron head Of a hammer merely because
he, as a carpenter. was clumsy fingered
and hit the end Of his thumb instead
Of the nail in the plank?
Profanity is n monstrous habit. II
either comes from a totally dcpraved
heart because that heart wishes "a
condemn fellow human being to the
awful agonies Of an eternal condemns
tion, or else It teaches the users Of pro
fame words to have an utter contempt
for the name of God and for his COM
mandments.
Blasphemer. have you ever stopped
to consider what would be the effect Of
your profane words by which you con-
denim your fellow men If they were lit
orally carried Outi Have you ever
stopped TO consider that when you ask
God to condemn your fellow men TO
the Internal regions you express a de-
sire that through all the coming ages
they will suffer greater torture than
ever a human victim suffered upon the
operating table. under a surgeons
knife, when an@sthetics could not be
administered? You express a desire
that they shall be thrown into "the
lake Of fire and birthstone. where the
beast and the false prophet are and
shall be tOrmented day and night for
ever and ever" You express a desire
by your profane oaths to see human
beings suffer as Mark Antony and
Cleopatra commanded them to suffer,
when. at the banquet table, this guilty,
merciless twain ordered poison TO be
administered to their slaves and pris-
oners so that they might witness their
commissions in the Nlroes Of death.
But" answers some blasphemer,
''you know just as well as | that there
is not one man out of a thousand who
ever means what he says when he
blasphemes. His profane oaths are
mere ordinations They come from
the lip and not from the heart" Then,
my brother, there is only one other
deduction which can come from the
use Of this evil habit. Either you as
a profane man wish to condemn your
brother to eternal misery or you are
lacking in reverence to God, which is
precisely the attitude condemned in
this commandment. Either you de
spise your fellow men or else you de-
spise the name Of your Creator and
your King. There Is no other outcome
to these two extremes. Either you are
curslng your fellow man or else you
are mocking your divine Maker
The profane habit is to be dreaded |
because it is often the outgrowth Of
very harmless beginnings. |
The blood curdling oaths heard IN the !
home Of the rich man and among the |
so called respectable members Of so
ciety are not, as rule, born among !
The saloons and the outcasts. They |
were not once the inhabitants Of the |
slums and the places Of wassail and /
crime. In all probability their germs |
we're fostered in the parlors Of Chris
ian homes and in the weekday school /
looms and even in the Sunday school
'ooms attended by Christian children.
These germs of the most horrible Of
,rofane oaths were once the exclama-
ions and CALCULATIONS and the slang
expressions so commonly used by Ia
lies and children upon our streets.
They are the by Georges" the "By
the "By This and "By
That's" and the "By Other Things"
they are the calculations which are
lsed today by many people who con-
Ilder themselves educated and polite
md refined.
Profanity can grow from seemingly
cry harmless beginnings. Therefore it
5 the duty Of all Christian parents not
My to refrain from the use Of such
and absurd ordinations
s those Just quoted. but they should
nstill into their children the right use
{ the English language. The Anglo
axon tongue is a noble tongue. 1t Is
specially rich in vehement, emphatic,
Expressive and, If l might use the ex-
ression. sledgehammer words, power
nj enough to annihilate any foe. In
s broad sweep Of denunciatory words
be English language is unexcelled by
nv language. Therefore, Christian par
nts. in the education Of your children
on should teach them never to use
lang. You should teach them that
lang is only the immature child which
ill grow up into the destroying mon
ter called Profanity. You should
zach them that God hurls his con
emnations at slang as well as at the
ideous monster called Profanity when
hrist says: Swear not at all; neither
Y heaven, for it is Gods throne, nor
Y the earth, for it is his footstool;
either by Jerusalem, for it Is the city
Z the great King. Neither shalt thou
wear by thy head. because thou canst
ot make one hair white or black. But ,
[ your communication be, Yea, yea;
ny, nay; for whatsoever is more than {
lese cometh Of evil" Could any de-
nnclatlon be more vehement against
le use Of slang common among our :
omen and children and also among
N mon than those words of Jesus