Opinion, Volume 8 number 7, July 2006, by Neal Matson
The Missionary Position: On Language Evolution
Our English language changes over time. It may be rapid, with the addition of a new word or phrase, or it may be slow with the drift in meaning of a word. The word gay is an example of the latter.
In my 1976 dictionary, the primary definition of gay is "light-hearted, lively" and the last listed definition is "slang, homosexual." My 1983 and 1995 dictionaries list "light/lively" as primary and "homosexual" last, but no longer as slang. Current online dictionaries now list "homosexual" as the primary definition of gay. This, of course reflects cultural usage and is accepted by everyone, even King James fundamentalists. They no longer refer to wealthy men as wearing "gay clothing" (James 2:3).
I now propose that we institute another change. Let's drop the word theory when mentioning biological evolution. It is not necessary and it only causes confusion when intentionally misused by fundamentalists to mislead a nonunderstanding audience. The word has several meanings, two of which are publicly confused. The term "conspiracy theory" illustrates the word's meaning as conjecture, hypothesis, unproven hunch, or guess. The religious right uses this meaning when discussing biological evolution to mislead its audience, i.e., "evolution is just a theory."
The scientific definition of theory means an underlying general principal which explains the facts, can be tested, and has become accepted because it works. There are several: The Theory of Gravitation, The Atomic Theory of Matter, The Germ Theory of Disease, The Theory of Plate Tectonics, etc. We tend to omit the word theory over time, but have kept it with The Theory of Relativity and String Theory. It's time to sever theory from evolution. Evolution can stand on its own, just like gravity, atoms, germs, and plate tectonics.
Evolution, or change through time, is such a powerful underpinning of most sciences that I would go one step further and refer to it as The Law of Evolution. The Theory of Gravitation has become The Law of Gravity, so why not evolution?
All we have to do is start using the phrase until it becomes culturally ingrained. (The Publican Party successfully employed this tactic and changed the Democratic Party into the Democrat Party several years ago.)
I would go even further and call it God's Law of Evolution. Back in 1995 I created a bumpersticker featuring the famous footed-fish and the words GOD'S LAW OF EVOLUTION, ISAIAH 14:29.
Let me explain that verse. It reads, "...out of the serpent's root shall come forth a cockatrice, and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent" (KJV). The Hebrew word translated into "serpent" is also used to describe a leviathan which has limbs and is usually defined as a crocodile or other large sea monster. A cockatrice is "...winged and spurred like a cock and with a serpentine tail" (Webster). The Hebrew words for "fiery flying serpent" are also used to describe fowl and winged creatures. So, according to God, a scaly water animal with limbs evolved into a half-bird which evolved into a modern bird. Could it be that this verse predicts the 1861 discovery of the classic transition fossil, Archaeopteryx, or one of the many other new transitionals currently being discovered in China?
Another language change has been the introduction of the phrase "partial-birth abortion"—a purely political ploy. Let us also introduce the term "post-partum abortions" to refer to state executions and war deaths.
That is this missionary's position and I'm sticking to it. | ||
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