words matter
The tragedy in Tuscon this past week has increased our National conversation over what words mean and how they matter.
Jared Laughner first asked, "What's government if words don't have meaning?"
Sarah Palin responded to the concern over how words are used by saying "No one should be deterred from speaking up and speaking out in peaceful dissent, and we certainly must not be deterred by those who embrace evil and call it good."
President Obama spoke at the memorial service and reminded us that "it's important for us to pause for a moment and make sure that we are talking with each other in a way that heals, not a way that wounds."
This word cloud graphic (please click the graphic to view larger in lightbox) was created using the top 20 words from transcripts of statements presented by Jared Loughner in his Youtube videos; in a video released by Sarah Palin; and in the memorial speech offered by President Obama.
I find it very interesting to see the most used, and therefore seemingly most important, words compared in this way.
As a child, my parents taught us first to "love one another" and "to do unto others as you would have done unto you". They were very strict in how they allowed my brother and I to speak. We were not allowed to say "hate" or to call someone a "liar" or "cheater". Those words were the foulest bad language or dirty words in our household. You can imagine that if the words were considered that horrendous then it would surely follow that the action of actually doing one of the words was incomprehensible in our minds.
Thank you Mom and Dad for teaching us that what we say and how we say it matters.
words matter
The tragedy in Tuscon this past week has increased our National conversation over what words mean and how they matter.
Jared Laughner first asked, "What's government if words don't have meaning?"
Sarah Palin responded to the concern over how words are used by saying "No one should be deterred from speaking up and speaking out in peaceful dissent, and we certainly must not be deterred by those who embrace evil and call it good."
President Obama spoke at the memorial service and reminded us that "it's important for us to pause for a moment and make sure that we are talking with each other in a way that heals, not a way that wounds."
This word cloud graphic (please click the graphic to view larger in lightbox) was created using the top 20 words from transcripts of statements presented by Jared Loughner in his Youtube videos; in a video released by Sarah Palin; and in the memorial speech offered by President Obama.
I find it very interesting to see the most used, and therefore seemingly most important, words compared in this way.
As a child, my parents taught us first to "love one another" and "to do unto others as you would have done unto you". They were very strict in how they allowed my brother and I to speak. We were not allowed to say "hate" or to call someone a "liar" or "cheater". Those words were the foulest bad language or dirty words in our household. You can imagine that if the words were considered that horrendous then it would surely follow that the action of actually doing one of the words was incomprehensible in our minds.
Thank you Mom and Dad for teaching us that what we say and how we say it matters.