Crazy Speak
Many of us are somewhat familiar with the term “doublespeak.” Some, like me, may assume that we read that word in George Orwell’s book 1984, but, according to some material I recently read, we did not. According to that material, the following words are in 1984: “double thin,” “newspeak,” and “oldspeak.” (I’m relying on the material I consulted. I did not take the time to reread 1984!) Somehow, over the years, all of that has sort of morphed into the term “doublespeak.”
According to Miriam-Webster.com, doublespeak is defined as, “language used to deceive usually through concealment or misrepresentation of truth.” On a related subject, another website had the following information that I thought was interesting:
Terminology is a favorite for the world stage political con artists knowing they can cover up their ulterior motives with confusing words. (crazzfiles.com)
As concerning as doublespeak is, it is my opinion that we are well on our way to something I’m calling crazyspeak. One recent inline headline will serve as an example of this. As you read that headline and shake your head, don’t overlook the fact that, as is the case with doublespeak, there is an agenda. The face that there is an agenda does not necessarily mean that the agenda is sinister, but there is an agenda.
With all of that said, here is the title of a news.yahoo.com post that appeared on June 1, 2022:
California court rules that bees are a type of fish
in order to protect them under the state’s endangered species act.
I guess that I should not have been surprised to read that. After all, people have been receiving “participation trophies” for quite some time now. For even longer than that, many in the educational system knew exactly what was meant by the term “social promotion.” Of even more concern is the fact that an unborn human being is to be called almost anything other than an unborn human being.
So—now (among other things):
Bees are fish.
Gender is a matter of choice, not anatomy.
We are to use plural pronouns to refer to individuals.
Males compete athletically as females.
There are pregnant people. (We are not to use archaic and exclusive terms like men and women.)
There are prostate havers and womb carriers. (Yea—that’s a lot better than men and women).
Instead of apologizing for and correcting inaccurate statements, people (especially politicians) now “walk them back.”
“Inclusion” means exclusion of certain people and ideas.
“Open-mindedness” does not include being open to ideas that differ with the person who is so “open-minded.”
These examples and others may be of varying degrees of importance. In fact, to some people, they may be of no importance at all.
In my opinion they say something about our society. To one degree or another, many of these examples indicate that we are now encouraged to celebrate people, ideologies, lifestyles, activities, etc., which God condemns. In fact, “encouraged” may not be a word that is strong enough to describe the pressure applied to those who will not “play the game.”
Maybe it is time we dust off a passage from an Old Testament prophet and consider whether or not it has any application for us today:
Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put down darkness for light,
and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!
Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and shrewd in their own sight.
(Isaiah 5:20-21, ESV)
Faughnfamily.com
June 2022