Controlling Language to Hide Sin

Again! Words have meaning and meaning matters! He who controls language, controls thought (Vide Orwell's 1984).

From Catholic Stand

By J.a.c. Man

The good Sisters who taught me in grade school knew how to use language correctly.

One of my earliest teachers was a Franciscan Sister.  As a first-grade teacher, she was very practical.  I still remember several of her lessons in detail.  She was exceptionally good at explaining things in ways a child could understand.

Once she talked about how the devil enjoys tricking people into sin.  She used the parallel of receiving a beautifully wrapped present, complete with ribbon and bow.  I vividly remember picturing a crimson foil wrapped box in my mind as she described the package.  Once unwrapped, however, all one finds is a rotten apple, bruised, moldy, and taut with the stench of decay.

Manipulating Language

This lesson holds true in today’s modern world.  The packaging may be different, but the comparison is identical.

Beverage cans and bottles display the number of fluid ounces.  Ounces have a fixed definition that protects the consumer from being cheated.  The language is clear.  But one must actually understand what ounces are.

When ordering drinks at a fast-food drive through, however, ounces are irrelevant.  The common language is small, medium, and large.  And some companies have even dispensed with small and only offer medium, large, and supersize.  What does medium really mean?  How many ounces is ‘large?’

Still other companies have created whole new language for their drink sizes.  Medium and large are replaced with terms like tall or venti.

The language used is not by accident.  Businesses are deliberately trying to manipulate consumers to improve sales. Companies are selling ‘the perception of more’ masked in imaginative language.

Packaging Sin in Handsome Language

Products are not the only thing being sold to us.  Opinions, philosophies, and even sin are peddled to society.

In today’s world, every sin is packaged in very handsome language.  It seems the devil has enlisted the aid of the greatest marketing and public relations firms to transform the ugliness of mortal sin into language that sounds warm and welcoming.

After years of incremental creep, the meaning of words has changed.  In numerous cases, the narrative is entrenched so deeply that calling a sin by its rightful name has itself become a sin in the modern world.  One need not look far to find many examples.

Pro-Choice as a Case Study

Do you know anyone against choice? I don’t.  No one is against choice.  Even God gives us a choice to follow Him or to deny Him.

In today’s world, when someone says they are pro-choice, the language sets a tone of moral superiority.  Choice is established as freedom given to us by God.

But what does pro-choice mean?  Does it mean you can choose to send your children to Catholic schools?  No.  Does it mean you can choose to get married and start a family?  Again no.  Does it mean you can choose to put your baby up for adoption if you do not have the means to care the child?  Wrong again.  Let us take another hot button topic.  Does it mean you can choose to carry a firearm legally for sport or self-defense?  Absolutely not!  Of course, pro-choice really only applies to abortion. So, if it means only one choice, it’s really not choice at all.

It should be no surprise that the one who first denied God has conspired in this world to mask the sin of murdering unborn children with the language of “choice.”  This is no accident.

Gay as a Second Case Study

Sometimes the definition of a word is intentionally twisted to mean something it did not.  The first time I heard the word gay was in the theme song of the Flintstones cartoon.  At the time, I did not know what it meant to “have a gay old time.”  My parents told me it meant happy, merry, keenly alive, exuberant.  This is how the word was defined in their 1930’s era dictionaries.

During the last half of the 20th century, a swing occurred.  My 1984 edition of Webster’s dictionary lists 3 definitions for the word gay.  The first 2 definitions were about being happy or bright.  The third definition listed was a single word – homosexual.

In today’s Merriam-Webster dictionary, the first definition reads, “of, relating to, or characterized by sexual or romantic attraction to people of one’s same sex.”  The first meaning of “gay” has been redefined in the last 50 years.

The word Homosexual is very clear.  Gay, however, sounds much more positive and has displaced the former.

When looking closer at the current definition of gay, one finds that the word homosexual is completely omitted.  If gay is the replacement word for homosexual, why not use it in the definition?  The only reason can be to conceal its true nature.

Other Examples

These are only two examples in a lengthy list.  The whole contrived dispute of gender is ripe with illustrations.

Sometimes the manipulation of words is a bait and switch like replacing the phrase freedom of religion with freedom to worship.  In this case, a similar sounding phrase was injected into public discourse with an intentionally different meaning.  Catholics can ‘worship’ as they wish, but don’t actually ‘practice’ the principles of your religion in the public square.

How does one combat this?  One of the priests in my parish has often said that we must name our sins during confession and not be cowards hiding behind vague language.

This option is a possible approach when engaging others.  We must be polite and loving without conceding to sin.  Our mission is to extend a hand and pull people away from the fires of hell.   Part of our challenge is to speak to them in a way in which they will want to reach back to us, to grasp our hand, and leave sin behind them.  This is difficult when someone is convinced that their actions are not sinful.

Politely Stating the True Definition

I recently learned that a close friend’s son is homosexual.  My friend has embraced the sin and vehemently defends this behavior.  Apparently he loves his son more than God.

I did not bring this up, however, I would not affirm his position when pressed.  I stated that I thought choosing homosexual behavior was sinful.  He was upset by this, and the fact that I used the word homosexual as opposed to gay or having pride.  He said the word homosexual is insulting.  I told him I did not understand why.  I am not insulted when someone says I am heterosexual.  If he is proud of that behavior then way not be proud of the word?

This very awkward discussion went on for over an hour.  Fortunately, both of us remained calm.  This was really a challenge, especially when he accused me of condoning the killing of homosexuals in muslin countries because I would not concede that homosexual behavior was acceptable.  I reminded him that murder was a sin, just as adultery.  That sparked a tangent discussion on adultery and the sacrament of marriage.

We are still friends, but I suspect that this topic will come up again.  I am glad that I was blessed with calm because I believe I will have the opportunity to be a witness again.  A shouting match would have ended any chance to witness Catholic teaching.

Uncomfortable Conversations

Standing up for the Faith can be extremely uncomfortable.  Keeping discussions polite without conceding can be difficult.  Both are necessary, however, if the goal is to bring others to Christ.

Such conversations are part of the spiritual works of mercy. It is our duty to admonish the sinner, instruct the ignorant, counsel the doubtful, bear wrongs patiently, forgive injuries, comfort the sorrowful, and pray for the living and the dead.   Sometimes the trouble with our friends is not that they’re ignorant, it’s just that they know so much that isn’t so.