One of the truths we see in Scripture is that of "the one who names is the one who has authority." In other words, God gave Adam authority over the animals and this was shown by Adam naming them.
A really good, but abhorrent example of this today is seen in the term "homophobe". The pro gay community has taken the initiative and labeled anyone who is opposed to homosexuality. Etymologically, the term means "one who fears sameness. In essence, the pro gay community has labeled these as ones who are afraid of homosexuality. This is simply false. This is a deliberate attempt to malign a Christian perspective. Christians are not afraid of homosexuality. We see homosexuality as a sin, like so many others, of which one needs to repent. We do not hate homosexuals, we pray for them. Our response to them must be one of love, not hatred or derision. Anyone struggling in sin needs prayer and love, not hatred.
We need to take the definition away and replace it with one accurate. The world must know us by our love.
Saturday, January 9, 2016
Definitions = control
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Agreed. I initially made the mistake of taking this made-up term at face value: nobody is *afraid* of homosexuals, what a provocative and dishonest label. Despite an analogous aversion to religion, you never see them diagnose themselves with "Christophobia".
ReplyDeleteThere is a condition called "psychological projection" in which you cover up for what you are thinking or feeling by projecting it onto others as a defense mechanism. It is strongly correlated with borderline personality disorder, which perhaps not at all coincidentally, is also strongly associated with homosexual attraction, according to scientific research. As people of that inclination often appear to revert to primitive and childish reasoning in defense of the sin to which they are so intensely devoted, by virtue of having apparently shifted control of their thought process from the cortex to the hindbrain they appear to assume that everyone else is also motivated by primitive emotions such as fear or selfishness. Or at least, even if they do understand the spiritual, societal and/or medical reasons for rejecting homosexuality, they still know that rhetoric is a very powerful tool to turn hearts and minds to a cause. A person who robs banks seldom thinks twice about breaking a traffic infraction, so too would a person who is not averse to sodomy have much reservations about stooping to intellectual dishonesty to win support and shout down opposition.
So too, must we also reject their definition of hate, as it includes "failure to celebrate". As you said, a better term must be found, and must gain suitable traction. This is the power of rhetoric, which Aristotle astutely distinguished apart from dialectic, and was also discouraged at the Areopagus, not for its lack of persuasive ability, but for the fact that it was persuasive in the wrong ways. However, the cultural and spiritual battleground can ill afford such reservations, as there is an abundance of rhetoric being used to turn hearts and minds against God.