Skip to comments.
Nat Hentoff: Abortion and the English language
Jewish World Review ^
| 12/5/06
| Nat Hentoff
Posted on 12/05/2006 1:32:50 PM PST by Caleb1411
click here to read article
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-20, 21-40, 41-60, 61-80, 81-86 next last
1
posted on
12/05/2006 1:32:55 PM PST
by
Caleb1411
To: rhema; MHGinTN; cpforlife.org; Salvation
George Orwell said of the language of "orthodoxy" that it "seems to demand a lifeless, imitative style." That was what I heard nearly all the two hours of "orthodox" oral argument at the Supreme Court on whether banning D&X would be unconstitutional. Whatever the decision, doctors will still be able to dismember the baby. Yes, the baby.
2
posted on
12/05/2006 1:35:07 PM PST
by
Caleb1411
("These are the days when the Christian is expected to praise every creed except his own." G. K. C)
To: Caleb1411
"How strangely will the Tools of a Tyrant pervert the plain Meaning of Words!"
--Samuel Adams (1722-1803), letter to John Pitts, January 21, 1776
3
posted on
12/05/2006 1:35:54 PM PST
by
2banana
(My common ground with terrorists - they want to die for islam and we want to kill them)
To: Caleb1411
Justice John Paul Stevens quickly interrupted: "Whether the FETUS is more than halfway out," he corrected the solicitor general.
"Some of the fetuses, I understand in the procedure," Justice Stevens added, "are only 4 or 5 inches long. They're very different from fully formed babies."
It would have been funny, if right there, the Solicitor General had said, "With all due respect, your honor, with that statement alone, it's quite clear where you stand on the issue."
To: Caleb1411
In his essay "Politics and the English Language," Orwell said, "What is above all needed (in honest speaking) is to let the meaning choose the word, and not the other way about." I find my conservatism is rooted in this concept, more than anything else. I am a conservative about the meaning of words. Time and time again, liberals on other forums have decried me as some kind of Neanderthal for taking such a view. I'm just not sophisticated enough, you see, to understand all the nuances of meaning.
Horsecrap. I've been around long enough to have witnessed the destruction of clear meaning by individuals, corporations and government time and time again, in their efforts to circumvent the consequences of the dictionary meaning of words. If words can be slotted to whatever meaning is useful, then laws, contracts and the Constitution have no meaning other than what a robed priesthood deems them to have. Which is why the battles over the Supreme Court have become so vicious - because, with the acceptance of the infinite elasticity of meaning, SCOTUS becomes the final arbiter of all things in our society.
5
posted on
12/05/2006 1:40:56 PM PST
by
dirtboy
(Objects in tagline are closer than they appear)
To: threeleftsmakearight
6
posted on
12/05/2006 1:42:30 PM PST
by
BenLurkin
("The entire remedy is with the people." - W. H. Harrison)
To: BenLurkin
I'm sorry, what is "btt"?
To: threeleftsmakearight
Certainly during his confirmation hearings he bent backwards to give the impression that he was impartial on the matter and coming to the bench free from prejudice one way or the other on abortion.
Who could have guessed he would have gone this way? / sarc
8
posted on
12/05/2006 1:44:33 PM PST
by
Jason_b
To: threeleftsmakearight
Back
To
The
Top
9
posted on
12/05/2006 1:47:22 PM PST
by
BenLurkin
("The entire remedy is with the people." - W. H. Harrison)
To: Jason_b
To: BenLurkin
Okay, now I'm really confused. What does that even mean?
Sorry for my ignorance.
To: BenLurkin
Okay, now I'm really confused. What does that even mean?
Sorry for my ignorance.
To: BenLurkin
Okay, now I'm really confused. What does that even mean?
Sorry for my ignorance.
To: threeleftsmakearight
I'm sorry, did you "say" something?
14
posted on
12/05/2006 1:52:51 PM PST
by
rabidralph
(The pajama-wetters are at it again.)
To: dirtboy
I'm picky about the meaning of words also. From conception to week 8 it's called an embryo. From week 9 until birth it's called a fetus. From birth until age 2 it's a baby (a bit longer for liberals) Just use the scientific terms that we all understand and don't cloud the issues.
15
posted on
12/05/2006 1:58:08 PM PST
by
Raymann
To: Raymann
For simplictiy the term used should be 'human.'
Everyone understands what a human is, and there is no question that an embryo/fetus/baby is a human. It's a scientific certainty.
16
posted on
12/05/2006 2:05:45 PM PST
by
Deut28
(Cursed be he who perverts the justice)
To: Deut28; Raymann
The terms embryo and fetus have been altered to where they are something less than human, and therefore disposable without twinges to the conscience. Just as Hitler deemed Jews and Slavs as subhuman and therefore worthy of extermination.
And that is one reason Hentoff (and I) are pro-life. To not fight dehumanization and murder of a fetus is to not fight dehumanization and murder of all humans.
17
posted on
12/05/2006 2:12:07 PM PST
by
dirtboy
(Objects in tagline are closer than they appear)
To: threeleftsmakearight
Bttt means you are posting to a thread to get it back into the latest posts display.
18
posted on
12/05/2006 2:12:42 PM PST
by
dirtboy
(Objects in tagline are closer than they appear)
To: dirtboy
Define the meaning of the words and you define the argument.
Define the argument and you have won the argument.
19
posted on
12/05/2006 2:16:35 PM PST
by
Harmless Teddy Bear
(Those who call their fellow citizens Sheeple are just ticked they were not chosen as Shepherds)
To: Raymann
I'm picky about the meaning of words also. From conception to week 8 it's called an embryo. From week 9 until birth it's called a fetus. From birth until age 2 it's a baby (a bit longer for liberals) Just use the scientific terms that we all understand and don't cloud the issues.
In normal discourse we stick with english. Fetus is latin for baby.
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-20, 21-40, 41-60, 61-80, 81-86 next last
Disclaimer:
Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual
posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its
management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the
exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson