WHAT HAPPENS WHEN GOOD WORDS GO BAD?

HAPPY, SAFE, HEALTHY AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR TO ALL!!!!!!!

                A couple of blogs ago I took a humorous look at language use and abuse.   I did not, however, deal with the power of language.  Consider this:  which would you prefer, a brown diamond or a chocolate diamond?   A chocolate diamond is a brown diamond.    Amazing, isn’t it, how changing the label on a commodity changes the desirability of that commodity?  Of course, language isn’t just used to sell us stuff.  It is used politically and economically to control people, as well as to justify the unjustifiable. No matter how sophisticated we think we are, we are all subject to being manipulated by language.

                  I’ve long maintained that we can change the attitudes and behaviors of people simply by changing their vocabulary.  While there is still a lot of debate as to whether language influences thought  the way thought influences language, I tend to believe that it does.   My original idea was to introduce terms such as “honor” and “faith” into the general lexicon to replace some of the negative language that is found in our communities, and thereby alter the culture.  My thinking was that if the criteria for decision making was  based on whether something was “honorable” rather than “fly”, ( Fly is probably outdated, in my day, the word would have been  hip.) a more honorable and less violent culture would arise in our inner cities.  (No, this is not a panacea; merely one small weapon in a war in which we can use all the help we can get!)      The problem is that the concept of honor-or more importantly the transmogrification of honor – has provided the impetus for some of the most barbaric-not to mention stupid behavior the world has ever seen.   Judge for yourself:

                ·  Case-5:  ABU QASH, Palestine: Amira Abu Hanhan Qaoud (mother of 9 children) killed her daughter ‘Rofayda Qaoud’ who had been raped by her brothers and was impregnated. Armed with a plastic bag, razor and wooden stick, Qaoud entered her sleeping daughter's room last Jan. 27, 2003. "Tonight you die, Rofayda," she told the girl, before wrapping the bag tightly around her head. Next, Qaoud sliced Rofayda's wrists, ignoring her muffled pleas of "No, mother, no!" After her daughter went limp, Qaoud struck her in the head with the stick. The 43-year-old mother of nine said. "I had to protect my children. This is the only way I could protect my family's honor."

                I find it beyond  mind boggling that the victim, not the perpetrators is the source of dishonor. While honor killings appear to be the province of the Muslim community, the perversion of honor for stupidity can be found everywhere, including the United States.   The practice of lynching African Americans was linked largely to a Southern sense of honor.

                Let’s look at the word, faith, something I grew up believing could never be anything but positive.  Yet, now I realize that the hideous behavior I just outlined is grounded in a false sense of honor that, in turn, is grounded in a faith that is so strong, so unshakable,  that it justifies gruesome  homicides - even of one’s own child.  I’ve come to understand that faith, like everything else, can be either good or bad, depending on context.  When faith is based on something that makes sense ( e.g. no one can stop me from achieving my goals) it is a good thing.  When it is nonsensically based (racial superiority or the reward of 72 virgins in heaven) then clearly, it is not such a good thing.  The problem, of course, lies in determining who has the right to say what makes sense for whom?

                There is another issue with faith that makes it particularly troubling : it cannot be debated.   An article of faith, unlike a scientific or even intellectually derived concept, is not subject to revision through argument or discussion.  Faith cannot be rationally defeated, no matter how irrational it is.

                The last word I’d like to touch on, that I once thought could never be turned negative is Freedom.    As an African American, the reasons this word is so sacrosanct are obvious.  Yet Freedom, for intelligent, civilized people, is a finite concept.  Even Freedom of Speech has its limits, as outlined by Oliver Wendell Holmes’ famous admonition against falsely shouting fire in a crowded theater. 

                Part of the propaganda that was passed off as education for us was that the Puritans came to America seeking religious freedom.  .  That’s a nice, romantic and FALSE tale.  The only freedom they sought was to impose conformity to their strange and often completely nonsensical mandates.   

                Perhaps the most intriguing example of the misuse of freedom (not to mention another example of propaganda being replaced in our education)  is represented by the revolt of Americans in Texas against the Mexican government for infringing on their freedom to enslave other human beings! 

                Right wing politicians use the word freedom in a Pavlovian way to maintain control of their constituents.  Going back to the communist witch hunts, Americans have been manipulated by irrational fear that their freedom is somehow in jeopardy.  George W. Bush stated that the terrorists, “hate us for our freedom!”, about as absurd a declaration as any I’ve heard.  Ronald Reagan guaranteed that   Medicare  would be the “end of freedom as we know it.”  The list goes on.

                What do we do when good words go bad?  I guess we have to just stay vigilant. What do you think?