Friday, September 01, 2006

Tagged and Labeled


I don't like labels. People label themselves as all kinds of things, like Conservative. Liberal. Moderate. I can't do that to myself. Won't do it. On some issues, I take a decidedly liberal stance. On others, my position can be downright conservative. For the most part, though, I tend to be fairly moderate. In other words, I don't think any one position is set in stone with no leeway for tolerance for any other. I don't think that way. There's room in my little world view for more than one point of view. And hey, if I don't like yours, I walk away from it and leave it alone. Simple.

I know that some people take issue with my Words Gone Wild pieces. It's not "nice." Nice? I never claimed to be nice, albeit I usually am without even trying. (Trust me, if you've never done anything to me, you have nothing to worry about. If you have, though, you should always expect to get it back.) I never have understood why it's not okay to call something what it is. Why whitewash it? What's that all about?

Here's the deal with those Words Gone Wild -- my stance. If someone is going to put him- or herself in the public domain and call him/herself a writer, they'd really better be prepared to do a better job of it than what you see from some of the word criminals. If you're representing yourself as a writer, then it's incumbent on you to get it right. Every time. Believe it or not, you're helping to set a standard. If those who come after you see that kind of gibberish held up as something to emulate, then you've done them a great disservice. And committed word crime as far as I'm concerned.

Back to labels -- why do some people insist on religious labels? Sometimes it seems as though it's not enough to say you're Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, Hindu, Agnostic, or ... Christian. If you check the Christian label, somebody's sure to kick it up a notch. Like, are you Catholic? Protestant? If you're Protestant, are you Baptist? Lutheran? Presbyterian? Whichever one you claim, someone's going to tell you what's wrong with it -- and on what pulpit the Real Truth can be found. What's wrong with simply saying you believe in God -- and fate and karma and kismet and everything in between and have no problem with most of the tenets of any religion -- and leave it at that? Why should any specific label be required?

4 comments:

Unknown said...

I insist on a religious label. I am a "groovy" and the only one of my kind. I am a student of "Groovyism" which is the overwhelming spiritual belief that everything is just groovy.

As far as being a paroled word criminal, I must say that my writing is reflective of my surroundings. My using "button down the hatches" means that I have heard that used and am just documenting my local lexicon.

Naw, that just isn't cutting it. I am a criminal and cannot justify it.

Serena said...

Am I having a flashback? I don't think I've heard the word groovy since around 1970. LOL! But hey, everything's groovy.

Since you're confessing to Word Crime, in essence entering a guilty plea, what do you suppose your punishment should be?

Unknown said...

I must rewrite the dictionary to my liking

Serena said...

You could start with tackling the list of today's Words Gone Wild. Call it community service.:)