Profane - "Relating or devoted to that which is not sacred or biblical; secular rather than religious"[1]

With Secular Intent

Ever since I was young, I've always wondered why certain words are considered "bad words." I've always been of the opinion that words are only as good or bad as the intent behind them. Even the word love can have some ugly intent depending on how it's used. Words are merely how we express ideas to others, and we can twist them to represent nearly anything we want.

Now for my part, I "cuss" all the time. Quite often I've had people try to assert that this stems from a lack of intellectualism or maybe a lack of vocabulary. But the truth is that it is simply how I speak. Many of the words that people consider vulgar or profane are very strong words that show strong intent or emotion and I use them readily to evoke those emotions and to emphasize my points. It isn't something I have to do, but it shows my humanness and that I'm not going to censor or sugarcoat shit for the sake of making it more palatable. It is what it is.

But the idea of profanity goes much deeper and has roots in the tyrannical supposed authority of the religious world, as the definition above clearly shows. Because of this, we must understand that as atheists everything we stand for is profane to the religious. The ideas of blasphemy and heresy stem from this idea of elitism. It makes the religious think that anything that isn't in line with their ideas and rules is somehow evil. And it is that us versus them mentality that has caused religion to be such a divisive tool against civilization, society as a whole, and humanity in general.

Vulgar Display of Power

Quite often I've had Christians finalize a heated discussion with the phrase "god bless you." Now I'm no mind reader, but a great many of them weren't wishing me blessings at all. The reality is that many of them actually meant " FUCK YOU BUDDY!"  I'm sure most of those had good reason to be pissed at me, or at least in their minds they did. So why not be honest? I mean, if you don't like me then don't sugarcoat it or censor yourself. Tell me how you really feel, because I'm damn sure going to tell you how I feel. I don't want to be fed sugarcoated shit any more than anyone else.

This idea of profanity only stifles expression and is asserted by a religious populous who believe only their words matter. These are the same people who are not offended by the idea of their god murdering children, but can't stand the word fuck. They indict us as profane and all the while parade true obscenity, in the form of bigotry, as something wholesome and righteous. It is simply one more vulgar display of their supposed power over everyone else. We have allowed this supposed power to be held tumultuously over our heads for far too long. To quote River Tam from the movie Serenity, "People don't like to be meddled with. We tell them what to do, what to think, don't run, don't walk. We're in their homes and in their heads and we haven't the right. We're meddlesome."

Listen Here

Maybe you're just not fond of vulgar language. Maybe you feel it's unrefined and juvenile. You're welcome to that opinion and you're welcome to speak however you wish. But we cannot continue to let others tell us what we can and can't say. We can't continue to walk on egg shells to protect the personal dysfunctions and delusions of others. They're just words and no one has a copyright on them. If it's fine for men like Ray Comfort to get up on a soapbox and tell all of us we're going to burn in hell, then it should also be fine for me to call that man a douche-canoe with an inflated ego that could use a good hard fisting with his own bible. Now I'm not sure if anal retention is a thing or not, but I know he isn't learning anything from reading the goddamn book.

Profanity isn't just about words. It's a mindset and an intention to promote secularism. Our very existence as atheists is an act of profanity. Every time we deny their book and their ideas of morality and normalcy we are acting in the name of the profane. We are acting with intent to destroy a failed system and to establish a more equal world for all humanity. We challenge their sense of entitlement and privilege and in doing so, we force them to show their true colors. We cannot let ourselves be silenced.

References:

^[1] http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/profane