I always have a sort of schizophrenic feeling about vulgar speech and censorship. I am offended by vulgar speech, as are many others; however, I am equally offended by censorship, especially when applied to me. When I look at this rationally, it boils down to my trying to claim that it's OK for me to be vulgar, but don't anyone else try it... obviously I am being hypocritical about it.

I guess that the bottom line for me is that I feel it's better for me to put up with some profanity now and then, and to maintain freedom of speech, than to try to censor people. I think that first off, most people really are decent and civilized, even though they may let loose with a choice epithet on occasion. Those who aren't, generally get ostracized if they get too outrageous. And really, once you start to censor, where do you draw the line? Many words are ambiguous, or have legitimate meanings in context. Is "cum" a bad word? How about "magna cum laude"? We have the forbidden seven in English - but what about languages like Yiddish, which English has borrowed from - is "schmuck" a bad word?

While I regret that some people have chosen to speak disrespectfully about others, or to use profane words, I think that the way the Monastery is run will ultimately keep it from becoming a problem.