I know there are some new people arriving daily, so I wanted to take this opportunity to welcome everyone to post, and answer often!

I have noticed lately a propensity toward using some common "cuss" words, I would like to remind everyone that profanity is not allowed on this site. In some places I have e-mailed people, who were happy to give me permission to remove these words, and in other instances (fake e-mail address etc...) I have simply tried to remove the words without changing the integrity of the message. Some people just get mad and never post again. I am sorry for this, but it is my goal to keep this site as family oriented as possible. If I see a post containing offensive language, I will pursue it, if I don't see it and it offends you, let me know.

Our goal is to help others in a kind and friendly manner!!!!

-- Melissa (cmnorris@1st.net), November 12, 2001

Answers

Thank you for cleaning up a little corner of our world.

-- Ann Markson (tngreenacres@hotmail.com), November 12, 2001.

Melissa, you don't know how much I appreciate the "clean" posts. I have been known to quit reading something and dispose of it if it uses bad words. There is too much of that already in the public media. I say 3 cheers for a forum that you'd recommend to your preacher (or Mom). Keep up the good work!

-- gibson girl (bobtravous@email.com), November 12, 2001.

Love it Melissa!Keep up the good work.God Bless!

-- Micheale from SE Kansas (mbfrye@totelcsi.net), November 12, 2001.

The rule could be said this way: Don't post anything you wouldn't say in front of your mother or pastor! Another thought on cuss words...did you ever notice that cuss words lose something when they are used too much? My father rarely used those word, but, if he did, we KNEW he was beyond angry! Then, there was my uncle who cussed constantly! No one took him seriously and we really didn't have much respect for him.

-- Ardie/WI (ardie54965@hotmail.com), November 12, 2001.

Hi Ardie, I tried the mother/pastor thing, but people must use some language in front of theirs, that I wouldn't in front of mine!!!! Sometimes I see some things and I think: "OH,NO" here we go again!!!!

-- Melissa (me@home.net), November 12, 2001.

In my opinion, curse words are simply a lack of command of the English language. Sometimes this is because of immaturity and sometimes it is because of ignorance. In either case, I usually ignore the curse words and try to see if there is a message in the statements at all. Most of the time there isn't. Since it tends to reflect a meaning of nothing, then why get upset over nothing. I ignore the nothings.

-- Iris (Sar_India@msn.com), November 12, 2001.

Oh Melissa, isn't that something how people disrespect parents! I had little or no respect for my mother, but I didn't use cuss words with her either!

Iris, you reminded me of something from years back. My son was in grade school and came home with "potty" mouth words. I told him that if he HAD to use those words, he had to use the anatomical terms for them. LOL! Without posting them, I think everyone can understand ehat I mean! I suppose with the boys he still used those words, but he didn't at home!

-- Ardie-Wi (ardie54965@hotmail.com), November 12, 2001.

You are doing a great thing, Melissa. We don't even use words like darn in our family. We try to choose our words carefully when expressing ourselves. Mind you, we aren't perfect!

-- Jo (mamamia2kids@msn.com), November 12, 2001.

I guess I was guilty in one posting. Sorry Melissa. I usually don't swear but I didn't realize that particular word was profane since it was a biblical reference but I respect your point. I'll be more careful next time.

-- Dave (something@somewhere.com), November 12, 2001.

Melissa, I just came to this forum in the last week and really like it. I didn't realize you kept it that clean until this post. Thank you! It's so nice to come to a site and not be exposed to language that we don't use. Also, nice to have a site where I can say I'm a Christian and not be deleted (a la' CS).

-- Deena in GA (dsmj55@aol.com), November 12, 2001.

lol Ardie, I would have loved to have seen your sons face.

-- Iris (Sar_India@msn.com), November 12, 2001.

Hi Dave, I know you probably saw that I removed that particular word from your post. I also removed it from 4 other posts yesterday alone, making me think I was under deluge!!

If you are using the word that means the opposite of "heaven" in a way that is not referring to the actual physical place, (I am thinking of Hoot who has used this word 2 times on this forum acceptably), then I consider it a "cuss" word.

I even hesitate to write this, but I hope you all understand my meaning. Like telling someone to go "there", is cussing. Trying to tell someone to change your life or you may spend eternity in an "awful" place is NOT cussing.

It isn't just the word itself, but the intent behind the word that matters. If you say, "I am so dumb for making this mistake." I will feel badly that you have this perception of yourself, but I won't delete it. If YOU tell SOMEONE ELSE they are "dumb" for doing something, guess what? It will probably be gone when you look on here next time!!

I hope this clears up the language usage one final time. I don't want to cringe when I open a post. I want to know there is something there that is informative, interesting, amusing, enlightening, entertaining, helpful or inspiring. THANKS to all of you who work hard to help achieve the goal of a fun family site!

-- Melissa (me@home.net), November 13, 2001.

Thank you for caring to do this task, Melissa; I am as guilty of cussing here as anyone else.

As mentioned above, I don't consciously cuss on purpose, my mind just naturally thinks that way (on autopilot, I guess). Most of the people I was raised around (not my parents, I doubt if they ever cussed more than two or three times in their lives) cussed not as a curse, but a manner of speech.

If you have had to deleted anything off of my posts, sorry for the trouble; I'll try to censor myself better in the future. And this site is VERY friendly to everyone, I think that is why everyone seems to stop on by and set a spell. Have a good day.

-- j.r. guerra (jrguerra@boultinghousesimpson.com), November 13, 2001.

Melissa, as I was growing up, we were not allowed to call names at all (stupid, dumb, idiot, etc.), nor were we allowed to say any word as an expression of disgust, irritation, anger, whatever (shoot, nuts, shucks, etc.). So you can imagine how my parents felt about darn, gee, heck, etc., let alone the more profane words. They tried to help us examine the attitude behind those words. If we fixed the attitude, the words would take care of themselves.

-- Cathy N. (keeper8@attcanada.ca), November 13, 2001.

thank you to everyone for your kind words and efforts in this area. While we may be not be the most exciting forum on the internet, I am glad we an be civil to one another exchanging ideas and thoughts with kindness and a good nature!

-- Melissa (me@home.net), November 14, 2001.