Continued now from The Disease of Profanity II Boyd K. Packer continues with:
Better Than Profanity. . . .
There is no need for any of us to use profanity. Realize that you are more powerful in expression without it. I give you two examples.
Sir Winston Churchill in his postwar struggle with Nazism, introduced the most revolting character in recent centuries without a profane adjective: “Thereafter mighty forces were adrift, the void was open, and into that void after a pause there strode a maniac of ferocious genius, the repository and expression of the most virulent hatreds that had ever corroded the human breast—Corporal Hitler” (The Gathering Storm [1948], 10. Nobody needs to profane!
You may argue that we are not all Winston Churchills, Therefore, this example is within the reach of most everyone.
On one occasion, two of our children were at odds. A four-year-old boy, irritated beyond restraint by an older brother but with no vocabulary of profanity to fall back upon, forced out his lip and satisfied the moment with two words: “You ugly!”
Nobody needs to swear!
Because of little protest, like the man in the ship, any of us may have fallen victim to the habit of profanity. If this has been your misfortune, I know a way that you can break the habit quickly. This is what I suggest you do: Make an agreement with someone not in your family but someone who works closest with you. Offer to pay him $1.00, $2.00, even $5,00, each time he hears you swear. For less than $50.00 you can break the habit. Smile if you will, but you will find it is a very practical and powerful device. 273
Control of Emotions
Now, there is a compelling reason beyond courtesy or propriety or culture for breaking such a habit. Profanity is more than just untidy language, for when we profane, we relate to low and vulgar words the most sacred of all names. I wince when I hear the name of the Lord so used, called upon in anger, in frustration, in hatred.
This is more than just a name we deal with. This relates to spiritual authority and power and lies at the very center of Christian doctrine. The Lord said, “Therefore, whatsoever ye shall do, ye shall do it in my name” (3 Nephi 27:7).
In the Church that Jesus Christ established, all things are done in His name. Prayers are said, children blessed, testimonies borne, sermons preached, ordinances performed, sacrament administered, the infirm anointed, graves dedicated. ~ President Boyd K. Packer, Wisdom and Order (Salt Lake City, Deseret Book, 2013) p.61-62
What a mockery it becomes when we use that sacred name profanely. If you need some feeling for the seriousness of the offense, next time you hear such an expression or are tempted to use one yourself, substitute the name of your mother, or your father or your child or your own name. Perhaps then insulting and degrading implications will be borne into you to have a name you revere so used. Perhaps then you will understand the third commandment. ~ Continued with The Disease of Profanity IV )
