Dear Mike:

Well, I feel that when I use such language that it is appropriate. There are times when such language is necessary. This is not just my opinion, but the opinion of St. James, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Francis de Sales, St. Teresa of Avila, St. Bonaventure, and many other saints.

Here are a few examples of the saints language in conversations they were having:

The pacific St. Thomas of Aquinas forgets the calm of his cold syllogisms when he hurls his violent apostrophe against William of St. Amour and his disciples: "Enemies of God," he cries out, "ministers of the Devil, members of AntiChrist, ignorami, perverts, reprobates!"

The seraphic St. Bonaventure, so full of sweetness, overwhelms his adversary Gerard with such epithets as "impudent, calumniator, spirit of malice, impious, shameless, ignorant, impostor, malefactor, perfidious, ingrate!"

St. De Sales was asked by a Catholic, who desired to know if it were permissible to speak evil of a heretic who propagated false doctrines, he replied: "Yes, you can, on the condition that you adhere to the exact truth, to what you know of his bad conduct, presenting that which is doubtful as doubtful according to the degree of doubt which you may have in this regard."

In his Introduction to a Devout Life, that precious and popular work, he expresses himself again: "If the declared enemies of God and of the Church ought to be blamed and censured with all possible vigor, charity obliges us to cry wolf' when the wolf slips into the midst of the flock, and in every way and place we may meet him."

Let us look specifically at the idea of calling someone stupid. St. James, whenj instructing people on the subject of faith and works said in James 2:20 (NAB): "Do you want proof, you ignoramus, that faith without works is useless?"

Other translations, however, render the Greek kenos, and the Latin inanis,differently. The NIV renders the word as "foolish"; the RSV renders "shallow".

The King James and Douay Rheims Bibles render the Greek and Latin as "vain".

Let us define our terms: foolish, shallow, ignoramus, vain, stupid,. idiot.

Ignoramus = ignorant person

Vain = Foolish (in its Archaic rendering of the time)

Foolish = Resulting from stupidity; one who cannot discern 

Stupid = . 1. Slow to learn or understand; obtuse. 2. Lacking or marked by a lack of intelligence.

Idiot =  A foolish or stupid person

Shallow = Lacking depth of intellect, emotion, or knowledge

Hollow = Without substance or character

The ancient translation of the passage in James 2:20 is "vain".

Vain means foolish resulting from stupidity which also refers to an idiot.

In the old formal psychiatric classification of intelligence, an idiot is a person with an IQ of less than 20. (BTW, Moron was a person with IQ 50-69 and an Imbecile had an IQ 20-49).

In modern language James 2:20 reads: "Do you want proof, you idiot, that faith without works is useless?"

If you wish to chastise me, then that chastisement goes to St. James as well and all the other saints who teach that there are times when such language is not only appropriate, but necessary.

But you are right in one thing. I did make a mistake. I referred to an IQ of 25. The correct reference should have been an IQ of 19.

God bless,

Sign with my new name:
Bro. Not Politically Correct Calls a Spade a Spade Ignatius Mary

Just call me Bro. Not PC

:)