The major social and moral debates are often simply battles over language. Indeed, whichever side succeeds in choosing the words our culture uses to discuss these issues will control the way people think about them. Abortionists speak of “terminating a pregnancy” instead of killing a baby (or is it “a fetus” or even simply “fetal tissue”?). “Having an affair,” with its connotations of glamour and lack of consequences, is a euphemism for adultery. The semantic shift away from “sodomy” (which its Biblical allusion to sin and judgment) to “homosexuality” (a medical-sounding, pathological term) to “gay” (denoting happiness, joy, and celebration) has made this “sexual orientation” seem perfectly acceptable and moral.

A person who thinks in terms of the Biblical language may be less likely to commit the sin than the person who thinks in terms of soap opera language. We think with words. Our attitudes and our behavior are shaped by the language that we choose, or that we pick up unconsciously from the world around us. who is to judge you?

Filed under: Society