@dixonge, thank you for your thoughtful reply. One of the refreshing things about this forum is the intelligence and civility of the conversations. Your reply reflects both. 
Just a couple of thoughts in response:
As to “If you insist on assigning value to words, you are walling yourself off from the world,” I don’t think that is quite right. As you rightfully point out later, every culture and every person assigns value (or meaning) to words. That is why the words one uses are so important. If all words are considered of equal value, then there is no reason to labor on choosing the “right” word. You hint at this and are right to point out that words are used for different purposes or with different intent. You agree that sex and violence are often used “Lazily and automatically by writers.” I agree. The same can be said for the use of the F word and other vulgarities. For example, in the show Slow Horses, it is not just Lamb that makes liberal use of profanity; it is most of the characters—and very often. It strikes me not as the thoughtful, carefully structured literary use of a verbal device but as the lazy and gratuitous use of a now-normalized vulgarity.
As to “If that were the majority viewpoint it would already be happening,” I take little stock in a majoritarian argument for the rightness of anything. The majority can be wrong and often is. The question is, by what criteria do we judge the appropriateness or inappropriateness of any word? Clearly, at one time in our history, the “N” word was considered acceptable by the majority. It now is not, and rightly so. It should never have been acceptable. As a Christian, I take seriously the intrinsic value of every human being because each bears the image of his or her Creator. The time frame in which a word is used and the extent to which it is accepted are not the best criteria for judging the worth of a word. Words can have intrinsic merit or demerit.
Moreover, most would agree that cultures evolve positively or devolve negatively, and most of the time, do both simultaneously. For instance, we have made tremendous but imperfect and incomplete progress in addressing racism. In that instance, we are evolving and progressing. On the other hand, the dismantling of the two-parent, married family is proving to be socially and economically devastating to children and women in particular. This is not progress; it is regression. The same happens with language. A culture’s language can progress to higher levels of civility and literary quality or regress. The prevalence of vulgarity and the tendency to normalize vulgarity down is evidence of regression.
When you state, “but their [sex and violence] prevalence in the hours of video that my eyes watch is so removed from my everyday life that it eventually makes me want to consume a lot less of what passes for entertainment these days. I say this not from a moral perspective but just a sense of weariness.” If sex and violence were more prevalent in your life, would you want to consume more in your entertainment? And, if it makes you weary, perhaps that is because it is morally and intellectually degrading rather than ennobling. I don’t think one would grow weary with things that are beautiful and intellectually and morally uplifting. I, for one, will take more of that!
As to “This is where the religious right went off the rails, scanning songs and movies for word content. The world has moved on and worries not about such things,” I partly agree. Clearly, those on the right who operate from a fundamentalist, legalistic, and self-righteous perspective, no matter how well intended, do not contribute constructively to culture. On the other hand, they are not fundamentally (pun intended ) wrong in being concerned. The concern is valid, but the approach is not always so much. I will add that the “world has moved on” doesn’t say anything about the merits of the direction in which it is moving. It could be moving in a bad direction.
Probably enough has been said about this. I don’t wish to get in trouble with the moderators. Thanks again for your thoughtful and respectful response.
