The Power of Words

2/13/2022

Colossians 3:17 "And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."

My son wrote a short story called The Parable of the The Man Who Slew Dragons. The allegory is, often people build their names and status by fighting a worthy battle of righteous cause that initially does need fighting, Eventually, however, that hero creates the "dragons" that attack, even when there are none left to fight, just to keep their fame, power, or standing. Someone who starts out with altruistic motives can easily turn into the very thing he once opposed: the enemy. A hero with an ideology and no villain to oppose may wind up causing the very harm he initially tried to prevent. 

This story is reflective of our current culture, where thoughts and words are under attack by those that have always claimed they support freedom of speech. Words do have power, but that is the point. They can both heal and harm, it is true. However, if - over the course of time - a word's meaning has changed, and we as a society no longer connect it to its origins, does it still cause harm? Or does exhuming the origin resurrect the harmful power it once had? 

There has been a movement to strike certain words and thoughts from our culture and world. Social media is perpetuating this movement by calling into questing certain words and phrases which they claim once stood for something disrespectful or harmful to certain groups of people. These posts have piqued my interest, so I recently decided to dig into one such claim a little deeper. It was about the phrase "cake walk" having its origins in the Antebellum South. The post stated that plantation owners would make their slaves dress up and dance around as if they were attending a ball, and the slave who was the most entertaining would win a cake. This was, as the post claimed, yet another disrespectful act on the part of the white masters. What I found in my research, however, was that the slaves actually came up with this dance to mock/satirize the behavior of the plantation owners and their guests who were trying to pattern themselves after English aristocracy. The white people didn't understand they were being mocked, and by turning these events into contests, they thought they were in control of the event. Incidentally, the article I read about it was written by the son of former slaves.

So, this demonstrates that while there may be some shadow of truth to claims that phrases have unfortunate origins, often there is a twisting of facts, or a deep misunderstanding of the truth. In modern times, of course, the phrase cake walk has come to mean something is simple to do. So, you see a post on Facebook or Twitter claiming that some word or phrase has it roots in, let's say, racism, and right away you vow to never speak or use those words again. I mean, most of us have no intention of ever wanting to hurt someone, so we take those posts to heart without vetting them ourselves first. 

As I got to thinking more deeply about the subject of words, I then thought that no word should be banned. By banning words, we also water down thoughts, ideas, and even solutions. While discussing this topic, my son told me there is a movement to even take letters out of some words because they are so hurtful or offensive to some people. He gave the example of a certain word that is jarring to hear which has been subjected to this. R*pe was the word he referenced. Now it could be "ripe" or "rope", but in context, we all know what offensive word it is. When I responded that the word should be jarring because that is the point, all he could say was, "Exactly." That word, like so many thousand of others, has extreme power. Why would anyone want to sanitize it? 

We should never ban a word because of its offensive nature or root origin. I, for one, am offended by a certain curse word that begins with an F. I don't need the three asterisks that follow in order for y'all to know which one I mean. Do I use that word? No. Do I think it should be stricken form the language because it offends me? Absolutely not. Why? Because it too has power, and I am not a proponent of any kind of censorship. Maus, a two-part graphic novel about the Holocaust, was banned from a school district in Tennessee because of its content. I have read these book, and while it's not intended for children, they are extremely powerful. They are an account of what the author's family went through during that horrible time in history. I can understand restricting this kind of content from very young children, but banning it from the entire district is a slippery slope for sure. If we cannot read the truth about our history, how can we ever learn from it? 

Exodus 20:7, which is a part of the Ten Commandments, says, "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vane." This is firm and non-negotiable The Bible has many verses about how we should speak, but words are not stricken entirely. It is the intention with which you speak them that makes the difference. 

How long is it before the entire Word of God is deemed unacceptable and offensive? That the truths that lie within are stricken from our word because they are too challenging and hurtful to those who do not believe? If we continue to passively allow this censorship of words or phrases by not standing strongly in opposition to it, we will all pay the price. This is another area where we need to raise our voices in opposition, wrapped in respect and love.