The Concern with Online Vulgarity

A disturbing trend among online Christians involves the use of vulgarity, verbal abuse, and blasphemy, which contradicts core Christian values. While the church does not teach explicitly against specific curse words due to the evolving nature of language, it does uphold the principle that hateful desires and abusive language are sinful. This shift toward profanity in public discourse highlights a dangerous normalization of disrespectful communication, detracting from the teachings of love and charity that are foundational to Christianity. The example of Stephen Colbert's rhetorical use of profanity in a debate serves to illustrate that context matters; however, excessive use, such as seen in critiques of the film Father Stu, raises concerns about appropriate expression of language in all contexts.