Reddit reviews Holy Sh*t: A Brief History of Swearing

I wouldn't be overly concerned of swearing when talking of deities, per say; especially as someone who fucking loves Zeus. The sensitivity people often have towards swearing and profanity is actually quite contemporary, beginning in the 18th century. Such language has often taken a mundane place in the ancient Hellenic world, in truth. I recommend you read the book Holy Shit: A Brief History of Swearing by Melissa Mohr, who goes over obscenities in parts of the ancient Hellenic world, such as Rome, for example.

I got it from this book which I found fascinating: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Holy-Sh-Brief-History-Swearing/dp/019049168X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1503407194&sr=8-1&keywords=Melissa+Mohr

She's a Literature academic who specialises in Roman and Mediaval literature. Also I didn't actually say all "servants and slaves". She's studied what makes different societies swear in different ways and swearing is very linked with taboos within society. The Roman taboos are similar but subtly different than our own and that's where the background with dominance and submission comes from.

EDIT: This video has her speaking on this very subject within the context of Roman society:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1y8cte-LGA

Ancient Greeks and Romans swore all the time — By Zeus! By Hercules! You can see examples in Plato's dialogues.

For anyone interested in swearing, this is a great book on its history in the West

Holy Shit

It's interesting to see how Shakespeare has religious oaths only in the early plays: the puritan parliament under James made them illegal, although you could still use four-letter words on stage!

This book https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/019049168X/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1479857176&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=holy+shit&dpPl=1&dpID=51hiIAfWPjL&ref=plSrch. Its full of stuff.

Melissa Mohr - Holy Sh#t, A Brief History of Swearing

Eric Berkowitz - Sex and Punishment, Four Thousand Years of Judging Desire

Thanks for pointing out the doc, I'll have to check it out.

I came across some of this (again) just yesterday in the book: Holy Shit - A Brief History of Swearing. It speaks to the idea that all other gods were replaced or cleared out of the Hebrew narrative including the consort.

Also that Asherah was at times symbolized by a goat nibbling on a bush/tree i.e. ram in the thicket. Made me wonder if Abraham's 'sacrifice' post angelic intervention was a sexual rite instead....

http://www.amazon.com/Holy-Sh-Brief-History-Swearing/dp/019049168X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1463518371&sr=8-1&keywords=a+history+of+swearing

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ram_in_a_Thicket#/media/File:Raminathicket2.jpg

I read two books to help me develop how to best teach on the subject:

Holy Sh•t: A Brief History of Swearing
https://www.amazon.com/dp/019049168X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_zfzSzbHWB3QX4

Cuss Control: The Complete Book on How to Curb Your Cursing
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0595391478/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_SgzSzbPKPZVSB

Scriptures on considering the words we use are plentiful, and some have already been posted, but these two books helped solidify my knowledge of how and why cultures develop swear words. Both were incredibly beneficial to my understanding of why Christians are best served guarding their language, both publicly and privately (especially the first title listed).

Is it a sin? I can’t say conclusively. However, the Bible clearly teaches that the words we choose are important.

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I'm actually reading a book on this right now! Well, at least as it pertains to English.

Check out "Holy Shit" by Melissa Mohr

The short answer is that it's complicated.

The long answer is that it has to do with evolving concepts of power, religion, and the taboo over thousands of years, dating back to the earliest roots of English language. The earliest nugget of the concept dates back to certain words that denoted whether you were in the more dominant or more submissive group in society, and evolved as the major western religion of Christianity developed, and then got even more complicated once concepts like privacy and propriety came along. Throw in the evolution of our modern concept of class, and you arrive at which words are bad words by today's standards.

The really long answer is... read this 336 page book. I thought it would be good when I picked it up, but it's absolutely fascinating!