But I say unto you, that whosoever is angry with his brother shall be in danger of his judgment. And whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council; and whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. (3 Nephi 12:22)Something I notice in this scripture is that Christ says that we should not be angry with people. But it also seems to say that we shouldn’t call people derisive names. Part of me wonders if this is because calling people names is particularly provoking and tends to make them angry. And it could also be that calling people something contemptible indicates our own arrogance, which is a dangerous spiritual state.
In my family we were trained to not call each other names. Of course we messed up just as much as anybody, but we knew we weren’t supposed to.
Have you ever been in a place where people called each other the worst names in the most affectionate way? I saw this for a while. I really wonder about that. I don’t understand it. I don’t like it, because it gives outsiders the completely wrong idea about the nature of the relationship. “Whore” is just not a term of endearment. Neither is "witch" or some of those other things.
Just some random thoughts I have on the scripture...
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