You know what bugs me? Word Abuse. Now, I'm not talking about all the unintended misspoken, mistyped, or misused words that are inevitable if one communicates. I'm talking about intentional misuse to create false dichotomies or to misrepresent one's position and/or (more commonly) to misrepresent the opposing position by implication.
Take for example the confluence of evolution and atheism. Many times I have seen arguments that acceptance of evolution in effect makes you an atheist. This is simply not the case. I have met, conversed with, and studied the writings of many theistic biologists. I can agree with Richard Dawkins that evolution does assist in being an intellectually fulfilled atheist, but to twist that into a cause and effect situation is an act of breathtaking inanity.
Another example is found in the debate over abortion. It is absolutely possible to take a position that it is morally wrong to have or perform an abortion while simultaneously taking the position that you respect the rights of others to make or not make that determination for themselves. Thus, you would be pro-life and pro-choice. Pro-life? Regardless of your position on the actual debate, you must recognize that is the most useless, dishonest, emotionally charged term that has been used in serious debate. What is its opposite? Pro-Death? Pro-choice people are not pro-death. That is ridiculous. Why not use "Pro-Forced Fetal Fufillment". It's more accurate and more alliterative. I have heard the nonsense about life beginning at conception, but almost without fail, the individual regurgitating such comments is being intellectually dishonest. They recognize a distinction between life in the womb, and life outside the womb. They celebrate birthdays not conception days. If you want to be consistent with your "life begins at conception" position and throw hate-filled barbs like "baby killers" at the other side, then I expect you to begin broadening your complaints. First, start demanding that tax deductions for dependents should be allowed from the moment of conception, not the moment of birth. Second, I want to see those in the "right to life" crowd start pushing for regulation that requires a Death Certificate issued for every single miscarriage that occurs in this country. Funeral services and graves should be purchased for a miscarriage, no matter how small the embryo is.Then they should all start celebrating conception days. That should keep them busy for a while. Until then, don't feed me the crap about an embryo being the same as a baby.
Can you support traditional marriage and gay marriage? Of course. This is more word abuse. The word traditional is often abused. For example, traditional values. Depending on one's tradition, slavery, polygamy, or belief in a flat Earth may be tradtional values. It is a meaningless term. It is designed to invoke an emotional response in those who are not part of the "stop and think" crowd.
Look around at the low quality of debate so frequent around us. Arguments made from word abuse, like the misuse of the word "theory" when discussing the theory of evolution, are usually made because the actual position is empty of substance. Pay attention to how a position is marketed to you. Are they selling you quality, or just another lemon with a new coat of paint?
The Southern Fried Skeptic
politics
