Newspeak 2022 Style
In John 8, Jesus says “you will know the truth and that the truth will make you free” (John 8:32). Meanwhile, Satan’s character is just the opposite: “He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is not truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44). The follower of Jesus must not deal in lies but rather desires to deal only in truth.
Not that long ago, the catchphrase was “political correctness.” Certain terms and phrases were deemed inappropriate for social discourse and therefore unofficially banned from the public square. It wasn’t politically correct to call someone “short.” They were "vertically challenged.” The rules of political correctness weren’t actually enforced by law but generally policed by the popular culture at large.
American culture still drinks deeply from the well of political correctness, even if we don’t use that phrase anymore. In fact, the last decade or so, we have taken a step beyond political correctness to something far more totalitarian. Forces in our culture have turned language into an ideological cudgel that is used to shape opinion. This is not persuasion but propaganda. George Orwell, in his classic 1984 predicted something like this when he coined the term “Newspeak.” For Orwell, “Newspeak" provided the vehicle by which his fictional government, dubbed “Big Brother,” could diminish the range of thought and ultimately directly the opinions of its citizens. When language is less expressive, the mind is more easily manipulated. Just one example from Orwell might help demonstrate how the use of language can be manipulative. In 1984, Orwell’s fictional government used the term “joycamp" to refer for a forced labor camp. Quite a leap in language to get from one to the other. But that’s how “Newspeak” works.
2022 America has it’s own “Newspeak.” Some comes as government propaganda as in 1984 (Yes, our government lies to us from time to time, regardless of political party.). However, most of the “Newspeak” we experience comes to us from the media and entertainment industry. Here are a few examples.
Love. The word love has various nuances of course. You can love ice cream and you can love your children. We don’t mean exactly the same thing in those uses. Lately the word love has come to mean that others must embrace your practices and ideas regardless of what those are. If your desires and behaviors are not validated, you are not being loved. This is a narcissistic conclusion f there ever was one. This idea of love carries all the logical force of a toddler’s tantrums. There couldn’t be a much more foolish position. Sometimes the most loving thing another person can do is warn or correct or rebuke you!
Abortion. At the outset, the term abortion itself is a euphemism. It sounds far less barbaric to talk about abortion than it does to talk about killing babies. Our media tends to refer to abortion as “health care” or “reproductive rights.” Stop and think for a moment. What is the health care? Killing a child is the opposite of care. And reproduction is what abortion is meant to cease. There is no logic here though. These terms are designed to be an argument in and of themselves. Who would be against “health care?” Or who could be against any kind of “rights?” But surely we don’t believe that individual rights are absolute. Others have rights too, foremost among them, the right to life.
“Gender-affirming care.” Our culture has adopted this phrase to describe medical intervention for people experiencing gender dysphoria. This care includes surgical procedures or hormonal treatments that permanently shape a person’s body in order to conform them to their perceived gender identity. It isn’t gender that is being affirmed but a certain psychology. Nor is this care but rather mutilation and abuse!
I could go on with examples but my point is that our culture is fast approaching an almost totalitarian obsession with terminology like this. It is important that Christians see this for what it is. It’s propaganda. Logically and even scientifically the arguments of radical leftists fail. However, if we allow media and culture to determine our language and vocabulary their arguments can win the day.
We must be discerning in who we listen to and what language we adopt. Words and phrases can be manipulated, and in turn so can our thoughts. That’s why God’s Word is so important for the Christian. We have the book—God’s Word--that is the standard of truth. We know what God has said. We know the truth. And the truth will set us free. Hold on to the truth!