TV was your example, my friend, not mine.
Fortunately for me-hehehe-when tickled, I kick. Spastically. When we were kids, my best friend found out when I kicked her in the face and broke her glasses. (Just the earpiece-which thankfully my dad was able to fix for her)
You still haven’t answered my question.
Which is why you have all this sexual humor and all these sexual situations on primetime TV, right?
Well Lord Ashtar is right. GOD damn isn’t allowed unless it’s in a movie, and then only on some stations. The FCC has slapped some ridiculously high fines on people like Howard Stern because they didn’t like his potty mouth. You can’t say FUCK or CUNT or most of the original “Seven Words” on TV except on some movie channels. You’re not suggesting the general populace gives a rat’s ass what’s broadcast, are you? They can block channels that don’t suit their sensibilities. The power is in the RR’s opinion about foul language and taboo subject matter. An example of pressure from religious groups http://erlc.com/article/erlc-urges-concerned-citizens-to-support-the-fcc-and-oppose-profanity-and-o/
The language they want to prohibit happens in real life all the time. Most people aren’t offended by it. But this really has nothing to do with the OP’s subject. the GOD piece of “god damn it” is bleeped, and it’s not a curse word. Neither is “damn” anymore. The only reason I can see is that they kowtow to believers.
For the record, I hear the word “goddamn” and variations of it uttered on talk radio all the goddamned time – The Mike O’Meara Show (a comedyish show on AM – used to be The Don and Mike Show) in particular.
I remember the hullabaloo about what could and couldn’t be said or done on the air after the FCC freaked out over Janet Jackson’s nipple – no more fart noises, can’t say “orgasm”, can’t mention dildos, whatever … but then there was a thaw and they specifically got the ok to say “goddamn.” And so they do. Liberally.
I don’t listen to much talk/goof radio so I can’t say what’s happening in the Chicago market, but I do remember Stern being pushed to Pay Radio because he was fed up with the heavy handed approach the FCC took to his freedom of speech.
I’m not bothered by other people taking the Lord’s name in vain.
Sure I do. I don’t go around saying “jesus h. christ” not because I have any belief in magic words but because I prefer to keep my profanities in reserve so they’ll really sting when I must use them. But I have no moral opposition to saying it or hearing it said.
As to the thread question, it’s a little hard for me to answer because I don’t curse casually; if I curse at someone he’s done something to merit it (in my view), and I’m not likely to care about politeness. See the earlier anecdote about my brother’s sadistically tickling my niece.
As do I, so we are in agreement. The question was originally posed to Diogenes, who said there was no difference, so I’m interested to see him chime in.
Or even my stepdaughter. I’m not sure how I confused Cinderella with the other girls.
I think you’re seriously underestimating what the general populace thinks.
Besides, you guys are the ones who say that the Christian Right has the FCC under its oppressive thumb. If that were truly the case, you’d expect that prime-time TV broadcasts would be a lot more conservative than they are now.
Parental Controls were invented so those who don’t their children to see it can block the stations. That’s all the control anyone should need or want over the situation. The fact that there are organizations like the ERLC indicates a hard push from the RR to shut down freedom of expression. I don’t know anyone on the left side of the argument who feels they need more control than the PC button on their remote to restrict their children’s viewing options.
Sometimes they (the FCC) acquiesce and sometimes they don’t. Money is the driver. The networks and sponsors want to make money and get high ratings. If it’s not nekkid T&A and explicit language, they generally allow it. The rest of the world has no problem with more explicit TV. Europe and Japan are fine with it. This seems to be an American Tightie Rightie thing.
I gave up on this fight long ago. It’s a word now.
By the way, I didn’t ask this question to be argumentative:
I’m genuinely curious. Why do atheists say “God damn” unless it’s for the specific purpose of offending believers?
I never had the occasion to teach about Greek mythology, and we pretty much had to steer clear of Christmas discussions (we had to say “winter holiday”).
We had a high population of Hmong kids, though (who have an idiosyncratic folk religion all their own), so efforts were made not to step on toes.
In a literal sense, could I have said the word “God,” and gotten away with it. I’m sure I could have, but saying much about religion in general was frowned on.
Habit/monkey see, monkey do.
I use “Jesus Christ!” as an expletive all the time and I’ve never been a Christian. I’m an atheist now and I was a Hindu before that.
Apropos of little…
I used to go to a barber who was something of a black nationalist. One day, as I was getting a shave, he was expounding to one of his coworkers that, while it was sacrilegious to say “god damn” in general, it is okay to say “the goddamn white man.” His view is that white persons are already damned in general for slavery (as a group), so the latter phrase is simply a statement of fact.
I chose not to argue, as he had a straight razor in his hand and I am not an idiot.
For the same reason plenty of Christians say “Holy shit” even though they don’t really think shit is holy. We grew up hearing it and it becomes second nature to spout out certain things in certain situations.
And most people I know are Christians and I hear “God damn” from them all the time.
Speaking as an atheist, I don’t parse “goddammit” literally as “I wish God to damn something.” The literal meaning has no significance to me. It’s a learned set phrase used in the society to communicate anger or frustration or sometimes even jubilation.
Same here. It’s a phrase used by most everyone, rarely with any intended request upon a god to damn anything, nor any expectation that a god would respond to the request.