Words, words, words
While waiting for the tea kettle to whistle in preparing a fresh cup of java in my French press, I wandered over to Scot McKnight's blog for some interesting reading. Instead I found myself directed elsewhere. McKnight had written a short post about another post that Brother Maynard had written. As soon as I got to "Subversive Influence" my attention was diverted by a title under "notable posts." (Sometimes I wonder how many breadcrumbs would be needed to find one's way out of the Brothers Grimm forrest that is the World Wide Web.) What had caught my eye was "Starbucks, Snobbery, and Church Vocabulary." I must have had coffee on the mind.
But it was more than that. I have increasingly spent more time thinking about words, how we use them, and ultimately what consequences those choices create. This goes way beyond my sometimes snobbish complaints about the abuse of the English language -- which, in the interest of full-disclosure, I am guilty of committing more than I care to admit. What I am referring to is the conscious and, too often, subconscious use of words in order to manipulate others by instilling fear, guilt, or hatred. It frustrates me to think about the number of people who are continuously beaten down by the poor word-choice of others. Sometimes I feel the phrase "sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never hurt me" was first uttered by a bully who never actually had to experience harsh words. But how often have I played the role of the bully? How many times have I used the justification of generalizations in order to assuage the guilt of making an unnecessary comment about another person? After all, I am sure that within my generalization I am simply citing some expert who can back up their generalizations with that ever-powerful phrase: "statistical proof." Sometimes it feels that in this time of unprecedented access to information we'ver never been more ignorant. After all, if we just Google long enough, we are bound to find someone who agrees with our particular point of view, therefore alleviating us of the need to question or alter our beliefs. But what hurts the most is when the words and vocabulary of the Church and its members unneccessarily and inappropriately harm others. I am by no means proselytizing a watered-down Gospel, rather I am suggesting the opposite: a tougher stance on understanding the actual words -- and all the words -- that are found in the Word of God. I firmly believe that if we simply give more thought to the words we use, then we no longer will have to go around "walking on eggshells" for fear of offending someone with what we say.
Wow. I apologize for that rambling rant. I guess it has been building up for quite some time.