A Bad Habit

Most of us are aware of the vulgar language used by Vice President Biden, caught on an open mic earlier this week, when introducing President Obama during the heath care reform signing. Unfortunately this is not the first time our VP has used this type of language in public. And, for the sake of bipartisanship, our previous VP, Dick Cheney, also was often heard using similar indefensible language. The fact that this is laughed off and regarded as a non-event by the media is a sad commentary on where we are today with our Country's leaders (role models of the highest order) in setting an example (character and integrity) for our children.

A few weeks ago I did notice where Biden, during a news conference, appeared to be very proud of his Christian (Catholic) faith by retaining the ashes on his forehead, received during Ash Wednesday's Mass, for an extended period of time. As a fellow Catholic, I would simply like to remind Biden of his responsibility as a mature adult, Christian parent, and as the second highest ranking leader of the most powerful nation on earth. He should be more spiritually disciplined and mature...and have much more self-awareness of the consequences of his careless speech!
High School student McKay Hatch has some great advice for Biden:

SOUTH PASADENA, Calif. -- The teenager who persuaded the California Assembly to approve a No Cussing resolution earlier this month has a message for Vice President Joe Biden: Watch your mouth.

South Pasadena High School student McKay Hatch held a news conference Friday in front of his city's post office where he asked the vice president to apologize for letting a profanity slip during a bill-signing ceremony earlier this week.

Hatch,17, said he also plans to mail Biden one of his No Cussing Club's penalty jars and an official club T-shirt.

We should applaud Hatch for his incredible witness and maturity.

Finally, this passage from Scripture (Catholic Bible) is not only for VP Biden, and former VP Cheney but for anyone who is consistently careless, thoughtless and unguarded with their language.

Sirach 23:9-10,13-15 "Let not your mouth form the habit of swearing, or becoming too familiar with the Holy Name. One who swears continually by the Holy Name will not remain free from sin. Let not your mouth become used to coarse talk, for in it lies sinful matter. Keep your father and mother in mind when you sit among the mighty, lest in their presence you commit a blunder and disgrace your upbringing. A man who has the habit of abusive language will never mature in character as long as he lives."


Note: The Book of Sirach is a work from the early second century BCE, originally written in Hebrew. Sirach is listed as one of the Deuterocanonical books, a term used since the sixteenth century to describe certain books and passages of the Christian Old testament that are not part of the Hebrew Bible. However, Sirach is accepted as part of the biblical canon by Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, and most Oriental Orthodox but not by most Protestants.