Letting Leftists Limit Language

From: The American Thinker

Letting Leftists Limit Language
http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/09/letting_leftists_limit_languag.html


Every time I hear a conservative speak of "capitalism," I cringe. In fact, when I am compelled to call those men and women who cherish liberty and believe in the God of Jews and Christians by the odd term "conservative," I realize just how far we have let leftists limit language, and so, limit our power to converse and even to think. Every serious concept of political thought has been consciously misnamed by the enemies of freedom and faith.

What does "leftist," for example, mean? Nothing, really. If there were an ideological spectrum (there is not), then "leftist" and "rightist" would be opposites, and moving toward the left would mean embracing more the ideas of Marx, while moving toward the right would mean moving toward Hitler. But this is historical nonsense. Hitler and all the leading Nazis passionately embraced socialism and loathed "capitalism." All those murderous and hateful cliques -- Bolsheviks, Fascists, and Nazis -- loathed the God of Jews and Christians. All despised liberty, including economic liberty. Why, then, do we think in terms of an ideological spectrum? Our enemies -- the "left," for want of a better term -- invented the ideological spectrum. Why use the language of our enemies? We should not. . . . .