From: Ray Gibson
Columbus
Much of Bud Herron’s phoenix-like rising from obscurity to possession of the editorial page of The Republic has resulted in some curious writing. Early on, there were cynical, insulting and mocking words about Santa Claus, Christmas and the holidays. Later came a small literary gem in the form of Bud’s description of his father’s white Formica-topped kitchen table. Two general interest columns featured dowsing for finding water and a story about an old Columbus family. But the gloves came off when Bud advocated the confiscation of certain words to be sent to a storage facility, never to be heard or used again.
The concept of certain words not to be used comes from the infantile idea of political correctness. It is also a feature of socialism, wherein certain words are crimes against the state. Permissible words only can be used. If speech can be compelled, then ideas can be compelled.
The resistance against this is found in the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States, which states, in part, "or abridging the freedom of speech." No third party arbiter can say what words can be used. The unwritten arbiter in society is the moral imperative of every citizen to know the meanings of the words used, and to state them precisely.
Even the dreaded N-words is in full flower or use in almost every junior high and high school hallway in the land.
The word "discrimination" is one of the most beautiful words in our language. It denotes a person capable of making wise choices. People who discriminate, who were discriminate, were looked up to as educated, as possessing reason and the ability to discern quality.
No more. The only time discrimination is used is to associate it with prejudice and bigotry. It has been hijacked to only have one negative meaning. The language is robbed and badly used this way. Bud has a problem defining the word "atheist." He thinks that because it lacks a definition, it should be confiscated. But there is a good definition of the word. When an atheist says, "There is no God" and "I don’t believe in God," he blasts his entire epistemological load into the stratosphere. The rest is blow. And his other word "socialism" is very precisely defined in a speech by Woodrow Wilson, a former president of the United States, where he defines himself as a socialist and lists all the entitlements that modern day progressives are demanding as a matter of right.
Words really do matter. It is our responsibility to use all of our words under the right of "freedom of speech" in a proper manner, not as a reaction to an outside stimulus.
