When I was growing up, there were a number of words that my

parents identified as "dirty words." My sisters and

I were taught not to use any of these words. Some of them were

words most children weren't allowed to use. At that time in history

those words were rarely heard in public, in movies, or on the

radio.

There were other words we were not allowed to use that were

not necessarily bad words, but we were not old enough to know

how and when to use them appropriately. In those days, there

was a sense of decorum in public and there were many words that

weren't considered bad, but using them, especially in mixed company,

demonstrated lack of respect for others. For example, one would

never have heard someone use the word "sex" in public

nor would one mention the scientific names for body parts.

Today this standard is almost comical. For example, a play that

is currently gaining worldwide attention is called "The

Vagina Monologues" and a followup play called "The

Penis Monologue" is currently under way. Oddly, the words "vagina" and "penis" used

to make people so uncomfortable that even in the privacy of our

homes we created all sorts of ways to talk about these body parts

without saying the words. While some might see this change as

liberating, I generally find it a bit disquieting that we seem

to have lost any sense of propriety.

In recent years, there has been an interesting cultural transition

in regard to dirty words. Language that at one time one could

only hear at a shipyard is now used with increasing fluency.

Yet other words that didn't used to be "dirty" are

now a part of a new list of bad words. Space doesn't allow for

a long list, but here are two examples:

"Proper." To suggest that some behaviors are "proper" and

others are improper is to set oneself up for criticism. In fact,

some readers may have taken offense to my use of the word "propriety" above.

Virtuous behavior is considered old-fashioned and to suggest

that we should expect wholesomeness in certain environments is

nearly always considered puritanical. For example, a few months

ago, William Bennett, the author of "Book Of Virtues" and "The

Broken Hearth," was ridiculed because it was revealed that

he lost a million dollars gambling. No critic has been able to

discount the truth of what he was saying in his books. Instead,

discrediting the author was the only way to ignore his premise:

that virtue is dead.

"Moral." Any suggestion that there is a right or wrong

is heresy. Postmodernism teaches that there is no absolute truth.

Yet this philosophy seems to deny the obvious. Of course there

is absolute truth. Postmodernists who argue there is no absolute

truth are contradicting themselves because the statement itself

is evidence of the belief in an absolute truth. Postmodernist

thinking was intended to broaden the minds of people who believed

that their way of thinking was the only possible way. However,

this well-intentioned philosophy morphed into an indefensible

position.

Most religious believers are convinced of the ultimate truth

of their respective faiths. They must think this way; otherwise,

there would be nothing in which to believe. Oddly, it is this

same commitment that leads postmodernists to snub their noses

at religious teachings. Postmodernists believe they are right

and this belief that there is no absolute truth is, itself, a

moral value. In essence, we all maintain some kind of moral base

that we believe to be true. We only differ in the facts on which

those moral beliefs rest. Only one who holds absolutely no beliefs

whatsoever, if that is even possible, could truly claim that

there is no absolute truth, yet such a claim would then be a

belief.

One of the main sources from which we learn how to think and

behave is our culture. Using what were formerly "dirty words" receives

little condemnation these days, but daring to utter one of these

modern dirty words will bring on the wrath of the postmodern

thinkers. Once again demonstrating the clear contradiction in

postmodernist thinking, to question one's use of the former dirty

words is considered puritanical, but these same people find it

reasonable to condemn one's use of current dirty words. Simply

put, in our present condition our culture seems bent on teaching

that vulgarity is normal and that morality is old-fashioned and

something that is practiced only by the most backward thinkers.

This is a troubling shift in values and it is frightening to

think about what our culture will be like for our children if

this trend continues.

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