New Britain herald., 1927-02-14
PICTURES AMERICA
 ASPROFANE NATION
One Of Worst, if Not Worst, Rev.
 Dr. AhlquiSt Says

most, if not the most, profane nation on the earth We are a nation of swearers. Profanity is our national sin. There are thousand men who will take the name of God in vain to one who will steal. 'The foreign student in our universities tell us that the first he learns of our tongue is the swear"
 These stateE ents were made yes terday by Rev. Dr. A. A. Ahlquist pastor Of the First Lutheran church, at the meeting of Everyman's Bible class at Trinity M. F. church. Dr. Ahlquist deplored the perversion of the gift of speech to profanity and said that man, alone of all animals has been granted the power to ex. press his thoughts articulately yet has misued this power to affront the One who gave him the gift.
 Dr. Ahlquist spoke as follows:
 "'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. -Exod, 20:7.
 "'Out of the same mouth pro- ceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.'-James 3:10.
 Amid a restless and changing world there still are some things of unchanging certainty in that the moods and temperaments of men remain the same. The elemental na- lures of men remain much the same and their foibles and passions are not perceptibly altered during the centuries. The decalogue has in no sense been outgrown, left behind or relcgated 10 the attic as out of date. Unless one is hopelessly petrified, 1t Goes not require a keen observation and discerning understanding to note the lesser sins of society as we'll as the large and glaring trans gressions of the moral law. A look tehind the curtain of life gives con- vincing proof of the causes and im- pulses which make for chaos and discord in a world which Haven or dained should be a world of har- mony and order. Nor need We go far afield to discover that man has taken one Of Gods priceless gifts the ability to give articulate utter ance to though-and perverted its use to run counter to the divine purposes.
 Shut in behind crimson doors end ivory bars and occupying the upper story in the human frame there is one of the most marvellous organs in the anatomy of man. It has vital office in the chemistry of digestion in which it does not materially differ from that of the lower animals.
 "But the Creator has furnished it with the higher function of speech. In this is a most striking of that W hich differentiates man from all other forms of life. It is true that he is distinguished from all ami IL als in that he alone carries him self in an erect posture. but it is his aDllllF lU give lllttliI6cit SApA S''oio'' of thought in which the greatest difference is manifest. Speech is mans alone. All other animals are tongue tied. By this the Creator has placed His sign and seal on mans superiority over all brute creation.
 But the tongue has moral func- tions, also, the use or abuse Of which is productive of incalculable good or evil. The ancient fable of the monster. Proteus, who had the faculty of assuming any shape at will: tree or a stone, q serpent or a dove, a lion or lamb; and from each of these or thousand forms he could easily and at once pass to another as he chose; such a change is seen in the diversified use of the tongue. It may become sort Of angel. turing upward. and again it may whisper into tlle ear the dia- bo,ical suggestions of the pit. It can lead aspiring youth to the pur- suit ot noble ends or repress his lofty ambitions It can create friendships and separate friends. It can unite q community in bonds of amity and sever these golden bands of kindred sympathies.
 Prom time immemorial by Its power men have built and rebuilt civilizations. By its expressions of love the sexes have been bound to- gether and the home established. By it kings have ruled: statesmen have urged their policies for veal or thundered their denuncia.ion of wrong r. has pleaded in courts of justice; thrilled the heart as singers have let loose their melody and poets have chantcd their verse; while from platform and pulpit it has championed the cause Of right cousness and stirred the souls of men to nohlest deeds with the matchless message of redemption. By the perversion Of its use, how ever, and knowing something Of its diabolic nature when swayed by passion, then the unguarded doors are flung open and it is. 2s it were. literally set on fire of hell.' IL blaZes forth In curses and impreca- tions, oaths and blasphcnlies like destructive flames in gusty winds. The wires which move it seem actu- ally manipulated by satanic fingers, and it's natural issue is in speech so garnished as only befits such a de- mon. and To. the tongue has become an unprincipled fiend
 Many learned treatises have been written upon the exact meaning of the phrase in vain its relation to false swearing. deceit and kindred evils. Granting all that has been written it needs to be said that We may all too easily miss the essential interpretation in multiplicity of words. Whatever else the third intends. it certainly means 10 condemn profane swearing. This vice is plainly and cternally un- der heavens ban, and because it is in the same unholy company with idolatry and every other iniquity, 1t