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A few weeks ago, an antique dealer pulled me aside at his place of business and said, “I’ve got something special you ought to see.” He then showed me two binders of each edition of The Sunday School Times for the years 1944 and 1945. Established in Philadelphia, the publication was published from 1859-1966. The two binders, with their amazingly rich Christian content, which I readily purchased, had a short article that captivated my attention. It was titled, “A Stop Cursing Campaign.”
The campaign described in the article offered a four-color poster, 17 by 24 inches, showing General George Washington astride his famous white horse, and containing an order addressed to his troops. It read:
“The General is sorry to be informed that the foolish and wicked practice of profane cursing and swearing, a vice heretofore little known in an American army, is growing into fashion. He hopes the officers will, by example, as well as influence endeavor to check it, and that both they and the men will reflect that we can have little hope of the blessing of Heaven on our arms, if we insult it by our impiety and folly. Added to this, it is a vice so mean and low, without any temptation, that every man of sense and character detests and despises it.”
The Stop Cursing Campaign, which at that time was based in Charlotte, North Carolina, was providing these posters, as well as postcards with the same picture of Washington and a pledge card with the heading, “LET’S STOP CURSING.” Included was a mimeographed sheet containing “Suggestions for Setting Up a Stop Cursing Campaign.”
These materials were being provided free to thousands of military chaplains who were ordering them during World War II. The posters were being placed in Army camps, airfields, hospitals, Naval bases, and other centers without charge. Additional uses were being found for them in an effort to clean up much of the nation’s foulmouthed language during one of its most stressful periods.
Unfortunately, in today’s climate, profanity is hardly given a second thought. We’re all so accustomed to it. And it isn’t only used when we’re stressed. It’s now become mainstreamed and exercised as a part of our daily conversation.
In an article not so favorable to our practice of potty-mouth, Monica Corcoran notes the results of a study provided by the advocacy group, The Parents Television Council, titled, “Habitat for Profanity.” Corcoran’s piece, which was published in Elle magazine in 2013, said that between the years 2005 to 2010, the PTC found the use of a muted or bleeped F-word had jumped 2,409 percent.
More recent research by PTC reveals the use of profanity is still terrible. Accordingly, there was “sixty-two percent more profanity total, on programs rated TV-14 in 2017-2018 than in 2007-2008.”
In The Atlantic, Stephanie Hayes’ article “Guide to Swearing,” highlights the hugely successful film, “The Wolf on Wall Street,” where over the course of three hours, the film’s characters utter the F-word and its derivatives more than 500 times.
SOURCE: Christian Post, Rev. Mark H. Creech
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