Words Are More Powerful Than Nuclear Weapons!

The following summarizes an e-mail from a Liberty University history professor to Jason and David Benham (The Benhams have graciously provided a strong endorsement for my book.). It highlights the incredible power of words:

Words are powerful tools. They can be used to build up or tear down. To inspire or incite. To encourage or defeat. To cause trouble or create calm. To unite or divide. To liberate or enslave. Words can, and often are, used to divert, deflect, deceive, or hide the true motives of the one speaking. Words are powerful.

Side view portrait woman talking with alphabet letters coming out of her open mouth isolated grey wall background. Human face expressions, emotions. Communication, information, intelligence concept

For a people to come together, form a culture, and live in peace and safety, they must be able to communicate with each other. Language, which involves the use of words, is the tool that serves that purpose. And for communication to take place, words must have commonly understood and generally accepted meanings.

All manner of problems emerge when language breaks down. Let me give you an example. What do you hear me saying in this statement? “I am a perfect gay liberal man who can do nothing to stop abortion.” This would be a rather startling announcement from a conservative. But let’s take a look at what I just said.

Some of you may be thinking, “What is he, a homosexual left-wing guy who supports the deliberate killing of unborn babies?” If that is what you think I said, communication between us did not take place. Because I used those words according to their standard and historically accepted meanings; that is, the meaning those words conveyed prior to the time when radicals began deconstructing the English language.

Radicals among us have been busy tearing down our language for more than a hundred years. They disregard the generally accepted meaning of words and use words in ways that are contrary to their intended meanings. The end result of this subterfuge is to make language ultimately meaningless. Justice Antonin Scalia said in his dissenting opinion in the latest Obamacare ruling, that “words no longer have meaning.”

Let me tell you what I meant when I said I am “a perfect gay liberal man who could do nothing to stop abortion.” What I was attempting to communicate to you through the use of those words was this, “I am a mature, happy, liberty-minded man who is unable to prevent expectant mothers from suffering miscarriages.”

Hmm.

Let’s break those words down. “Perfect” means mature, “gay” means happy, “liberal” means the maximizing of liberty, and “abortion” means miscarriage. That was the clear and commonly accepted meaning of those words before radicals started using them for their own purposes.

Did you know that in the first trimester, approximately 20 percent of known pregnancies unfortunately end in miscarriage? However, the medical word for a miscarriage is “spontaneous abortion.” Yes, a miscarriage is called an abortion by the medical community. The deliberate killing of an unborn child is not an abortion. Abortion is the term used by medical professionals, whereas miscarriage is the word used by the general culture to describe the same thing.

The deliberate act of killing an unborn child is a feticide or an aborticide. Just like insecticide is the killing of insects, herbicide is the killing of weeds, homicide is the killing of individual people, and genocide is the killing of a political, or cultural group of people, infanticide is the killing of an infant. So the deliberate killing of a preborn child is a feticide or an aborticide. The English root “cide” comes from the Latin “cidium,” which means the act of killing.

Whenever a group of radicals seeks to mainstream a deviant, disturbing or evil practice, they must first desensitize the general public as to the gravity of their deviancy. To do so, they steal an upright word and by repetitious use superimpose that word on that which the general public finds abhorrent. Their objective is to attach some new meaning to the word in the minds of their hearers and thereby transfer that good feeling people previously associated that word to their diabolical practice.

You see, radicals of all stripes have no principles – they only have goals. Their goal is to destroy everything this country and culture stand for … and to rebuild anew on a man-made foundation. They will twist, distort and misuse language if it advances their agenda and moves them closer to their goal. It is the end that is all-important to them, not the means. Changing language, words and their meanings is a major weapon in their arsenal in doing so.

We must ever be mindful that whoever controls the use and meaning of words comes to control the cultural and political agenda, as well as the emotions of the masses. Right now, more than ever in history, emotions control the agenda far more than facts. So more bluntly stated, “he who defines the terms always wins the debate.”

If we want to be victorious and see liberty restored and preserved, we must retake command of the words we use and thereby reframe the argument. When we do so, we will win every debate.

I close with a quote from Sam Adams, that revolutionary firebrand, and defender of liberty in the late 18th century. He said, “How strangely will the tools of a tyrant pervert the plain meaning of words.”
http://www.wnd.com/2015/08/a-perfectly-gay-liberal-man-who-cant-stop-abortion/#qy8isQx4kE3dC2Rl.99

 

9 thoughts on “Words Are More Powerful Than Nuclear Weapons!

  1. Jamie

    What a great post! I did read it out of context the first time. It is true how language has not changed just the meaning. The schools should really start using material like this to show kids how to slow down and really think it out before making their judgement. Thanks for making my brain work first thing in the morning.

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    1. Great idea, Jamie, but the schools have become complicit and sometimes even leading the charge to change the meanings of words to support the humanist world view. Just below this message, refer to the message on recent decisions by the National Education Association (NEA).

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  2. “Whenever a group of radicals seeks to mainstream a deviant, disturbing or evil practice, they must first desensitize the general public as to the gravity of their deviancy. To do so, they steal an upright word and by repetitious use superimpose that word on that which the general public finds abhorrent.”

    Your words are masterful Lloyd. It is a gift you have been given by God. May you prosper and continue teaching those who do not understand. Thank you!

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  3. As you say, divisive language shuts down communication. I would add only that there are radicals on both the left and right. By the way, there is a PBS program you might enjoy. It’s called “9 Months that Made You”.

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  4. Interesting comment, Anna. Consider:

    Right/Conservative–Views the founding documents (Declaration of Independence/Constitution) as the anchor of the American culture and government. Deviations largely contribute to the spiraling decline we see in our country today.

    Left/Liberal-Progressive–Views the Constitution as flexible to change with the times as judged by members of the judiciary, bypassing the constitutional amendment process and the legislature. A flexible constitution is essentially no constitution at all.

    The U.S. Constitution was written as an anchor to restrain the universal tendency of human nature to make decisions for the benefit of self and therefore concentrate power to eventually tyrannical proportions. Human nature, called a sin nature by believers and egoism by non-believers, does not change with the times. Consequently, the constitutional anchor is still as valid today as it was when written. What is radical about that view?

    On the other hand, if you define “radical” as wild-eyed emotional claims, lacking factual support, then I agree that there are radicals on both the left and the right. What do you think?

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  5. Excellent teaching Lloyd. Very clear, plain, and powerful.

    The “god of this world” has been using this tactic since the beginning. It is “the seduction of redefinition.” Eve was beguiled by it in the garden of Eden. It steals the truth and power of words, perverts the meaning, and then builds a false premise for further deceptions to build upon. Once the lie is sown in the heart, the spirit behind the whole operation is then able to seduce the mind, emotions, and even the physical senses to agree with the false premise of that perverted definition, thus producing corrupted and perverted hearts and minds that can no longer reason objectively based on absolutes and principles of truth. The spirit of their minds now has such a stronghold that keeps them tied up in logical arguments with absolutely no basis of truth. Entire circular reasoning and logical arguments. Only the convicting power of the Holy Spirit upon their conscience can lead them out of that captivity of lies, as they will respond by seeking for truth to deliver them. Hence, the need for prayer for our ministry and boldness to speak the truth as plain, straightforward, and absolute as possible.

    Keep up the great work! May God lead those He is drawing to Himself as they seek the truth to your ministry.

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    1. Thanks for the great analysis, and very kind encouragement.

      The abortion movement was greatly facilitated simply by taking the word “fetus” out of the scientific laboratory and introducing it into common discourse. It is a word that appears to dehumanize the unborn baby, creating the false impression that abortion should be socially acceptable. No one ever speaks about aborting a baby and a pregnant women never says she’s carrying a fetus.

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