Much of our personal and cultural perspective on the world is colored by the language in which our concepts and ideas are couched. Changing that language can therefore alter our attitudes about what we hear and see.
"Responsibility," for example, is a word with positive reverberations. It reeks of reliability, accountability, and self-control. It carries connotations of honesty, dependability, and courage.
So why have the media adopted the buzz phrase "claims responsibility" for the violent outrages committed by terrorists who cover their faces in cowardly anonymity, hide themselves behind innocent civilian populations, plot behind closed doors, and, in general, act totally irresponsibly?
If the media changes their terminology to "admits guilt" the concept itself changes dramatically. "Guilt" is a suitably pejorative notion to apply to murder. An admission of guilt clearly conveys the message that the perpetrators know wrong from right and have willingly made their hideous choice.
Regardless of the politics, culture, or religion involved in any dispute, no matter how complicated or divisive, there is the rational approach to resolution and there is the emotionally selfish, vicious, and vindictive response.
Terrorist groups of all persuasions have defined themselves as criminal by their heinous indifference to that most fragile quality: human life. Let's expose them for what they are and call a spade a spade.
Virginia Bola is a licensed clinical psychologist with deep interests in Social Psychology and politics. She has performed therapeutic services for more than 20 years and has studied the effects of cultural forces and employment on the individual. The author of an interactive workbook, The Wolf at the Door: An Unemployment Survival Manual, and a monthly ezine, The Worker's Edge, she can be reached at http://drvirginiabola.blogspot.com
disinfecting cleaning services Arlington Heights ..Policemen in many US cities are taking their new authority... Read More
We all know Elliot Spitzer is going to run for... Read More
We have heard a lot about the coming bird flu... Read More
In a move that rocked the online world and left... Read More
We see today a fierce unspoken competition between trucks and... Read More
The head of the Club of Rome has said that... Read More
I would like to discuss a few issues we have... Read More
City Governments is their quest for; "quality of life" often... Read More
In typical bureaucratese, the pensive EBRD analyst ventures with the... Read More
Most citizens agree that we need the Federal Trade Commission... Read More
China is serious about breaking into the bio-tech field and... Read More
Economy is called the dismal science because it pretends to... Read More
It is widely known in the Homosexual Male Populations that... Read More
Well here is a great new product, we first saw... Read More
The current field of political sciences is dominated by a... Read More
Judgment and detective work requires thinking about possibilities. One of... Read More
Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Men desire power. Give power to... Read More
I had the benefit of getting an interview with Mr.... Read More
The US-backed Road Map peace plan had no real chance... Read More
Previously Senator Dick Armey and his staff in 2000 to... Read More
All UAVs Need a Self Destruct BLOS DeviceWhat do you... Read More
For a short time I worked as a union officer... Read More
Heaven, Hell, or some sort of Purgatory.I cannot seem to... Read More
You have probably heard of the Sarbaines Oxley Law (SOX)... Read More
This is the fourth and final article in a series... Read More
bathroom cleaning service Mundelein ..I'VE ALWAYS ARGUED THAT ECONOMIC ILLITERACY IS VERY COSTLY.This is... Read More
For the business community 9-11 changed everything. In our company,... Read More
Telemarketing and DO NOT CALL lists sure made headlines, but... Read More
Fuel costs seem to rank high in surveys of US... Read More
I, too, am saddened by the disaster in New Orleans... Read More
I hope to provide a starting point for the serious... Read More
How can any human being today, anywhere in this world,... Read More
I watch the TV news and I get angry. I... Read More
It never fails to amaze me. HM Customs and Excise... Read More
Why are intelligent people so afraid of the idea that... Read More
Many of the problems that the members of the European... Read More
It appears the Feds are suing Elliot Spitzer over his... Read More
In what the Americans love to describe as the war... Read More
The plight of whistleblowers ? those employees who sound the... Read More
Public utilities and a problematic issue on the allowance of... Read More
Last week, the media coverage called the airplane crash in... Read More
Many in the World Media are quick to judge the... Read More
Many times our government regulatory over embellish problems in the... Read More
Many people make a lot of money in war. In... Read More
PolicyFederal Fair Housing accessibility requirements for new multifamily buildings should... Read More
The People's Liberation Army of China invaded Tibet in 1949.... Read More
Recent international wars and the often spectacular ways in which... Read More
Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Men desire power. Give power to... Read More
The expertise and advancement of the evolution of man and... Read More
We know that in Maryland, which some call "Merry Land"... Read More
Political |