Words, like all good things–people, for instance–have and convey by their very existence meaning. That is why language can be foul. That is why words of love can make us cry with deep emotion. The age of the internet has given rise to a whole new set of words that have and convey meaning that simply didn't exist before. I think this is an example of the correct use of language; it's function is to convey what is meant. If you want to mean something new, you come up with a new word.
However, I don't think that attaching new meanings to already existing words or new words to old meanings is such a good practice. Why? What could be the harm of just changing the meaning of a word? Or expanding it a little? Simple: The harm is that we don't just use words to express our thoughts, we think in words, and changing the meaning of words is a subversive attempt to change the way we think about things.
First example: Family
Family. You can call things whatever you want, you're a free human being, but think of the implications. The essential unit of society, the family (a group of parents and children together living in a household) has broken down dramatically and progressively in America over the past 70 years. Call it a coincidence, but right along with that degradation the term 'family' has been transformed into something that now means any group with which you identify closely, and in taking on this extra meaning it has been robbed of any exclusivity and dignity.
Now, I understand what is meant when someone is talking about their friends or coworkers and says "we're like a family!" You love each other and work well together and are willing to work things out, just like a functional family. But that's not family; that's friendship. A family is only functional if real, selfless, charitable friendships are what hold together its members, and families are special because your siblings and parents are not the people of your own choosing. In Heretics, G. K. Chesterton beautifully points this out:
"The best way that man could test his readiness to encounter the common variety of mankind would be to climb down a chimney into any house at random, and get on as well as possible with the people inside. And that is essentially what each one of us did on the day that he was born."
One of the fundamental elements of our family is that we were not the ones to pick its members the way we pick our friends, and there's really no greater test nor better training ground for love than to live with people you didn't choose.
But that doesn't explain why dropping ten or four-point-two people into a room against their will wouldn't create a family. I was at church one time where the priest was preaching on the Holy Family and he asked the question "how many people does it take to make a family?" An elderly gentleman piped up and declared, "two!" The priest–a wonderful Nigerian man–laughed as if he thought the man were joking and repeated his question. It was pretty quiet and awkward for a few moments before someone held up three fingers and Father was relieved to see that someone knew what was meant by 'family'.
A couple is a beautiful, good, and happy thing. But a man and his wife does not constitute a family. This doesn't take anything away from the awesomeness of a marriage, but just adds to the wonderment that is meant by a family. See, the Christian family is a communion of persons, a sign and image of the communion of the Father and the Son in the Holy Spirit. The family is a reflection of the Trinity. Not just that, but procreating and educating children reflects the creative reason and work of the Father. It's the domestic church, which means that it's called to partake daily in the prayer and sacrifice of Christ (I stole all this, by the way). Family means duties, rights, and responsibilities which bind one's soul and establishes the standard for how we are to be judged. That's wonderfully dignified and it shouldn't be any other way, but it's a lot more than most people bargain for when they call a group 'family'.
Don't get me wrong. I sympathize with people from a broken or dysfunctional family who seek a place where they are loved and belong. I truly hope that they find this, and I won't get mad if they call it their family. But it's obvious that our generation hasn't been taught what a family really is, and that is because our parent's generation had forgotten by the time we started learning things. I think it would change everything for the coming generation if we could recapture that truth.
However, I don't think that attaching new meanings to already existing words or new words to old meanings is such a good practice. Why? What could be the harm of just changing the meaning of a word? Or expanding it a little? Simple: The harm is that we don't just use words to express our thoughts, we think in words, and changing the meaning of words is a subversive attempt to change the way we think about things.
First example: Family
Family. You can call things whatever you want, you're a free human being, but think of the implications. The essential unit of society, the family (a group of parents and children together living in a household) has broken down dramatically and progressively in America over the past 70 years. Call it a coincidence, but right along with that degradation the term 'family' has been transformed into something that now means any group with which you identify closely, and in taking on this extra meaning it has been robbed of any exclusivity and dignity.
Now, I understand what is meant when someone is talking about their friends or coworkers and says "we're like a family!" You love each other and work well together and are willing to work things out, just like a functional family. But that's not family; that's friendship. A family is only functional if real, selfless, charitable friendships are what hold together its members, and families are special because your siblings and parents are not the people of your own choosing. In Heretics, G. K. Chesterton beautifully points this out:
"The best way that man could test his readiness to encounter the common variety of mankind would be to climb down a chimney into any house at random, and get on as well as possible with the people inside. And that is essentially what each one of us did on the day that he was born."
One of the fundamental elements of our family is that we were not the ones to pick its members the way we pick our friends, and there's really no greater test nor better training ground for love than to live with people you didn't choose.
But that doesn't explain why dropping ten or four-point-two people into a room against their will wouldn't create a family. I was at church one time where the priest was preaching on the Holy Family and he asked the question "how many people does it take to make a family?" An elderly gentleman piped up and declared, "two!" The priest–a wonderful Nigerian man–laughed as if he thought the man were joking and repeated his question. It was pretty quiet and awkward for a few moments before someone held up three fingers and Father was relieved to see that someone knew what was meant by 'family'.
A couple is a beautiful, good, and happy thing. But a man and his wife does not constitute a family. This doesn't take anything away from the awesomeness of a marriage, but just adds to the wonderment that is meant by a family. See, the Christian family is a communion of persons, a sign and image of the communion of the Father and the Son in the Holy Spirit. The family is a reflection of the Trinity. Not just that, but procreating and educating children reflects the creative reason and work of the Father. It's the domestic church, which means that it's called to partake daily in the prayer and sacrifice of Christ (I stole all this, by the way). Family means duties, rights, and responsibilities which bind one's soul and establishes the standard for how we are to be judged. That's wonderfully dignified and it shouldn't be any other way, but it's a lot more than most people bargain for when they call a group 'family'.
Don't get me wrong. I sympathize with people from a broken or dysfunctional family who seek a place where they are loved and belong. I truly hope that they find this, and I won't get mad if they call it their family. But it's obvious that our generation hasn't been taught what a family really is, and that is because our parent's generation had forgotten by the time we started learning things. I think it would change everything for the coming generation if we could recapture that truth.
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