Reply #7: I think it's a matter of taste, rather than

[shimmergal]

in Christianity's domain.

That said, I really dislike some of the words I hear today. The acceptablility of words DOES change though, and not as slowly as we may think. When I was in college, the "n word" was unacceptable in polite company, but most people felt free to use it among their intimates. OTOH, "f*-" and "s*-" were _really_ unacceptable in polite company AND elsewhere. Kind of the reverse of the situation now. I think Norman Mailer started to legitimize the latter in his first WWII novel, (Naked and the Dead?) but even there he had to use phonetic near-equivalents in print.

About the "Taking the Lord's name in vain." That's a reasonable understanding of what it meant. I've always thought it meant "pulling rank" by saying God wants you to do this or that, when the idea is really the speaker's. But maybe this is too modern an interpretation.

Interesting discussion! And a good break from the internecine political squabbling!