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Don’t use those Left-winged Words
Despite living on Madagascar, the new developments in the West have not escaped my attention. What strikes me, and annoys me, is that many words are being redefined. This happens mainly because of the left-liberal movements we see popping up every where in western countries.
For a Christian, words and their definitions are very important. The more accurate you are, the better you are able to distinguish truth from false teaching. But these days there are many leftist words and definitions that they want you to use. I am convinced that, as a Christian, we should not go along with that.
Anecdote
When I was studying theology in England, I once had a discussion with one of my teachers. Well, in England they consider it to be a debate, but in Dutch terms I was just having a discussion. A bit of Dutch directness is a bit scary to people from another country.
Anyway, what was the discussion about? Quite simply, I described the years in my essay using the term ‘after Christ,’ or ‘AD, Anno Domini’ in Latin. My teacher told me I had better change that term to ‘CE, Common Era.’ So instead of, say, 60 AD, I had to write something like 60 CE.
I was very surprised! This was a theology course, so why couldn’t I use ‘in the year 60 of our Lord’? My teacher said my essay would also be assessed by non-believing teachers. He was afraid they would take offence to it and therefore possibly give a lower grade. Well, the other students followed his advice. I didn’t.
The advantage in England is that your essay is assessed by multiple, independent, people. If there had been one over-sensitive clown among them who rated my work lower than necessary, it was irrevocably corrected by someone else. But also, and this was what the discussion was about, I just could not understand how my teacher had so easily relinquished a wonderful use of words. A verbiage that confirmed time and again that the Lord Jesus had come to earth, born as a human, to die and rise for our sins. In the year of our Lord! Anno Domini, and in years before the year zero: BC! Before Christ.
No way am I—for the sake of someone who is a bit sensitive—going to adjust that. Certainly not in theological works!
Leftist Person
OK, why am I telling this anecdote? Because this story made me realise once again that words and their meanings matter. Apparently, certain words can affect someone’s worldview to such an extent that they prefer to have that particular word removed from the language group—or they actively go about ‘teaching’ the entire society a new definition of the word.
We see this today especially among people with leftist ideas. What does that mean? Well, the left can be understood very broadly, but I will give a brief summary of the definition I will use here. Someone I call leftist is a person who prefers to see, what they call, ‘old oppressive structures,’ disappear. The left wants a social society where everyone is equal. That sounds good until you hear how they define that and how they want to achive that. Often it means that they no longer want to see a difference in, let’s say, salary … That smells like socialism to me.
The leftist, as I define it, strives mainly for progression. That progression or advancement is then often about discussions around abortion, euthanasia and how to make the two easier and more accessible. Furthermore, they talk about enabling transgender treatment in young children and unrealistic goals about ‘clean’ energy. Leftists also like to see all schools teaching exactly what they think is ethical. This then quickly narrates about how sexuality should be viewed, what children should learn about climate change, and that all white westerners have an inherent debt to carry because of our past colonial behaviour.
No, don’t be afraid. I am not talking here about people who would like to help the poor in the country. Or those, who would like to see healthcare accessible to all. That can also be called left, but these are views we find even in right-wing political parties.
Back to my anecdote
My anecdote was about a seemingly innocent example. Until you start understanding why people want certain words to disappear or change the meaning. Words express your ideas. So, when you write ‘in the year of our Lord,’ some people get uncomfortable. After all, they do not believe in that Lord, nor do they want to be confronted with Him.
Another simple example is the English word ‘gay.’ This little word used to mean nothing more than being cheerful or being in a cheerful mood. Well, if you can make such a word synonymous with a group of people. Yes, then that group soon sounds like a cosy and happy bunch, right? And so it happened. Soon the homo-movement became associated with happy and cheerful people. They are all very gay!
Influence
We see and hear it all around us. Words are banned or reinterpreted. This helps leftists in their cause, but it restricts others in their freedom of speech. And, even worse, using their terms affects your own thinking as well.
Left-wing progressives believe their morals and way of thinking are best for everyone. That is why they want you to use their words, whether they are new words or old words redefined according to their ideology. Because if they can get you to use their words the way they want you to use them, they can influence your speech and guide your thinking. So, the longer you use their terms and definitions, the more you start thinking like them.
If you don’t believe me then I challenge you to go and test it in your neighbourhood, perhaps even in your church. Ask what people think of the pro-abortion movement. I can assure you that people will irrevocably be shocked by that term. Some will quickly correct you with the right word: pro-choice. But, it is a huge aphorism to use the word ‘choice,’ because whose choice is this really about. Does the unborn child have any input into the choice?
A Small Summary
Just a small sample of the leftist dictionary.
- Instead of mum or mother, it now refers to breast-feeder;
- Husband or ‘my husband/wife’ is now partner;
- You also often hear the word ‘equity.’ This word is used to indicate that resources should be reallocated to privileged groups who are considered marginalised by society. So, according to the equity principle, the hard-working man has to hand over a large portion of his hard-earned money to those who are not so well-off. We might think that this is discriminatory to that hard-working man. But no, that is not discrimination but ‘equity.’
- Talking about men. Masculinity is no longer valued. We now call that ‘toxic masculinity.’ Men just need to be much sweeter and gentler and a little less manly.
- Moreover, you have to be absolutely tolerant. But then again, you don’t have to be if someone comes up with more conservative ideas.
The Collapse of Society
It should be clear that this kind of verbiage is a detriment to our society as we know it. According to the left, everything must change, everything must become fluid. No fixed moral values, because what is true for you may be the opposite for someone else.
Their drive for that change is so great that they just can’t understand that there are people who don’t go along with it. They want everyone to use their words with their definitions. Does someone not do so? Then that person is immediately dismissed as homophobic, transphobic, short-sighted, racist, misogynist, fascist, extremist, intolerant and so on.
And it works! People, including Christians, are joining the madness en masse. In the Netherlands, we saw the Freedom Party of Geert Wilders become the biggest in the last elections. An awful lot of people were surprised. Why? Because no one knew from each other that they would vote for this party. In fact, people did not dare to say it out loud. Because, after all, a Geert Wilders voter is a racist, fascist and far-right extremist. Nobody wants those labels, so most voted on him in silence.
Leftist propaganda has infiltrated politics, education, films, children’s books and libraries. Woe betide those who oppose the ‘drag queen’ who reads toddlers and preschoolers from objectionable children’s books.
A stable and prosperous society does not benefit from this movement. They talk about tolerance, but are intolerant of dissenters. They talk about unity, but cause division. They are always about equality, but discriminate against those who do well by working hard.
Be a Courageous Christian!
Don’t be afraid of pressure. I think this is true for all self-respecting people, but especially for Christians. Do not engage in the use of leftist terms and definitions.
Marriage
Are you married? Then speak of your husband or wife or of your spouse. Don’t turn your marriage into a business entity by using the word ‘partner.’
Unborn Life
What grows in the belly of a pregnant woman? Right, a baby. So, why, do you call your child a foetus or embryo? It is a child! A child is a human being. And a human being has human rights. Those rights cannot just be arbitrarily assigned at our convenience.
No, says the leftist, the mother is the master of her own womb. If that mother then decides to have the child killed, then that is her right to do so. Until what age that may happen is up to the mother to decide. That is not up to you, because human rights only apply to people living outside the mother’s womb.
This arbitrariness has to stop. Tell it like it is. Not ‘pro-choice’ but pro-abortion. Not applying the principle of ‘master of you own body,’ but we talk about the killing an unborn baby.
Traditional Roles
Don’t look down on hard-working men whose wives are at home taking care of the children. That is not wrong. No, that is a blessing for the children! That mother is empowered to teach her children herself what is right and wrong. The traditional division of roles is not necessarily wrong. It can be done differently. I myself took care of the children and the household for 7 years. A wonderful time! But now we have reversed roles. My wife teaches our children, takes care of the household and … yesl! She keeps the house books, she knows what comes in and goes out of our bank account. And to be perfectly honest, I find that my wife does it a lot better than when I did it. Yes, so things can be different, but they don’t have to be wrong!
Mothers are Women
And speaking of mothers. A mother is a mum and that is a woman and not a ‘breast-feeder.’ Surely we are not afraid to talk about how the biological world really works, are we?
Social Justice
And what about standing up for justice? A Christian is called to expose injustice.
Micah 6:8
He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?
But beware! Don’t call your efforts ‘social justice.’ The modern social justice movement no longer has anything at all to do with the justice the Bible talks about. Most modern definitions of social justice promote redistribution of property—in other words, the hard-working person should pay more taxes and should not actually want to live in a bigger house than someone with a lower salary.
Many people think that ‘equality’ is one of the principles of social justice, but actually it is, what they call ‘equity.’ As mentioned earlier, ‘equity’ is something like fairness. What is the difference? Equity takes into account the effects of discrimination and seeks an equal outcome. In other words. If you inherit a house from your parents you are unfairly advantaged in the eyes of the left. This is because there are people who do not inherit such a house and thus have to pay for it themselves. So the latter group is in essence discriminated against because they are less fortunate than you. Don’t worry! Social justice warriors come to your door to tax your inheritance extra heavily, so they can give that money to the ‘discriminated’ people.
LGBTI+
And then we come to the famous LGBTI+ terminology. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex and the plus stands for everything else.
I know it is difficult to capture that entire group in one word. But the question is whether we really need to go along with all the indications. The danger lies in starting to nomralise these things. But actually, anything that deviates from God’s norm is not normal. God created man and woman and the two become one. That is the norm. That those deviations are among us should not surprise us. We all deviate from the norm.
Romans 3:23
for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God
We have to stay focused on the norm. In some cases, this will not work because the feelings run too deep. But then aloowing a Christian to identify himself as a ‘homosexual Christian’ or queer-Christian as they call it, no, that goes against God’s word. I was quite a hot-tempered guy before I came to Christ. Do I now call myself a hot-tempered-Christian? No, of course not! Although, I still have that tendency.
We should not identify with that from which we have been saved.
1 Corinthians 6:9b-11
Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
Christians should identify with their Lord! We are sanctified in Him. We are a new creation through Him. The old has passed and the new has come, thanks to Him.
2 Corinthians 5:16-17
Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
It’s Bothering me
You might have noticed but this subject is on my mind. You can’t joke any more because you are quickly labelled as a homophobe, racist or whatever. You are not allowed to criticise because then you are an Islamophobe, fascist, conspiracy thinker, misogynist or a white privileged man.
Don’t be part of the ‘snow flake’ generation. Snow flake is the term used for a person, who has an inflated sense of uniqueness, and an unjustified sense of entitlement to anything and everything. They are often overly emotional, easily offended and unable to deal with opinions other than their own.
Instead, be strong. Stand firm. Use the right words that have precise meaning. Stand for the truth. That way, you can avoid the indoctrination of the liberal left and preserve your sanity and intellectual freedom.
We follow Christ and we should not be afraid to step on someone’s sore toes. That is inevitable if you know de truth. Paul was very clear about this from prison.
2 Timothy 1:7-8
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God
Unsullied opinion
Anyway, this was again my ‘somewhat unvarnished’ opinion. Let me know what you think in the comments. Maybe you disagree with certain things? Just leave a comment. Note! Don’t demean yourself by getting rude. I know this topic can cause a lot of anger. But my call is to become more like Jesus!
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God’s blessing, thanks for watching and, Lord willing, we will see each other in the next video!
