Profanity and war movies

greenspun.com : LUSENET : FRL friends : One Thread

Back from the road at last! We had some interesting conversations along the way, one of which brought back this thought-line:

---

In my role as the perfessor of social history and worm propagation over here at Bayou Tech, I have a long-standing but as yet unpublished theory about profanity. I have determined through scientific research, of course, that the first true human creature to crawl from the swamp and stand erect (I think it was a direct forebear of Leroy Ledue down at the Bait and Gas) slapped his neck and uttered the first words of humanity to ring out through history - “DAMN MOSQUITOES!”

Based on this, it is my contention that profanity is inherently human; as much a part of us as vanity, greed or avarice, which likewise, we have somewhat controlled by our personal or societal mores. Now, given THAT (dare I say it) incredible scientific revelation, we might conclude that feeding our little house apes a diet of televised f-words will only foster more of the same from the hedonistic half-pint heathens, and lead inevitably to parent/toddler “discussions” as to proper language around the grandparents.

Stick with he here, ‘cause this is the part where it finally gets interesting -

Now, recognizing this radical human concept of “teaching our children”, we might conclude that it could be applied to other forms of improper behavior as well. Like, for instance, killing people. So if we tell our children constantly that war is somehow a glorious endeavor, that death is bloodless, that the good guys always win in the end, aren’t we working at counter measures to our intent at civilization? Aren’t we trivializing the deaths and sacrifices of the warriors themselves?

I watched “Private Ryan”, and I told my two sons to watch it as well. They weren’t shocked by the language; they’d heard all the words before (probably from their mother), but they were sobered by the reality and brutality of war it depicted. Some of the good guys died. Some died crying and staring in the face of their killers. Some died searching for their missing limbs in the mud and blood of battle rather than simply vaporizing in the mist of smart bombs.

My sons have grown into men now. I never hid the world, neither it’s beauty nor its ugliness from them, and I have never heard them use language like normally fills the air whenever I build something as simple as a birdhouse.

And I have never heard them extol the “glories” of war.

"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. This is not a way of life at all in any true sense. Under the clouds of war, it is humanity hanging itself on a cross of iron. -- General of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower

-- Lon (lgal@exp.net), January 09, 2005

Answers

Ike must have hated the cold war.

One of the things I realised during my African trip is how many things I waste money on that could instead feed and clothe the poor. There is so much poverty, even in the comparatively rich nation of Ghana, and just a few dollars can make literally a life and death difference. I worry that people who have been so generous to the tsunami victims will make that generosity at the expense of other, less dramatic but even more needed generosity.

Anybody here read Romeo Dallaire's book, "Shake Hands with the Devil"? He was the commander of the UN forces in Rwanda and forbidden to act to save lives during the genocide there. 800,000 people died in that tragedy, while the western nations did nothing. But there were no cameras to take pictures and our TV dependent society needs good dramatic pictures to emotionally move us.

(Rant off)

-- Tricia the Canuck (jayles@telusplanet.net), January 09, 2005.


Proper language among the grandparents. :-D

I laugh because I remember the time my very young son used one of 'those' words in front of my dad. (He learned it from his DAD, of course). I was mortified. LOL!

Lon, kids learn SO much from their parents. Racism and hatred... love and compassion... self-confidence or self-loathing...

I'm amazed at how many people's spiritual beliefs are based on their parent's beliefs instead of searching and learning for themselves.

How many believe the news based on what ABCNBCCBS and CNN tell them? It's staggering!

Is our society as a whole just lazy? Stupid? Brainwashed?

I'm amazed every single day...

-- Gayla (privacy@please.com), January 10, 2005.


Gayla, you've touched on something I've had rattling around in my mind for a while now. As I watched the last election, I realized that the paradigms of education have changed. What were the “hot topics” of the college crowd when I attended, are now becoming the forgotten homilies of an older generation. Like fashion, the trappings of our brains change with emerging generations. The subtleties of farming are replaced by the study of genetic science; the ability of the seamstress is eclipsed by the ability of the computer programmer. In my own case, the environmental education movement has given way to the disciplines of global computerization.

It’s somewhat amazing to me, as I ponder it, that with all the advancement in civilization, all the increase in knowledge, each generation still starts afresh. Each child is born a blank slate. Do we teach him long division or computer language, ecology or astro physics, history or international marketing? What pathway of education will most likely suit his particular future in a world that is changing like the expressways of our exploding cities?

It’s said that humans are not getting any more intelligent; that early man had the same capability of learning that we do today. But, with this same limited scope of intellect, we are accruing an ever increasing burden of knowledge. Just how much knowledge can our brains absorb? Will educational segregation be an issue in our future, with certain children taught only that area of knowledge which they are tested to most likely comprehend? Will we return to a type of educational caste system, with money making disciplines on the top, and less profitable occupations ranked below?

The Renassiance Man, who could converse in most areas of education, both science and art, history and medicine, is now of necessity, obsolete. What extraordinary individual today could hold his own in conversations of both emerging genetic research as well as Roman history, computer graphics, and the emerging economies of Asia?

As I mentioned, I noticed a change in relative importance of issues during the last election. The issue of environmental protection was simply not an issue. But, as I hear whisperings within the scientific communities that catch my ear, I wonder about the effects of global warming, the increased hurricane activity, the recent acute and incredible movement of tectonic plates. Could we be putting away some basic knowledge as outdated, just now when we should be examining more closely what we know? Are we rushing headlong into the old cliche’ of repeating forgotten history?

Just some ramblings from my viewpoint down on the bayou dock. Responses?

-- Lon (lgal@exp.net), January 10, 2005.


"25 nations sign first constitution for EU" "At least 10 countries have indicated they will hold referendums on the document, and ratification is considered an uphill battle in several...European surveys show a decline in positive feelings toward the union, with many people critical of ceding decisions to officials at EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium."--Daniel Wms, Washington Post

Beetle Bailey (cartoon strip) A hippie carries a sign that reads "The world is coming to an end" Sgt. Snorkel: "Do I have time for a pepperoni pizza?"

"And And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven...and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, for the plague thereof was exceeding great."--John, the Apostle, Revelation 16:20&21.

"And the fourth angel poured our his vial upon the sun...and men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory. And the fifth angel poured out his vial...and they gnawed their tongues for pain, And blasphemed the God of heaven...and repented not of their deeds."--John, the Apostle, Revelation 16:9-11.

Crock (cartoon strip) "I'd give ANYTHING to rule over the ENTIRE desert"--Crock

"And he causeth all both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand or in their foreheads. And that no man might buy or sell save he that had the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name."--John, the Apostle, Revelation 13:16&17.

"All federal government folks will now have an identity card and a strong credential-baically a smart card that will include biometric authentication technology." The government plans to begin issuing them by october 27, 2005.--Neville Pattison, Austin-based dir. of business development, technology & governmental affairs for Axalto, major supplier of bio-capable smart cards.

"Over the next 18 months, you're going to see some very dramatic activity, and within 36 months, it's going to be commonplace."--Ron Smith, pres & CEO of Biometric Access Company (BAC) in Round Rock, Texas. BAC, for instance supplies the Kroger grocery chain (with fingerprint ID technology used in payroll check cashing in about 130 stores now, 550 more this year and 950 more next year). 'Touch and pay' fingerprint systems in 3 test stores in Bryan-College Station. Blockbuster is testing similar technology in several of its North Texas stores.--At Your Fingertips by Bruce Wright, Fiscal Notes (Texas State Comptroller's Office publication, December,2004.

"Why can't we all just get along?"--Rodney King (from memory)

"8-day Pamplona merriment ends with famed chant" (The chant: "Oh, poor me," marks the end of the annual running of the bulls.)--AP, July 15, 1987

Charley (comic strip) on telephone by sign: "Depressed? We care! Call helpline 6:30-11PM" hears "..Hey, didn't you read our sign-it's only 4 o'clock. We don't care until 6:30, Dummy!!!"

Crankshaft (old curmudgeon in comic strip of same name)approaches and looks at ATM, takes out his card and looks at it. In next frame a lady friend asks "Did you get the money for the movie?" He replies "Naw, I changed my mind and decided to go for a walk in the park instead." At the library,standing in front of a computer, he yells "Hey, I thought you said I could get help here!" Flustered librarian says "You can...You simply access the card catalog through the computer." Cranksaft tells her "I don't want to access the card catalog! I just want to take out a book!"

"Now watch for: ...movie theaters and fast food restaurants that accept credit cards/Debit cards that can deduct money directly from your bank account/Smart cards with computer chips...future uses...security and identification, paperless airline tickets, frequent shopper cards."--USA Weekend, June 23-25, 1989.

Bloom County (cartoon strip): little black boy sitting on roof of house looking around at stars. In 3rd of 4 frames stars arrange themselves to spell out "Repent Oliver," then disperse. In last frame, Oliver thinks "Bloody difficult being an agnostic these days."

Snafu (Cartoon strip): Husband in easy chair with paper to wife standing nearby: "I'm suspicious...My horoscope says I should renew my newspaper subscription."

Am I saying that God approves of death and mayhem visited upon men, women and children, at least some of whom we presume to be innocents or that the Tsunami and such like are manifestations of some specific prophecy I have identified? No.

Am I saying that the end times are upon us. Not exactly.

Am I saying that we're not ready for them and many won't recognize the "beginnings of sorrows" ("...many saying, I am Christ...wars and rumors of wars...famines, pestilences and earthquakes...")? Yes.

Am I saying that many of our social and the earth's physical tendencies are beginning to gather momentum in that direction? Yes.

So what's the point? "And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of their works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols...neither repented they of thier murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of heir fornication, nor of their thefts."--John, the Apostle, Revelation 9:20&21.

Hey, prophecy isn't so hard to read. I don't know what God's doing exactly. But it's better to know him than not. I've made my contributions and volunteered, though its unlikely that I will hook up with a group to get anything helpful done soon, and I'm sure they need wreckers, not rubberneckers. It grieves me that anything done from here on will be seen as too little too late. Every day lost means lives, and I have no way to help. Except prayer.

In the play "Raisin in the Sun" (1960), the announcement by a character to her mother in-law that she is pregnant and has already put money down to the local abortionist was seen as "a painful moment...from a woman who's tired of hoping that life will turn out well." In it's Broadway revival last year, the announcement was applauded by the audience.--'Rainin' and Falling, A 40-year-old play reveals something awful about today's culture by Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal, May 1,2004.

Need I say more? We mourn the dead all over the place. There is only one place of forgiveness, help and spiritual high ground.



-- J (jsnider@hal-pc.org), January 11, 2005.


Moderation questions? read the FAQ