A reader of my latest novel, “The Bastard Gods” made a comment about a word I used. The reader said the word “savage” was offensive. This was news to me, so I decided to look it up on Dictionary.com. Here’s what I found: Savage [ sav-ij ] 1. fierce, ferocious, or cruel; untamed: savage beasts. 2. Offensive. (in historical use) relating to or being a preliterate people or society regarded as uncivilized or primitive: savage tribes. 3. enraged or furiously angry, as a person. 4. unpolished; rude: savage manners. 5. wild or rugged, as country or scenery: savage wilderness. 6. Archaic. uncultivated; growing wild. There it is, definition number 2. According to Dictionary.com the word savage has officially been declared, deemed, labeled, and designated as offensive. So what does that mean? Offensive [ uh-fen-siv or, for 4, 5, aw-fen-, of-en- ] adjective 1. causing resentful displeasure; highly irritating, angering, or annoying: offensive television commercials. 2. unpleasant or disagreeable to the sense: an offensive odor. 3. repugnant to the moral sense, good taste, or the like; insulting: an offensive remark; an offensive joke. 4. pertaining to offense or attack: the offensive movements of their troops. noun 1. the position or attitude of aggression or attack: to take the offensive. 2. an aggressive movement or attack: a carefully planned…offensive. I suppose that means “savage,” in the context of use in my novel, is repugnant in a moral sense. Well, good. It’s supposed to be. The characters who utter the word use it in its full repugnant glory. These fictional characters negatively describe cultures and peoples they believe are primitive and beneath them. They are complex, flawed and sometime very nasty characters, and the word is appropriately used for the situation. Pray tell, what word would they use if not “savage”? There was a time when the dictionary didn’t pass judgement on words, it merely explained them. When did Dictionary.com take it upon themselves to start making value judgements on words? In fact, that’s exactly what this article from Dictionary.com does. Here’s an excerpt from the article’s opening, “…It’s very important to be mindful of words that were originally or historically used in very offensive ways. Here’s a list of words with hurtful histories that may have you thinking twice about your word choice.” What the author of this article fails to mention is most people have no clue what the ancient origins of these words are, only their modern (and benign) meaning. They weren’t considered offensive until someone went out of their way to make them offensive. Time is considered the Great Healer, and time has healed these words and phrases, making them palatable and useful. They now have different contexts which enhance and enrich the literary landscape. Their dark origins were lost and now irrelevant. What Dictionary.com has done has intentionally poisoned them. ANY word could be considered offensive, it merely takes the right situation, context, perception, and someone to complain loud enough. If you dig deep enough into the etymology of any word, you’re likely to find negative context in its past use or origin. How does the process work? Do the Offended take their petition before some kind of Word Tribunal, where the anxious and entitled wring their hands and tremble at each utterance of an abominable word? What power they must feel when they strike down each word and phrase! There is no power greater in the modern world than that of the Offended. In the past, if one did not agree with a word, a thought or a book, one merely didn’t read it. Now it must be labeled and targeted for deletion. “But they aren’t banning the word, they are just labeling it as offensive,” you say. You’re right, they aren’t banning it. They are cancelling it, which is worse. If an organization like Dictionary.com publicly stated they were banning a word, there would be an outcry. No, they merely stained it. That’s all it takes these days. Every writer who submits a book to an editor will have their word choices questioned at best, stricken at worst. No publisher wants to get labelled as racist or “-phobic.” They don’t want hordes of Twitter denizens calling for boycotts or even worse. Platforms like Amazon will de-platform. It’s not worth it. Just go along and get along, and everything will be alright. Editors will push back and writers will self-censor. We’ve seen it before. It’s brilliant, really. If you try to ban a book, legions of activists from the right and left will descend upon you. No one bats an eyelash these days when you ban a word. It’s actually better than book banning. Words matter because words are the basic building blocks of thoughts. Words are the computer code of the sentient mind. Delete words, delete thoughts. One still has freedom of speech, but less words with which to do it. Oh, you can still theoretically use offensive words, but you will suffer the consequences. What kind of consequences? Cancellation. We’ll cancel your job, we’ll cancel your book, cancel your show, cancel your reputation. We’ll dox you, de-platform you, marginalize you and perhaps threaten violence. We’ll do whatever it takes to get you to shut up. Don’t use the words if you know what’s good for you. That’s not political or intellectual discourse, that’s a threat. Actually, no, that’s not entirely accurate. It’s only a threat until it is acted upon, then it becomes an attack. Don’t believe me? Go back and look at the definition of offensive, but this time as a noun: 1. the position or attitude of aggression or attack: to take the offensive. 2. an aggressive movement or attack: a carefully planned…offensive. Labeling, cancelling, deleting, banning, doxing, marginalizing…these are modes of intellectual warfare and on my list of offensive words. When words and phrases, and those who write or utter them, are destroyed under the guise of “offense,” it is a war on thought itself. Such behavior breaks the spirit of the 1st Amendment, if not always the letter. Labeling, cancelling, deleting, banning, doxing, marginalizing…these are repugnant things in the moral sense, abhorrent to good taste; insulting. Offensive. They are savage, as are those who practice them. #savage #Labeling #cancel #cancelling #cancelculture #deleting #banning #ban #doxing #dox #marginalizing #marginalize #bookburning #davechappelle #censorship #censor #snowflake #NPC #politicallycorrect ![]() *** Disclaimer: All opinions expressed here are strictly my own personal views. If you enjoyed this blog, please like the post and leave a comment or if you're feeling brave, share it on social media. This platform is my entire advertising budget and is how I share the word on my books. Also visit my Facebook, my author page and check out my photography book from America Through Time, "Abandoned Wiregrass: The Deepest South's Lost and Forgotten Places." I've been quiet lately. Its mostly my day job, but some of it is taking care of photography clients and, yes, writing. In fact, right now I'm in the Smokey Mountains in a secluded location for the sole purpose of writing. However, along with that, I've been hiking and taking photos, too. I've knocked out two chapters for Book 4 of the Chronicles of Fu Xi. I'm hoping to complete two more before I have to leave. Its going to be difficult, because this place is so amazing. Right now, I'm exhausted. I hiked 7 miles today and forgot I was an out of shape fat guy. To celebrate I roasted a t-bone over an open fire, drank a few cold ones and watched the sunset. I took these images just a few minutes ago right in front of my cabin. Its going to be a short blog...OMG WHAT THE HELL!? WE INTERUPT THIS BLOG FOR IMPORTANT BREAKING NEWS. I'm sitting here typing out this blog when all of a sudden a damn spider lowers itself on a web RIGHT IN FRONT OF MY FACE! Needless to say, my pre-programmed automatic threat countermeasures deployed. Basically, I clapped and tied to smush the little bugger. It only served to propel said spider right on top of my keyboard. I present for your approval LITTLE BASTARD. The little shit sat there and, of all things, started critiquing my writing. I tried to explain to Little Bastard this is just first draft, but he wasn't amused. I mean LOOK AT HIM! Can't you just see the judgement just dripping off his expression. I asked him if he was poisonous, to which he replied not nearly as poisonous as my prose Then it chastised me for assume its pronouns. ![]() Being that I have nothing against spiders, I have spent the last ten minutes trying save Little Bastard, but Little Bastard would have nothing to do with it. In my said attempt to save him, I accidentally crushed to life out of him. This spider was a dumbass. He tried to attack me during the rescue effort. I'm going to have to chalk this one up to Darwin and keep on moving. If you want to honor the memory of Little Bastard, you can visit my author page and buy a copy of one of my books in his honor. If you do so, you will be a better person. See ya Monday, when I'l try to have a worthy blog entry that doesn't involve dead spiders. ***
If you enjoyed this blog, please like the post and leave a comment or if you're feeling brave, share it on social media. This platform is my entire advertising budget and is how I share the word on my books. Also visit my Facebook, my author page and check out my photography book from America Through Time, "Abandoned Wiregrass: The Deepest South's Lost and Forgotten Places." ![]() I was going to write a blog this morning either about the function of faith in civilization or how left-lane drivers really irritate me. Guess which topic won? (Sung to the tune of “Life in the Fast Lane” by the Eagles) He was a slow-driving man He was brutally oblivious, and she was terminally texting, She held them up, and he braked for no reason In the heart of the slow, slow traffic. They had one thing in common. They didn’t know how to use a turn signal "Slower, Slower the lights are turnin' red!” Life in the left lane, surely make you lose your mind. Bad lyrics and kidding aside, left-lane drivers drive me nuts. I suspect I’m not alone . There are many more eloquent than I who have commented on those who park in the left lane and don’t move over. I try not to let them annoy me anymore, because nothing is going to change the fact they will always be with us. You see, left-lane driving is proof of the existence of original sin. (stay with me here) When Jesus said “The poor will always be with you” I think he also meant a lot of things people do will always be with us. You see, in most cases we humans are taught what’s right. Logically, we know what is good and bad. Wash your hands before you eat. Don’t mix beer and wine. Watch what you eat. Murder is bad. Never get involved in a land war in Asia. Don’t hang out in the left lane. Yet, we do it all anyway. When one hangs out in the left lane, and people start resorting to passing on the right it’s a clue you’re doing something wrong. But I'm not not really just talking about left-lane driving, its about following rules. When I say "follow rules", I’m not referring to high-minded concepts like civil disobedience and rebelling against tyranny. I’m talking about following speed limits, not littering, flushing the toilet and putting the twisty tie back on the bread bag. I'm referring to responsible civic-mindedness. The simple stuff and the blatantly obvious. Most people see the wisdom in following traffic rules, or most civic rules. However, some people think rules are for other people. This attitude is neither malicious nor uncommon. It’s just being human. What isn’t discussed much about this phenomenon is that people who think this way often think consequences are for other people, too. This is at the heart of what I’m trying to get across. A few years back I took my three young children to the park. A ring of signs clearly stated pets were not allowed in the playground areas, and 99% of the greater park was open to pets including two dedicated dog parks. While my children played, a woman strolled right into the playground area with a Great Dane on a leash, sat on a bench, and stuck her face in her phone. The horse-dog then proceeded to urinate and defecate where the children played. She thought the rules didn’t apply to her, nor did the consequences. The kids stepping the animal waste paid the price, not her. I’m not judging her, because I’ve been her before in regards to other infractions. I think we all have, to some degree or another. We’ve all bent, ignored, or consciously blown-off common sense rules put in place to protect others and ourselves. Sometimes the consequences may be something smelly and squishy between our toes, and sometimes it’s far worse. A few weeks ago I witnessed an accident where a young woman decided to pass on a two-lane blacktop in a no-passing zone. She was approaching a limited-sight hilltop at full highway speeds and decided to pass a the vehicle in front of her. And pass she did, and immediately collided head-on with an automobile pulling out onto the highway. The no passing zone was clearly marked. Common sense says passing when approaching a hilltop is a bad idea. Yet, she did it anyway, and horror resulted. Why do we do it? We want rules. We elect politicians to make laws. We hire bureaucrats to regulate us. We want our police to enforce them. Yet, as individuals we often brush rules aside, sometimes cavalierly, like it’s cool. When we step in dog crap in the playground, or get stuck behind the guy driving five miles an hour under the speed limit in the left lane, we shake our fists and wonder why people can’t follow the rules. Then there are those times when tragedy strikes because someone decided the rules didn’t apply to them. All of us take a bite of Eve’s apple from time to time and end up hanging out in the left lane. It’s in our DNA. It’s a flaw in our programming at the deepest level. This inherent flaw, dare I say sin, of willful disobedience is fundamental human nature. No number of laws, rules or regulations or screaming at the car in front of you will change it. So stop screaming at the guy in the left lane, or you’ll surely end up losing your mind. You're not going to change him. Maybe we need to work harder on changing our own behavior. In life, the only driver you can control is yourself. #traffic #essay #orginalsin #sin #culture #society #issue #faith #religion *** If you enjoyed this blog, please like the post and leave a comment or if you're feeling brave, share it on social media. This platform is my entire advertising budget and is how I share the word on my books. Also visit my Facebook, my author page and check out my photography book from America Through Time, "Abandoned Wiregrass: The Deepest South's Lost and Forgotten Places." |
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