Is there any better way to undermine a society, an entire civilization, than to pervert its language? I’m not talking about confusion due to a foreign language, or misunderstanding due to ignorance of the language, but about intentionally corrupting a language so that words are perverted to take on a nonsensical and destructive meaning contrary to their actual meaning and then requiring everyone to speak the nonsense under threat of severe penalty. 

2016 was definitely a year of nonsense and perversion of speech. I sincerely hope that in 2017 more people will awaken to the lunacy of this diabolical practice and resist it, so that we might regain some sanity in our culture.

Here’s a list to get us started. You can’t have a conversation anymore without someone spitting out these words with offended contempt and outraged finger-wagging. Once these verbal storm troopers show up, the discussion is over and reason, civility and maturity are shoved out the door.

Diversity: This new modern doctrine says that nothing can simply be as it naturally would be. It must be forcibly made “diverse” or else it is bigoted and exclusive (see the next word on my list).

However, the natural, by-design diversity of man and woman is to be eschewed! To recognize the inherent, natural differences between a man and a woman is somehow sexist and bigoted as well. However again, it would be sexist and bigoted to refuse to acknowledge that a biological male is really a woman if he/she says so.

In that case, the differences between a man and woman matter immensely and must be respected, but only to the extent that the person in question desires and “feels.” (More on this at the end of the list.)

Inclusive/Inclusivity: This is modern code for “no one can form any group, organization, business, club, church, or any other gathering of two or more people unless said gathering is open to every human on the planet for any reason that human may desire to participate.” Any stated mission or purpose that by necessity excludes certain human persons for any reason is detestable. Nothing is more evil than hurting someone’s feelings by excluding them. Everyone must be included in everything, and now absolutely nothing is unique, distinct, or, ironically, diverse. All is gray — that way no color feels left out.

Accompanying/Accompaniment: This applies especially to the relatively recent rhetoric in the Catholic Church. If I hear one more bishop or priest talk about how we are to be a Church that “accompanies” people, I may lose my lunch. We’re going to accompany people straight into darkness and perdition. As a Catholic, I’m trying to figure out when preaching the Gospel became “accompanying” people as they continue to walk roads that lead away from God. Jesus told us to “repent, take up our cross, and follow Him.” Yes, we ought to be walking alongside each other to pick one another up when we fall, as we all will, but if my brother or sister sees me walking down a wrong road that leads me away from Christ and His Church, I pray to God they don’t accompany me. I hope they’ll have the courage to get in front of me and say, “You need to turn around. Now.”

Tolerance:  Ah, tolerance. That most revered of modern “virtues.” Except it isn’t a virtue. Patience, kindness, chastity, purity, generosity, justice, mercy — these are virtues. Tolerance as preached today only means that one must silently abide anything and everything that someone else may say, do, or demand, since to object is to be intolerant (with one very important exception, which we’ll get to shortly).

We saw the frightening lengths to which the Tolerance Police will go this past year when even our children were targeted for shaming and scolding. The girls must tolerate having boys in the bathrooms and locker rooms with them, or they will be branded intolerant bigots.

Tolerance today especially means that Christianity must “evolve” to be accepting of all things previously considered sinful. We mustn’t use that horribly judgmental word, sin, anymore because it is most intolerant. This brings us to that all-important exception to tolerance: true Christian doctrine and action (the kind that refuses to evolve as demanded) must never be tolerated. In this case, intolerance is itself the noblest modern “virtue.”

Archbishop Charles Chaput reminds us all:

Actually, I think the word tolerance itself is a kind of problem. Tolerance comes from the Latin words tolerare, which means to bear or sustain, and tollere, which means to lift up. It implies bearing other people and their beliefs the way we bear a burden or a really nasty migraine headache. It’s a negative. And it’s not a Christian virtue. As Catholics we have a duty to treat all people, regardless of their beliefs, with justice, charity, mercy, prudence, patience, and understanding. We’re not asked to ‘tolerate’ them but to love them, which is a much more demanding task. Obviously, tolerance is an important democratic working principle … But tolerating lies about the nature of the human person is a sin. Tolerating grave evil in a society is an equally grave evil. And using ‘tolerance’ as an excuse for not living and witnessing Jesus Christ in our private lives and in our public actions is not an act of civility. It’s a form of cowardice. Remember that courage is also a true Christian virtue.

Identify and “trans”: The most nonsensical of all, this newspeak demands that we all throw objective truth out the window and our common sense along with it. The almighty Feeling rules with absolute power.

A person may “identify” as absolutely anything or anyone they choose, and the rest of us must nod and smile in agreement. A white woman may “identify” as black, and suddenly that’s reality. A man can “identify” as a six year-old girl and he’s not mentally or emotionally disturbed, but merely being who he is, and we must be accepting. And of course, any man can “identify” as a woman, and any woman can “identify” as a man, and voila! So they are!

Diversity, inclusivity, and tolerance all demand that we not utter a peep in protest of this madness. And in 2016, too many people obliged.

Let’s start with these words, and eliminate them from the perverted lexicon, shall we? In 2017, let’s call madness madness. You’ll see — when we speak the truth, it’ll all make sense again.