Use of language as tacit approval.....

This past weekend, I had an interesting conversation with a phone acquaintance. We got to talking about how we all have many beliefs, most of them good and caring, most of them show the innate goodness in all of us.

We all care. I don't doubt this. In all my years of life, I can't say I've ever met anyone who just doesn't care.

We care about the environment. We care about poverty. We care about homelessness. We care about the exploitation of third world countries. We care about health care. All of these things matter.

Some of us are in the trenches, doing what we can. Some of us are what used to be called limousine liberals.

My position on this is that the language we use and the beliefs we support with the things we say is just as much an issue of Right Speech as anything else. What we say matters as much as what we do because certain ways of speaking perpetuate and contribute to the mindset that allows all of these conditions to continue.

One of the examples I cited during our conversation was a simple phrase. "Rule of thumb". How many times do people say this in a week?

The origin of that phrase is from an old law that specifies that a man can beat his wife as long as he uses nothing thicker than his thumb.

Is that the kind of thing anyone wants to be supporting?

A lot of slang feeds into the mindset of scarcity, competition, power-over and consumerism. By using that kind of language, we are creating a oneness with those who support those things. It is group speak and it supports a certain set of values.

I would suggest (for all of us) paying attention for just one day to the values and concepts we support with our tongues.

Think about it. Really.
~*