Who is in charge of deciding what words are "bad"?

As many of you know, I am one that questions a lot of things and wonders about the origins of a lot more; for it is at the origins you find original intent and the nature of an item- in it's purest form. Such as words like "goatee" (the beard) which is usually pronounced as go-tee. Though when looking at the spelling and taking into consideration the actual look of the beard one can reasonably assume, at the onset, the word was pronounced as goat-ee; for it looks like the chin hair from a goat. And even though I tend to question, I am also one that picks his battles wisely and is not a reckless gunslinger (well... for the most part). So when it comes to things like "curse/ cuss" words and "bad" words, even though I questioned, I tended to just follow what was publicly and widely accepted to be the truth.

That all changed when in the same week I was forced to ask myself, "Why are some words bad and others aren't?" "Who deemed them to be 'bad' words?" and "Can words even be bad?" Firstly, with anything that I do, I researched both sides of the argument, sifted through opinions to find (constantly and contextually) supported/ corroborated facts, and then draw a conclusion based on the best possible answer. This scientific and systematic approach is not easy when you are dealing with something that is this subjective. Nevertheless, my results are as follows. Comment, let me know what you think, let me know whether you agree or not. This is an open forum, meaning I will NOT delete, sensor or mute you from voicing your opinions- no matter how ignorant, misinformed or flat out stupid I think they are. (and this will be the conclusion of my research, I will NOT be rewriting all the info I found... If you want specifics go to www.google.com :-D )

To answer the question at hand objectively, we first must decide on what words are the bad words? For this I am going to go off of what general words are frowned upon in public schools for elementary students. These words are; ass, bitch, cunt, dick, faggot, fuck, gay, hell, hoe, pussy, queer, and shit. Secondly, we have to figure out the origins of the individual words and figure out if their original intent was to be evil or to be just another descriptive word. Finally we have to figure out when and why it became taboo and widely accepted.

When looking at their genesis, all of these words' first written usage was in an author's literary forum; poem, letter, book, etc., and had a neutral meaning other than that which is associated to them nowadays. Ass was derived from "arsehole" which meant an animals anus, bitch is a female dog, gay means happy, hoe is a gardening tool, queer is something that is oddly different or counterfeit, shit described cattle diarrhea. Well... all but one. The only word that I came across that in it's origins was intended to be brash, offensive and controversial was the "F" word, the "F" Bomb, F-U-C-K... fuck. Ever still, the word still had a meaning, it's first recorded usage was used to say that friars where having sex with other men's wives. The ever growing consensus is that the word is not found any many early writings because it was sooo taboo no one wanted to write it down. Eh.. either way it had a denotative meaning.

So, what makes these words so controversial? Why are they deemed as vulgar and bad? Honestly, there is NO answer to those questions. The closest plausible answer is that the Scriptures speak against "cursing" people. However, the words, in and of themselves, are NOT curses. When someone says, "Shut the fuck up!" they are not wishing ill-will or your demise, they are simply telling you to close your mouth and stop speaking. If you ask someone if they love you and they answer, "Abso-fucking-lutely!" how is that bad? Where is the negativity in the usage? I can speak harm and curse someone without even uttering one of those words. For example; "Go jump off a cliff." "Shoot yourself." "I hope you contract AIDS and die." "can't wait until you have kids that are just as bad as you." Those are curses, those are things that the Bible speaks against. So it is not the words but how it is used and the context in which it is used. Words are like dynamite, if used by the right they can be used for a valid (non combative) purpose, but if used wrong they can cause a lot of damage. It is the man that is evil, not the dynamite or the word.

It is funny how in movies, songs, television shows and the like, how words such as these are; voiced over, *bleep*ed out, silenced, etc. However, they will broadcast the phrases that are actually curses. And it's not like they actually work- apart from the occasional voice over or edit version of a music track. For if I am watching a movie and mid sentence I hear a *beep* I am forced to replace the beep with a word that best makes the sentence complete and for it to make sense. For instance; "I'll give you son's of *bleep*, three mother *bleep* seconds to get your pansy *bleep* off my lawn!!!" Now, it does NOT take a rocket scientist to figure out what words I "edited" out and even with the "editing" my message was conveyed. Not to say that the sentenced required it, but the words played a useful role in stressing how adamant I was about you getting off my lawn. Irregardless, the reader was still forced to replace the "*bleep*" with the very words that I was attempting (and failing) at keeping hidden. That goes the same for pseudo-homonyms; instead of saying "fuck" you say "fudge" or instead of saying "shit" you say "ship." The message is still there and your listener or reader will still (in most cases) associate the "vulgar" word in it's stead.

All in all, words are apart of the English language and some are more colorful than others, but NO word can be bad or evil. It is dependent solely on how it is used and the motives of the user of the word. Also, contextually, all but one word is neutral from it's beginnings and it is only the slang form that is most commonly looked down upon. As I previously shown, you can use any word to tear down a person and you can use any word to build them up. We need to elevate our thinking and get beyond the minor issues of WHAT word is being used and see the true essence of how it is being used. And for all my offended Christians out there that want to say, "God wouldn't be so controversial..." I say, take a hard look at the Scriptures prior to telling me how "loving" God is. Though I will recall what Paul wrote to the Church at Corinth, "'Everything is permissible'—but not everything is beneficial." Ideally it would be great if people would stop being so ignorant and minor, as to miss an entire point of a conversation by the insertion of a word that they, by tradition and through learned ignorance, deem to be profane, vulgar or bad. But in reality, that is NOT going to happen anytime soon. So take this information, do with it as you will, but be smart enough to know that it is not wise to give a speech at school, corporate gathering, church, etc. with an onslaught of words that the general public will find offensive; I can guarantee many will miss the point of your speech.