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Sarcasm is poisonous

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Sarcasm is poisonous HomeNEWS LocalNationalInternationalObituaries FEATURES NW StoriesLatest IssuePast Issues SPIRITUALITY Ask Father/BishopCatholic VoicesDaily ReadingsSaints of the Month LIVING Food & HomeMarriage & ParentingMoney & StewardshipSports VOICES ArchbishopBishopCommentaryBlog ESPAÑOL Del ArzobispoDel ObispoNoticias/OpiniónPreguntasSantos del Mes CULTURE BooksCalendarCrosswordMovies & TV MULTIMEDIA VideosAudioPhotos Classifieds HomeNEWS— Local— National— International— ObituariesFEATURES— NW Stories— Latest Issue— Past IssuesSPIRITUALITY— Ask Father/Bishop— Catholic Voices— Daily Readings— Saints of the MonthLIVING— Food & Home— Marriage & Parenting— Money & Stewardship— SportsVOICES— Archbishop— Bishop— Commentary— BlogESPAÑOL— Del Arzobispo— Del Obispo— Noticias/Opinión— Preguntas— Santos del MesCULTURE— Books— Calendar— Crossword— Movies & TVMULTIMEDIA— Videos— Audio— PhotosClassifieds Home VOICES Archbishop Sarcasm is poisonous Sarcasm is poisonous August 16, 2018 Written by Archbishop J. Peter Sartain Published in Archbishop Photo: Ellen Bollard Among the things forbidden in our house as I was growing up — vulgar, racist, or ungodly words — was the word stupid. To be honest, at first it struck me as odd that we were not unliable to use that word, considering it seemed fairly healthful as words go. I gradually came to realize that it was off-limits considering it is a unseemly word too hands thrown virtually to offend or belittle. The larger lesson was that in wing to words on a forbidden list, there is flipside serious offense to stave — the intentional misuse of speech to injure another.Planehealthful words can injure when strung together in sarcasm. The etymology of the word sarcasm leads when to the Greek sarkazein — to tear flesh, to zest one’s lips in rage, to sneer. Thus sarcasm is a sharp, sometimes ironic verbal expression designed to ridicule and inflict pain; its effect depends on bitter, caustic, wearing language. My parents were wise to ban such language from our house considering they knew that sarcasm injures, divides and creates an undercurrent of hostility — things poisonous to a family. It seems to me that a unconfined deal of entertainment humor these days falls in the category of vulgar sarcasm. The same is true for internet blogs, tweets and text messages. In other words, it is unseemly and adolescent; it poisons; it divides; it injures. New Testament authors, expressly James and Paul, point out insistently that such language is dissimilar to the nobility of those who follow Christ. St. James recognized the power of the tongue for evil: If we put shit into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we moreover guide their whole bodies. It is the same with ships: plane though they are so large and driven by fierce winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot’s inclination wishes. In the same way the tongue is a small member and yet has unconfined pretensions. Consider how small a fire can set a huge forest ablaze. The tongue is moreover a fire. … For every kind of yahoo and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by the human species, but no human stuff can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of mortiferous poison. With it we solemnize the Lord and Father, and with it we expletive human beings who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come manna and cursing. This need not be so, my brothers. (James 3:3-10) St. Paul recognized that language misused injures the Body of Christ: You must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds; darkened in understanding, unpatriotic from the life of God considering of their ignorance, considering of their hardness of heart, they have wilt callous. … That is not how you learned Christ. … Put on the new self, created in God’s way in righteousness and holiness of truth. Therefore, putting yonder falsehood, speak the truth, each one to his neighbor, for we are members of one another. Be wrestling but do not sin; do not let the sun set on your anger, and do not leave room for the devil. … No foul language should come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for needed edification, that it may impart grace to those who hear. (Ephesians 4:17-29) Sarcasm is insensitivity-in-words, and when we indulge it to run amok in our speech, our family life, our workplaces, our parishes, our schools, our unstudied internet conversations and our daily discussions, it injures and poisons. Paul wrote that the Gentiles, considering of their hardness of heart, had wilt callous. So it is with sarcasm: it desensitizes us to human suffering and causes us to condone the injury it inflicts on others. It creates an undercurrent of draconian indifference. Christ, to the contrary, calls us to construct his household with words that build up rather than tear down. A long time ago I made a transferral to myself that when writing or giving a speech I would not use sarcasm or unseemly criticism as ways of getting a point across. What I have often failed to do is live out that transferral in daily conversation. James and Paul rencontre me to be much increasingly vigilant well-nigh my unstudied words and their effect, the ways I use to express wrongness and opinion, and the proper use of my tongue — whose main purpose is to solemnize God, preach his Word, and build up his family in love. Read the Spanish version of this column. Northwest Catholic - September 2018 Tagged under Archbishop Sartain speech sin Archbishop J. Peter Sartain Send your prayer intentions to Archbishop Sartain’s Prayer List,Parishof Seattle, 710 Ninth Ave., Seattle, WA 98104. 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