The bondage of words

…wherever the main purpose of speech is flattery, there the word becomes corrupted, and necessarily so. And instead of genuine communication, there will exist something for which domination is too benign a term; more appropriately we should speak of tyranny, of despotism. On the one side there will be sham authority, unsupported by any intellectual [...]

Read Full Post »

Those are some pretty powerful words there junior

De-gendrifying Lutherans Instructions begins with the proper use of speech, and syllables and words are the elements of speech. Therefore to scrutinize syllables is not a superflous task. …what theological term is so insignificant that it will not greatly upset the balance of the scales, unless it is used correctly? Those who are idle in [...]

Read Full Post »

I’m Jive With Ebonics

District to ‘affirm’ Ebonics The common element in all of this is the degeneration of language into an instrument of rape. It does contain violence, albeit in latent form. And precisely this is one of the lessons recognized by Plato through his own experience with the sophist of his time, a lesson he sets before [...]

Read Full Post »

Lie, lie, lie

Can a lie be taken as communication? I tend to deny it. A lie is the opposite of communication. It means specifically to withhold the other’s share and portion of reality, to prevent his participation in reality. And so: corruption of the relationship to reality, and corruption of communication—these evidently are the two possible forms [...]

Read Full Post »