Strictly Speaking
By DONALD DeMARCO
Strictly Speaking is the title of Edwin Newman’s defense of the English language against various assaults coming from politicians, journalists, and other linguistic vandals. “Will America be the Death of English?” is the subtitle. “The outlook is dire; it is a later point in time than you think,” according to the former NBC house grammarian.
But that was 1974 and his fears have not exactly materialized. We now face a far more pernicious language problem: the pervasive use of perfectly good English words that convey the wrong meaning. I describe, very briefly, ten instances that illustrate this problem, one that threatens both communication and the kind of idealism that is necessary to sustain a civilization.
Authority: It is commonplace for people to reject authority because they misunderstand the meaning of the word. Authority does not necessarily mean giving orders, but offering reasons. This same fear is commonly directed against parents, teachers, the police, and the military. Fear of authority, then, is tantamount to a rejection of reason. The absence of reason, however, invites chaos.
Freedom: It is not true that freedom is enlarged to the extent that it is emancipated from reason. Freedom is not absolute. Nor is it a terminal value. We are free in the most meaningful sense of the term through reason, not from reason. Reason grounds us in realism. We are not free because we can fly, but because our feet are on the ground.
Love: The most commonplace distortion of the meaning of love is to equate it with approval. This is a stagnant notion of love. But love is transformative because it wills the good of the other. Love, therefore, is not the mindless acceptance of whatever the other person does, but a practical concern that is directed to the other’s good.
Education: It is an error of the highest magnitude to believe that education is imposing views on others. One cannot impose a view on another even if he tried. Rather, education is imparting worthwhile ideas. It is more like ministering to students’ needs to know things that will benefit them, as sunlight ministers to plants. The word “education” refers to drawing out something that is already there, helping students to become more aware of what is inside them. It is not a form of seduction.
Order: We need order to regulate our lives properly. But that does not mean that our lives should be regimented. We need the proper ordering of the events in our lives so that we can achieve wholeness. The human organism is magnificently ordered so that health is achieved and maintained. Order, in this positive sense, is far from being a form of arbitrary regimentation. It is a form of artistry that brings the parts into unity. Wisdom depends on the proper ordering of our life’s actions.
Virtue: Many pundits have asserted that virtue is its own punishment because it is a weakness that stifles freedom. The opposite, however, is the case. Genuine virtue is a strength that helps a person to do the right thing in the midst of temptations to do the opposite. Virtue is rooted in love and directs people to the good. Without virtue, a person wallows in dissipation.
Judgment: “Do not judge” has become a tiresome cliché. As a consequence, people retreat into the twilight zone of moral inertia. We cannot get through the day without making innumerable judgments. We can neither escape judging or judgment. Judgment need not be avoided for fear of being presumptuous. We need sound judgment in order to distinguish right from wrong. Being able to judge is a human faculty without which we cannot behave in a human way.
Peace: Though peace is universally desirable, it remains elusive. It is not the absence of conflict but is based on the presence of order. In fact, it is the serenity that we experience when our lives are proceeding according to their proper order. If we want peace, we must put our lives in order. Merely avoiding conflict leaves us with a void that is restive and not tranquil. Peace is not a direct object of choice; it is the consequence of a life characterized by moral rectitude.
Knowledge: Both the cynic and the pessimist agree that knowledge is nothing more than opinion, that truth is subjective and undiscoverable. Their position, however, is self-contradictory since they believe that their view is the true one. Knowledge is important and should be sought after because it helps us to distinguish between fact and fiction, reason and superstition. Without knowledge that leads to truth, we are left in the dark, hopelessly involved in unresolvable arguments about which opinion is better than others.
Religion: For many people, religion is restrictive since they believe that it imposes a dogma on people. Therefore, it is seen as contrary to freedom. The truth of the matter is that religion is a revelation, the illumination of truths that most people would not come to realize on their own. Far from being restrictive, religion is actually liberating. It frees us from superstition and the errors that are the inevitable consequences of pride. Religion lifts us out of ourselves without abandoning us.
We need authority, freedom, love, education, order, virtue, judgment, peace, knowledge, and religion. Without these values, chaos reigns and civilization is just a pipe dream.
Yet these values will remain elusive as long as we misunderstand their meanings and choose to view them in their distorted forms. These values represent ideals that are worth the effort it requires to make them a real part of our daily life. They challenge us and reward us.
But their realization will not come about unless we are willing to pay the price. Strictly speaking, rectitude and education are better than lassitude and dissipation.
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(Dr. Donald DeMarco is a senior fellow of Human Life International. He is professor emeritus at St. Jerome’s University in Waterloo, Ontario, an adjunct professor at Holy Apostles College in Cromwell, Conn., and a regular columnist for St. Austin Review. His latest works, How to Remain Sane in a World That Is Going Mad; Poetry That Enters the Mind and Warms the Heart; and How to Flourish in a Fallen World are available through Amazon.com. Some of his recent writings may be found at Human Life International’s Truth and Charity Forum.
(He is the 2015 Catholic Civil Rights League recipient of the prestigious Exner Award.)
