Obey every law in the Bible? I came across an article on the Internet about a guy who tried to obey every rule in the Bible for one year. Doesn't this sound like a prescription for madness? It looks like he tried every hair style in the Bible too.

To err is human. I suppose that even those who were formerly not men, such as the Beast-Folk on the Island of Lost Souls must some day consider if they can be perfect. Are we not men, so to speak?

Bible readers are the minority in some countries. Oops. It feels bad to be any ethnic or religious minority, I suppose. It's because of prejudice of the "We hate you because you're not just like us" variety. That attitude is pernicious. It slowly erodes every joy.

The funny thing is that everyone is a minority somewhere, everyone.

Obeying all rules and laws of any sort is pretty intense. A year is about all you can spend under that kind of pressure.

If you are the only one of whatever-minority-you-are, you are in the wrong place, unless you are a crusader or have a martyr complex. It's not strictly about race. For instance, a dedicated and outspoken redneck in San Francisco, a Boston Irishman in China, a black soul brother among the Eskimos, or a flagrant pagan sex priest in a moderate mid-western community are examples of the idiomatic expression of sticking out like a sore thumb. I use these only as theoretical examples.

One of the reasons it feels bad to be completely all wrong in your location is that everyone hates you - intensely. No matter how much time people might spend spewing talk of love, peace, brotherhood, and how kissey-face-huggy-friendly-enlightened-and-accepting-of-you they are, that is seldom the case.

I have taken on a "no swearing" (cursing) vow for a year, not even hell or damn or butt. I shall blush if I read pork butt on the supermarket sale flier. After less than two months, I found myself replaying a scene on video film with the F-word in it over and over again with a perverse pleasure that I can only liken to diving into a chocolate cream cake after breaking your vow to give up chocolate. After making the initial vow, I snickered to myself when I think of hell or damn or butt. I find myself saying hello and realizing it has the word hell in it, and that is perverse, because it wasn't funny before.

Swearing is bad. It puts you squarely and demographically at odds with the raised-eyebrow class of a population. A lot of churches and social groups will kick you out if you swear, even if you want them to. Cursing puts you into an adult category, therefore, children are not allowed to curse. Of course, on the computer screen, the cursor is a constant.

Swearing is not allowed on television.

That's not a true statement. I hear swearing on television all the time. It's just that I am not supposed to swear. Why is that? In movies from the 1970's and 1980's they seemed to be swearing like crazy, like troopers, like sailors.

I guess that's what bothers me. Why are we all pretending that sailors don't cuss? Why are we pretending a lot of other stuff isn't true? Do we think that a lot of bland talk will cover a multitude of sins, social injustices, and vicious unfairness?

I'm not suggesting that we take down all the barriers to all sorts of language. Words can carry a wallop, some of it hurtful.

What's the substitute for cuss words? What words will we use to pepper up our listless conversations that call for more than the creativity of a dull robot? What words do we use to convey we are at the very limit of our tolerance? Dare we use words over two syllables or is that off limits?

I solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. I swear by the moon and the stars in the sky. Hamlet's father told him to swear, so why shouldn't I?