I just don’t understand the Dutch. According to Reuters, a Dutch village has legally banned the taking of the Lord’s name in vain:

Staphorst, in the so-called Dutch “bible belt” of eastern towns where religion holds sway, approved a ban on swearing by 13-4 council votes.

But the caveat that swearing is not banned when it is an expression of the constitutional freedom of speech may make it difficult to punish offenders.
….
The Dutch association against swearing, which runs national billboard campaigns to admonish the bad-mouthed Dutch, says the Bible outlaws swearing.

This of course is a law coming from the country that also offers legalized drugs and prostitution in the sin-city of Amsterdam. I’m trying to wrap my mind around how a nation can manage to be so schizophrenic. Does touring the Netherlands run you the risk of turning into an alley to find a rampant orgy only to doubleback and find yourself thrust into a mob of puritan linguists? I mean this country has hookers in a shop window and a god damned “Dutch association against swearing” for goodness sake!

After having recently read David Sedaris’ hilarious essay ‘6 to 8 black men’wherein the travelling Sedaris is informed by the Dutch that Santa is really the ex-bishop of Turkey who resides in Spain and goes around deciding to bag and kick naughty children with the aid of six to eight black ‘friends’, what can I conclude except that the Dutch are probably one of the most genuinely whacked-out nations in all of history?