I will post whatever pisses me off on any certain day.

Monday, March 05, 2007

Using words in ways they shouldn't be used.

So I've been having a few debates on words that are used incorrectly. Three examples that I'll state are agnostic, atheist, and gay. All these words are used in the incorrect way based on what people who call themselves these things mean and/or what they originally mean. I shall go through the three and explain how many people use it and what people who call themselves that really mean.

Atheist- lack of belief in a god or gods

This word isn't a statement about what degree you believe. It just means that you have no belief in a god or gods. To determine how sure you are we need a modifier which is what agnostic is used for. It means you do not know if there is a god or not. This has nothing to do with what you believe about a god or gods existence just that you believe you can not know either way. This is called an epistemological standpoint - it has to do with what one knows. So by calling one's self just agnostic does not tell me or anyone else what you believe of god's existence just that you think you can not know for sure either way. So an agnostic can both believe in a god and lack a belief. Many times when given this people who call themselves just agnostic will come back and say that they don't not believe in god. To which i would say, "So you believe there is a god?" because if you do not not believe in god you believe in god because of the double negation that happens. Another common argument is that as an agnostic they would say, "I just don't know if there is one or not". Fine, I agree with that - but what do you believe about god's existence? Do you think he does or does not? To say you just can't know means you can be either one, so I would have to assume by default you lack a belief in god and therefore are an atheist (see above definition).

Gay- happy or homosexual

This word is sometimes used when saying something is stupid. I believe that by using it this way, it reinforces homophobes' beliefs on homosexuals. So therefore I think it should not be used in this way.

When explaining the above, I've come accross arguments such as "but I know people who are gay who don't take offense or don't think it's wrong to use it that way". First, I'd like to say that I would agree that people do not have a right to not be offended, but with this I would also like to say that by saying it as I have stated above, you are reinforcing someones else's hatred for these people and I highly doubt you would want that to happen.

Sigh, why don't people understand these comments? Can someone explain it to me?

3 Comments:

Blogger SocietyVs said...

"Gay- happy or homosexual

This words sometimes is used when saying something is stupid. I believe that by using this it word this way it reinforces homophobes beliefs on gays. So therefore i think it should not be used in this way." (Zach)

I would have to agree with this - since saying 'gay' which can mean 'stupis' may help to demean someone's self-esteem.

2:30 PM

 
Blogger SocietyVs said...

Well Zach, tell the atheists I wish them the best - they booted me - a sign of utter dis-repect in my community. But Thanks for all the convo's - they were awesome. I will still come by and check out the blog - I like to hear what you have to say.

Oh yeah - the context thing - which you know I am big on - I answered it - check out my blog - if it is faulty reasoning let me know.

4:21 PM

 
Blogger MarthaSplatterhead said...

My friend and his partner do not find offense in the term "gay" for something that is lame. If fact, they use it. I will quote, "Stick and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me." I understand where your coming from Zach but we cannot let words hurt us. Just like your concern with cussing in front of kids. I feel the same way. People should not have to censor their own speech when they are talking.

3:54 PM

 

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