{"id":28307,"date":"2015-05-01T22:38:08","date_gmt":"2015-05-02T03:38:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/kathyschiffer\/?p=28307"},"modified":"2015-05-01T22:38:08","modified_gmt":"2015-05-02T03:38:08","slug":"why-youll-never-see-the-f-word-on-my-blog","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/kathyschiffer\/2015\/05\/why-youll-never-see-the-f-word-on-my-blog\/","title":{"rendered":"Why You’ll Never See the “F” Word on My Blog"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

I get it: I\u2019m older and crankier than some of you.<\/strong> There is an entire generation of young Americans, many of whom have a casual regard for the rules of polite speech which marked my early years. For some of these young people, the \u2018f\u2019 word is just another, more expressive means of communicating.<\/p>\n

To which I say: No, it\u00a0isn\u2019t.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"256px-Angry_man.svg\"<\/a>
By User:Tomia, original image en:User:Polylerus (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>Every once in a while, I have to repeat the rule\u00a0that offensive speech\u2013name calling, profanity, blasphemy and obscene speech\u2013will not be tolerated in my combox. Failure to maintain that standard will result in the post being removed and, if necessary, the reader being permanently barred.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve had this conversation with some of you; but it bears repeating, what with the knock-down, drag-out fights going on in my combox of late. I don\u2019t mean to be unkind; I don\u2019t mean to exclude viewpoints which differ from mine. But mine is a Catholic blog, and I expect the conversation to remain civil and\u2013hear this!\u2013clean.<\/p>\n

Why can\u2019t I just get over it? Let me explain.<\/strong><\/p>\n

When my children were still quite small, we went for a walk around the block. Along the way, we encountered a teenage boy with a black t-shirt on which was a crude message \u201cF*** You\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cMommy,\u201d asked my younger son, \u201cwhat does \u2018F*** mean?\u201d<\/p>\n

So what the neighbor kid had done was force me, a careful\u00a0parent who tried to expose the kids to age-appropriate activities and great ideas, to explain human sexual activity to a preschooler. The ill-mannered neighbor had injected his vulgarity and\u00a0disrespect into my personal space and my family\u2019s vocabulary.<\/p>\n

* \u00a0 \u00a0 * \u00a0 \u00a0 * \u00a0 \u00a0 * \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0*<\/p>\n

But suppose you have no small children?<\/strong> Well then why, I ask, would it be reasonable for a total stranger to impose himself in your<\/span> world, demanding that you think\u2013RIGHT THEN!\u2013about penises and vaginas and how they come together in a violent, unloving relationship? Please\u2026 stay out of my world. Stay home.<\/p>\n

* \u00a0 \u00a0 * \u00a0 \u00a0 * \u00a0 \u00a0 * \u00a0 \u00a0 *<\/p>\n

Now think about the world of the Internet:<\/strong> Isn\u2019t it really just like the sidewalk in my city, where that grubby kid wore his vulgar black t-shirt?<\/strong> There are voices\u2013some familiar, many that I\u2019ve never heard before\u2013clamoring to be heard. Not everyone who gets into my personal space is my friend. That ill-mannered stranger in the black t-shirt is there.<\/p>\n

But listen, guys: You\u2019re no longer just hanging around with the guys at the bar.<\/strong> The conversations you have on-line, on Facebook or Twitter or in someone\u2019s combox, aren\u2019t just among friends. The world\u2019s not like that anymore.<\/p>\n

Parents\u00a0can protect their children and themselves by staying away; but the thing is, we\u2013mothers and fathers and children and everyone\u2013have the right to be there. Kids\u00a0have the right to be on-line, doing their homework, playing games, chatting about school and baseball and friends. Elderly people are there. Priests and sisters, schoolteachers and secretaries, people you\u2019ve never met and about whose standards and life stories you have no knowledge.<\/p>\n

The Internet is a public space,<\/strong> not your private playground. Keep it clean.<\/p>\n

Thank you.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I get it: I\u2019m older and crankier than some of you. There is an entire generation of young Americans, many of whom have a casual regard for the rules of polite speech which marked my early years. For some of these young people, the \u2018f\u2019 word is just another, more expressive means of communicating. To […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":556,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[74,97,235],"tags":[2469,2468],"class_list":["post-28307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-culture","category-family","category-social-networking","tag-courtesy","tag-vulgarity"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy You'll Never See the "F" Word on My Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I get it: I'm older and crankier than some of you. 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