My Opinion is NOT a “Phobia”
Radio Commentary, 90.7, 91.7 New Life FM, October 3, 2014 – By Sue Ella Deadwyler
When Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary of the English Language was published, it had too many pages to number. The replica of Mr. Webster’s Dictionary is ten-and-three-quarter-inches by eight-and-one-quarter-inches and is two-and-five-eighths inches thick. Its introductory pages alone measure almost a quarter-inch and are an education, themselves.
Mr. Webster, who had mastered twelve languages by age 38, and learned 20 different languages by the time he was 43, claimed to have coined only one word in his huge dictionary. His word was “demoralize,” which he defined as, “To corrupt or undermine the morals of; to destroy or lessen the effect of moral principles on; to render corrupt in morals.” Though coined in the 1800s, “demoralize” as defined by Mr. Webster describes this age of relativism, situation ethics and politically correct (PC) government-speak. A man of many words (no pun intended), he made this profound statement in 1789, the year the Constitution was ratified: “A national language is a band of national union. Let us then seize the present moment, and establish a national language, as well as a national government. …As an independent people, our reputation abroad demands that in all things we should be federal; be national; for if we do not respect ourselves, we may be assured that other nations will not respect us. …[T]o neglect the means of commanding respect abroad is treason against the character and dignity of a brave independent people.”
Political correctness has so corrupted language that truth is obscured and absolutes have disappeared. Once upon a time, an individual who couldn’t see was accurately identified as “blind.” Now the term is “optically challenged,” which may refer to anyone whose vision is not perfect.
The Official Politically Correct Dictionary and Handbook redefines shoplifters as “nontraditional shoppers,” which hides the crime. The New York Zoological Society changed its name to The Wildlife Conservation Society and renamed zoo keepers “wildlife friends.” With mind-numbing tunnel vision, the Smith College Office of Student Affairs defined the PC term, “homophobia,” as “the fear of gays, lesbians, and bisexuals.” Therefore, folks with different opinions about sexuality are instantly and falsely accused of having a “phobia.” Meaning, PC adherents deem a negative opinion about alternate lifestyles to be invalid, birthed in fear and/or hatred.
The PC crowd ignores the fact that having or expressing a different opinion is not a phobia. The fact is: there will always be sound, logical, valid and irrefutable reasons to oppose alternate lifestyles and same-sex marriage. Dubbing opposition to LGBTQQAI as a “phobia” is a reversion to childish name-calling that should have been left on the elementary school playground. It was childish intimidation then, and it’s adult-used childish intimidation now. For Georgia Insight I’m Sue Ella Deadwyler, your Capitol correspondent.