Bad Words

What do you think of when you hear the word woodlouse?

It seems that for most people I tell, woodlice are bad things. It might bring up images of some blood sucking insect that you might accidentally pick up while you're out hiking around Lake Fayetteville.

But here's what a woodlouse looks like.

"But wait" you say, "that's a roly poly!"  Yes, it is a roly poly.  But its real name is "woodlouse."

This is the kind of problem we have when we start telling people that words are bad.  They are not.  A word cannot be bad, it is simply a way of recording a sound on paper by using a set of established rules on how sounds are to be recorded in text.  Even the sound has no inherent good or evil to it.  It is simply a sound or set of sounds traditionally used to denote a certain meaning.

There are no bad words.  Swear words are not bad, they're just a class of words people have defined (arbitrarily) as having some value they don't and can't have.

Here in Arkansas, I get the same thing with the word "liberal."  I have a friend who for years has disdainfully called me a liberal over and over again.  We were having dinner with his parents a few weeks ago and he told them that he used to think I was a liberal, but now he knows I'm really not.  Excuse me?  I am most definitely liberal, progressive even, politically, economically, socially, etc.  But it really revealed something to me.  He doesn't use the word liberal to describe something liberal, he uses the word liberal to describe something he disagrees with.  He's caricaturing me, describing me using hot button words well known among his people to attach negative aspects to me whether or not they actually exist.  For them, "liberal" is used like when I use "ignorant."  Except ignorant in the context I use it is used to ascribe ignorance, whereas they use liberal not to describe a set of ideologies or philosophies, but to ascribe all around disdain.

I am reminded of South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut where Cartman calls Kyle a stupid f***ing Jew.  Later, he apologizes and says Kyle isn't really a Jew after all.  But Kyle is a Jew!  Not in the sense of the negative racial stereotype that Cartman is using, but in the sense that his family is Jewish.  Naturally, Cartman simply can't fathom how this works.

Be careful with your words.  Be an honorable linguist, don't use words to label people.  Use the proper definitions of words to communicate ideas and identify the truth.

WiredForStereo

Quid Est Veritas?

My sincere apologies for not writing lately, I have been either very busy or alternately too tired to blog, but since I've not had much of a release in this respect lately, my intellect is about to explode out of my head and start taking hostages.

So,

What is truth?

There's a guy who teaches at our church some times, especially in front of youth. Lately he's had the habit of getting up and prefacing his message with claim that he's "bringin' the truth." This bugs me, alot. Now I can't just sit down and enjoy the message, I have to pick through everything he says and point out every tiny thing that he says that is either not true or questionable. I can't enjoy the sermon anymore. Thanks alot you arrogant so and so.

The thing is, what he's giving me is not the truth per se, it's his version of the truth. It's the truth as he sees it. It is not THE TRUTH simply because he says it is. I see this kind of thing in conservative circles all the time. Just because something believes in absolute truth, they automatically think they have it.

There is absolute truth, but I'll guaran-d***-tee it, you aren't in possession of it. You can't be. You're human. Even if someone told you the truth, the absolute truth, you'd mess it up somehow before you could repeat it. You're human.

When I tell you something, it goes without saying that what I am telling you is the truth, so far as it is known to me. But I'm not going to preface my "truth" by saying that it is the truth. Remember, it's the people who say they are honest that you should look out for. I believe what I am saying is the truth, just as I do about what I'm saying now, but you should evaluate it for yourself to see if it is really the truth. Because when someone says "I'm telling the truth," my first reaction is "no you're not." Wrong or right, that's the way it is.

But back to absolute truth. I just want to recapitulate the idea that though there is absolute truth, your and my grasp of it is finite. I love to listen to Rob Bell, but he has this curious habit of making small mistakes when explaining scientific things. So I'm watching and going "hmm, yes, good research, that's an interesting idea, oh, I think he messed that one up a bit, that's interesting, I never thought about it that way, etc.

I also hate April Fool's Day. Do you know why? Because I hate lying with an ever-burning passionate hatred. So I wake up and my wife tells me she's pregnant, and there goes the day. Sojourners says that Rush Limbaugh is singing a different tune, and the anger wells up inside me. Then JDizzle's phone rings and he says his wife is going into labor, and I'm about fit to be tied. My new favorite TV show? Lie to me.

Did I pull any AFD jokes on anyone? Absolutely not. I used to be a liar, I don't do that anymore. Not for the holiday, not for anyone. That's not who I am anymore. And I am absolutely disgusted with people who claim to have the truth, because they don't. Sure it's the truth that something may be on the left and something else may be on the right, but if you turn around, it's all screwed up.

Moral of the story, don't tell me you are giving me the truth, and I won't doubt your credibility.
WiredForStereo

Apologetics and Stuff (Fun!!!)

I used to really be into apologetics, that is the "defense of the faith." Turns out though, you have to be really careful because you can get severely legalistic and stare down your nose-ish.

Whenever you get into arguments, you always seem to be right (in your own mind) and the other person is always wrong. You have a list of verses to back up your point and obviously, their list isn't near as comprehensive or as understanding of context.

Who doesn't want to be right?

I still do believe in objective truth. But I also believe that the Word of God is alive (so to speak) and fluid as it pertains to the culture. It will always have effectiveness as a message and as the basis for a faith, but that means we have to allow it to say different things to different people.

Some believe in speaking in tongues, some believe in deliverance ministry, some think focus should be on missions, some prefer shepherding the flock. I think as long as we don't make Jesus out to be an anti-Semite (he was a Jew) white supremacist pimp, I think we are going in a good direction. What I mean to say is, major on the majors, minor on the minors, and don't tell me there aren't such things as miracles any more.

You are Loved
WiredForStereo