One of the most fascinating aspects of life [for me at least] is how people use language. If one wants to understand relationships then one has to understand language. If one wants to understand texts then he has to be very sensitive to the use of language, the nuances, subtleties etc. etc.
I recently heard a politician speaking. He remarked with glee that in over half of the US States a person may now legally marry the person they love. The crowd was enthralled. Sounds GREAT!!! Who doesn't want to marry the person they love? I know that I do!!
What was he saying in different words? "In more than half of the US States they have eroded the traditional nuclear family, allowing people to marry someone with whom they can never have children. The children they adopt will be missing either a father or mother, causing countless potential emotional problems. In addition, these people will be living lives that BILLIONS OF PEOPLE consider sinful and evil and that the most influential book in world history - the Torah, calls an abomination and mandates the death penalty."
Both statements are true. It just depends what your agenda is. If you are favor of a man lying carnally with other men then you will use the first formulation. If you have more traditional beliefs then the second formulation will be the one you choose. But both are true. We must not lose sight of that. And so it goes with any issue.
"A woman must have the right to choose what to do with her own body" [to justify abortion]. Sounds GREAT!!! How can we force a woman to treat her body in ways she opposes. She wants to eat ice cream and you don't allow her because it will make her fat? She LOVES chocolate and you jail her for eating a Reeses peanut butter cup? Simply Orwellian!!! A pachad!:-)
True. But a different formulation. "A woman has no right to kill a human being [or at the very least - a developing human being]. The unborn fetus inside of her is just that. It already has a heartbeat, feet,arms, legs etc. Just because it hasn't seen the light of day is no excuse to kill it." [Incidentally - according to relatively recent research, a fetus may well already start crying from displeasure while in utero. In 2014, almost 20 thousand unborn babies were killed in Israel].
Here is a picture:
Even the very word "abortion" can be misleading. It doesn't sound so menacing. Rav Moshe Feinstein wrote an article on abortion entitled "בענין רציחת עוברים" - "Regarding the murder of fetuses". That sounds a lot more criminal.
Examples abound. My point is to highlight the use, misuse and abuse of language. Being aware will make one wiser and deeper.
