There are many good words that are put to a bad use.

To such an extent, that over the years I have had to find better terms for the point being made.

Liberalism

I have no blogposts on liberalism because the use of ‘liberal’ and ‘liberalism’ is too often the abuse of a good word.  It is a vague concept in social use and I try to avoid its application even in the political realm because those who call themselves liberal are not so in the biblical sense.  The liberals have never explained to me if we should tolerate intolerance and why.  Some evangelical Christians speak of liberal theologians, when they mean heterodox or unorthodox ones.  This is another abuse of a good word.

The biblical concept is seen in the generosity of “the liberal soul” Pro 11:24-25 and Isa 32:5,8.

Similarly, unfaithful and infidelity are ambiguous terms that can be abused with unchristian insinuations.  Their use is an easy but dangerous way of smearing a person’s reputation. Infidelity simply means ‘unfaithfulness’ and  unfaithfulness can apply to many things. This is why I call “a spade a spade” and speak about fornication and adultery on my blog rather than infidelity, which is ambiguous and its meaning can be stretched like an elastic band.   Lawyers speak of “lack of specification”.  It would be good if people would speak with more specification.  Christianity is about faith, and Christians of all people should know about its meaning and breath, and unfaithfulness even more so.

Pride has been commandeered by the homosexual movement.  They are welcome to it because it does apply to their proud opposition to the mind of God.  However, their misappropriation of the useful word “gay” to describe their opinions and practices is the abuse of another good word, which has almost obliterated its use in Christian conversation.

The distortion of the English language has been proceeding apace, to which the word progressive has been misappropriated.  There are many buzz words, catch phrases and political one-liners that are utilized in public debate but to commandeer as one’s own the mainline words of the English language is arrogance indeed.  Alphabet has got away with it, like Apple before it, but changing or misapplying the meaning of some mainline words for commercial reasons should be resisted.

Forbidden words

The broadcasting of older documentaries now contain “trigger warnings” that there may be offensive words used in a historical context.  We do not have similar warnings for blasphemy and swear words.  There is a selectivity whose sensitive ears are to be protected. The political correctness of secular religion has produced a new orthodoxy, with its Index of Forbidden Words to rival the parallel cancel culture of Roman Catholicism’s Index of Forbidden Books.

The secular world has now experienced its comeuppance.  The blaspheming of God’s name and the abuse of biblical concepts without any warning that one might be subjected to swear words or blasphemy has been replaced by this new imposition of cancel culture.

Some classic books are now cancelled because of the words used in them, or the concepts in their content, or even the opinions of their author, such as J. K. Rowling.

A new use of the word ‘snowflake’ is its application to sensitive people who are so offended by some words and concepts that they melt like a snowflake in their presence. This necessitates the introduction of the sensitivity reader who vets books for offensive material.

Not only have such people still to learn, or to be taught, the toleration that is integral to the free speech promoted by Christianity, but they need to learn the Christian alternative to the secular advice to “give as good as you take”.  They could begin by considering how much God tolerates sinful human beings Mat 5:44-45 to give them time to consider their ways and to turn to Him 2Pe 3:9.

Update:

5 Jul 2024: Far left and far right are meaningless terms used only as pejoratives. At the General Election count today I had a conversation with a mature woman who thought it was terrible that Conservative voters were “moving to the right” and supporting Reform UK. “Far right” is no longer enough, to be simply ‘right’ is bad enough! I asked her to define ‘the right’. After a pause she said: “Intolerant.” So I asked if this meant that the left was ‘tolerant’. She responded: “No, the left is also intolerant.” I responded: “So there is no difference between right and left?” Having exposed the lack of depth in her thinking she turned the conversation and asked me what we would do for the country. I said we would promote Christian values. “What are these?” she asked. I turned to face her and said: “You are a mature woman, a political activist, interested in public life, and you do not know what Christian values are? No wonder, because there are no Christian Voices in public life explaining what they are and promoting them.” You might not believe her response. She said: “So, would you expel the Jews?” Yes, that is what she said. So, rather than assume that I knew what she meant, I asked her what she meant by ‘expel’. She could not answer. This demonstrates the need for a Christian Voice in public life.

9 Jul 2024: the Progress Flag is the next method of claiming dominance over public life. It is time for Christians to waken up, get up, speak up and act together.