When did "swearing" come to mean the use of scatological and sexual terms? Those terms may be offensive to some; they may be childish or shocking or obscene, but they are not swearing.
Swearing is what you do when you hold up a Bible and say "I promise ... so help me God". It is the use of the Lord's name to emphasize one's sincerity. So why is swearing bad?
One of the 10 Commandments is "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain". In other words, don't call on the Lord unless you mean it. Some religious denominations hold that the only proper use of the name of God is prayer and religious discussion; any casual use (like squealing Oh my God! when you see something you like) is a misuse. According to some denominations, so is secular use such as taking an oath.
I was on jury duty last year. Potential jurors were asked to take an oath. Those who objected were permitted to make an "affirmation" instead. Those who did so were vilified by some ignorant souls who assumed the objectors were atheists. Perhaps some were; it shouldn't matter. Separation of Church and State means that a particular expression of religious belief cannot be required. For whatever reason, these people objected to taking a religious oath. The bailiff had to call for order.
But that is not what we commonly call swearing. Instead, to preserve the purity of our public airwaves, we are not allowed to use certain words. George Carlin's famous seven words were: shit, piss, fuck, cunt, cocksucker, motherfucker, and tits. In 1972 he added fart, turd, and twat.
Note that while all of these can be considered rude or even obscene, none are swearing.
Half of these words refer to body waste or functions. Today, 40 years after Carlin's monologue, most of these bathroom words are no longer taboo. Fart is especially normal. Turd and piss are OK. Shit is borderline; euphemisms are preferred. Waste, BM, scat, number 2, feces, turd; they're all OK. However, "Oh, shit!" is OK.
The other half refer to sex. Tits, cunt, cocksucker, motherfucker -- these are all considered objectionable; "tits" is probably the most acceptable. "Fuck" is still taboo, at least on the airwaves. It's not the meaning. You can certainly say "rape", which is an even more violent sexual act. And "WTF" has gone mainstream (I don't know what the censors think the F stands for). In any case, it's obviously not the concept that is taboo, it's the word itself. Somehow, the word will damage our moral fiber. That's ridiculous.
To be sure, I'm not a fan of pottymouth. It's ugly, tiresome, and shows a singular lack of imagination, if not a lack of vocabulary. There are other adjectives in the English language. Learn them. Express yourself well.
Meanwhile, actual swearing, the type that is forbidden by the 3rd commandment, is commonplace. "Oh my God!" (or OMG!) is a common expression of surprise, even in cartoons meant for kids. Same with "Jesus!" or other overtly religious phrases. If anything, this sort of thing is portrayed as "cute". Negative expressions seem to be less acceptable. You can usually get by with "hell" or "damn", but for some reason, "Goddamn" is still bleeped out, even when neither "God" nor "damn" is.
But why is the FCC concerned about these words, anyway? If the problem is pottymouth, the government need not step in. What is socially acceptable changes over time, and in any case the taboo, like most social taboos, is socially enforced. If religious swearing is the problem, then the government needs to stay away. Enforcement of religious practice is not a secular problem.
There's another interpretation of the 3rd Commandment, though, that makes more sense. In this interpretation, to "take the name of the Lord thy God" means to operate under the aegis of the Lord, to do things in His name. And "in vain" means to do so falsely. Those who claim to be among God's children, but who do not act according to his precepts, are breaking this commandment.
That includes those hypocrites who claim to be Christian, but who spew hatred and intolerance.
That's a real problem.
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