Dec 01 2008
Skeptical of Words
There are many words in the English lexicon that are treated as if they were sacred cows. Or at least golden calves: with cute faces and big eyes, and surfaces so shiny you can almost see yourself in them.
One such word is “God.” Asking people what they mean by “god” and/or questioning the meaning and its sparkling connotations is often looked upon as a hostile act. Hey, keep off that word! How dare you question it!
In a very interesting podcast I listening to the other evening, Philosophy Bites, I heard a discussion about a term that lately is used with glowing implications. Tolerance. It seems that if you add that word to any sentence or argument, it automatically becomes a more reasonable, “high road” position. What, do you have a problem with tolerance?! How could you be so dark and ugly in your thinking.
As the guest to the podcast pointed out, tolerance is not always a good thing. One example would be racial inequality. It’s a good thing that our nation eventually got around to NOT tolerating it.
So be skeptical of those golden calves. They may turn out to be mad cows.
