Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1906-09-07
APlain Talk on Profanity
Fscm an Address Before the Sommer-
Vile. Mass. Y. N. C. A.
By John YOungjohn.

Thou shalt not take the name OF
the Lord thy God in vain, for the
Lord will not hold him guiltless that
taketh His name in vain"
There is very significant saying
abroad, and one very frequently quo
ted by men. that there are two sure
things in this world-death and
taxes" But l declare to you to-day,
on the authority of the Word OF God,
and by personal experience and OBJ
servatior, that there are two other
things just as sure. No man living
can ignore or disregard Gods thou
shalt not ..or thou shalt" without
sooner on later getting into serious
trouble; and no man who seeks to
obey God and please and serve Him
need fear that he will go unreward
ed God pays the highest wages
for services rendered.
Profanity, or swearing, is one of
the great evils that is blighting our
fair land to-day-the land of the free,
of which we are so proud-and fast
making it an unfit dwelling place.
This evil is boon companion to all
the other groSser evils, such Us gam
bling, drunkenness, theft, social inn
purity, Sabbath Dissertation and
murder. They GO hand in hand,
shoulder to shoulder. do not mean
to say it follows in every case.that
the swearer is addicted to all or any
of these other vices, but the perpe-
traitors of these vices are invariably
addicted to the swearing habit, there
fore he has placed himself in their
company or on their side of the fence.
The habitually profane man is a
disgrace to our civilization. and ex-
erts corrupting influence upon the
youth and the weaklings who chance
to come within range of his voice;
and to those who have sufficient
character to threw off the poison
venom, he is a source of pain, sorrow
and disgust. Swearing lowers a
man at once in the estimation of all.
The swearer makes bulletin board
of himself, and is read accordingly.
Swearing is not confined to class,
age or sex. 1t confronts us every
where. It seems impossible to es-
cape it anywhere. We hear it on
the street, in the cars. in the work
shop, in the Office, in the bank. in
the hotel, in the restaurant, in the
hut and in the palace. But there is
just one place. thank God for it,
where we can escape the sound of
profanity and hear Gods name spo-
ken in reverence-the house of God,
the church. or place of prayer. What
blessed place of refuge from this
pestilence that is stalking about on
every hand.
We hear profanity from the lips
of the old, white headed man of three
score and ten and over, whose race
is nearly run, down to the child in
kits, not yet knowing the meaning
of the words it cannot utter plainly.
May God be merciful to the poor in
nocent children who are brought
up in an atmosphere of profanity at
home! My heart goes out to them
in sympathy and yearning. We also
hear profanity from the lips of moth
ers and sisters, but thank God, not
so generally. Does not the swearer
love his boy? Would he as rule
wilfully do anything to injure that
boys life or prospects? He loves
his boy just as much as you love your
boy, and wishes for him the best
there is in life. Then why does he
subject him to this deadly poison?
He does not thing; he does not real
ize the enormity of this sin and its
paneful consequence. But some faith
ers, realizing this will shield their
Town boys. and yet will not hesitate
to swear before other children.
Can anything be said in defense
of this perniclous practice2 Absolute
ly nothing. Some one says it serves
a purpose by giving vent to pent-up
feelings of wrath or annoyance.
LAME excuse is this, for man who
will curse and swear when angry,
will find it necessary to emphasize
about every other VOID with an oath
to make it impressive when every
thing O pleasant and agreeall,. But
it does serve this purpose: to make
the swearer a walking pestilence, a
poison adder, filing the atmosphere
with q deadly poison germ far more
contagious than even the small pox,
especially among the young, and al
so more fatal, for il destroys both
body and sCul and few recover What
shall we say then of the man who