I have a friend that is sometimes frustrating to converse with, because he always wants me to define the terms I use. Our conversation is filled with his requests to explain just what I mean. He says, with justification, that people may use the same word but often have different…
Watching the furor generated over Erich's post about Bart Erhman's book has been awesome. I mean that in the strict meaning of the word. It is awe-illiciting. After watching the average responses to our posts rise and fall around five to ten each, with a few fetching somewhere in the…
In a post entitled “A Seriously Warped Moral Compass,” Ebonmuse at Daylight Atheism relates a discussion he had with an evangelical fellow. The topic? Hosea, chapter 13, a Bible passage in which God promises that for the crime of disbelief, the city of Samaria’s “infants shall be dashed in pieces,…
Hey, I know the headline isn't grammatical! It was to get your attention regarding this post by Bob Cesca on Huffpo. Cesca makes the point that "Bring em on!" cost who-knows-how-many deaths, while Kerry's recent gaffe was but a gaffe. It must be surreal to be criticized by a speaker…
Recently on Huffpo,George Lakoff has written an important piece on the ongoing political battle to define words.
I’m keenly aware of this battle. Here’s one way it affects me. I do not believe in a sentient Creator. Some would label me an atheist, but that would be horrible unfair. Why? Because that term has been successfully loaded with far more than lack of a belief in a traditional God. The conservative movement has successfully defined “atheists” as strident, immoral, untrustworthy and threatening to America’s families.
This ugly baggage is why I have embraced the term Bright. I am a “bright.” I have a naturalistic worldview free of supernatural and mystical elements. Does that make me threatening? I don’t think so. Does it make me prone to mob violence like members of many religious groups? I would think the opposite—I have to cut my own philosophic path thorough life. I doubtless have different politics and beliefs than many other Brights. Narrowly construed, I’m an organization of one. But there are certain people are perturbed with me, I’m sure, because I refuse to claim allegiance to the insecure God of the Bible and we just can’t have that.
The word battles, however, are taking place on many other fronts.
As Lakoff writes, such word battles comprise “the struggle to define our democratic principles and values. The right wing has worked for decades to alter the meanings of concepts that define our way of life.” For instance, consider the word “liberal.” …
