And the winner is...

The 2011 MTV VMA awards program had the dubious honor of being the "most bleeped out awards show ever". For those who may not know, live television programs run on a 3 (or 5) second delay so that censors have time to put a bleeping noise in the place of any vulgar language the artists may use.

I find this somewhat ironic. These awards are for entertainers whose claim to fame is communication. One would think that they would work on the way they speak to creatively make themselves understood. Of course, others would argue that words MTV and intelligent don't go in the same sentence.

I remember when MTV first hit the airwaves. Hubby and I were somewhat fascinated by the conceptual videos that accompanied some of our favorite songs. But even in the early days, I would not allow my elementary age children to watch.

Whatever the reasoning behind crude and vulgar language, I miss the days when people (TV Hosts, actors, musicians, etc.) were able to express themselves without those "4 letter words" that are so commonplace today. I once had an English teacher who told us that if we had to resort to "ugly language" in order to get our point across, we were not using our brains. I have to agree...I'm really tired of hearing these words spoken even on some childrens TV shows.

Can't we learn to speak without using such tactics? Can we not express fear, disappointment, anger, passion, etc. using the dictionary as a guide? While I do admit, I have been known to slip and use a word now and again that I should not, I work very hard at not allowing them to pepper everything I say. I hold fast to Ephesians 4:29:

"Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen."

Foul language does not make us look tough or cool...next time you are in a conversation with a group of people, make a concerted effort to speak using only "G" rated words and see if anyone notices. Who knows, you may just start a trend!