Words Have Defined Meaning

“’Words mean things’ is one of those core assumptions—the kind of common-sense principle most people simply take for granted.

Words are powerful things. When arranged correctly, they can convey a great force of argument to the listener or reader. Consider the statement by Richard Dawkins in his book, The God Delusion “The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully.” While Dawkins is catastrophically and obviously wrong about his reading of Scripture, it cannot be denied that his sentence shows a strong mastery of the English language and he can be applauded for that. What would not be applauded would be an attempt to claim that Dawkins is actually trying to praise the God of the Bible in his monologue. But why do we know that Dawkins is upbraiding God, rather than praising Him? If you’ve read or listened to Rush, you know the answer.

“’Words mean things’ is one of those core assumptions—the kind of common-sense principle most people simply take for granted. Of course, words mean things. Yet there is a significant segment of our society that apparently needs to be reminded of this fact. These people are called liberals.

To many, saying the right words is enough. In fact, it is everything. Generally, that’s all the left does. They pay lip service to their beliefs and convictions. Words are all you need. Saying the right thing is all that is required. Some liberals simply do not view language the way ordinary people do. They don’t seem to realize that words have consequences. People, voters, even nations, rely on them. Think about it. …

To far too many people, words are everything and nothing at the same time. They manipulate words skillfully to convince the public that they are caring, compassionate, good, and wise, but ultimately they have no respect for those words. Words are often meaningless when they come out of the mouths of liberals. They will deny having uttered them the next day. When you prove to them that they actually said them, they will insist they were misunderstood. Thanks to the ethical gymnastics of liberalism, words can be both all-important and inconsequential at the same time.”[1]

The left has a habit of equivocating on the meaning of words. Anyone who lived through the 90’s may remember President Clinton’s infamous “It depends on what the meaning of ‘is’ is” comments. However, a more recent and common example comes from the left’s promulgation of critical race theory.