Word of Honor
by R.C. Sproul Jr.

What can I, one puny little speck of dust, do to sway the outcome of this titanic struggle between the forces of good and evil when our enemies are more powerful than a locomotive? How can I hope to stay the onrushing waters of postmodernism? Step one: take a deep breath. We are concerned at the subtle assaults that are made on our language every day. We affirm that this battle is part of a larger war that not only will make history but is history. But we deny that this is anything worth hyperventilating over. We do not want to over-hype the problem of hype, or spin ourselves as the last great hope in the battle against spin. What follows are some practical suggestions as to how we can better be men of our words, how we can more effectively honor our language, how we might better obey the ninth commandment in all its fullness.

Write deliberately. Once we lived in a world of paper and ink; now we live in the gnostic realm of the binary universe. Touch a few buttons, and off go my words. Touch a few more, and I make sure I have spelled "more" correctly. Hit send, and like the proverbial arrow, off it goes. The internet has made publishers of us all, and made us all forget James' wisdom that few should fancy themselves teachers. With paper and ink people actually took their time with what they wrote. They deliberated, mulled. Putting down words took commitment. Now it takes a couple of wires. I see this viscerally in the hate mail that I receive from time to time. I get hand written letters occasionally grumbling about this failure or that of mine, but for real heat and venom it takes an email. The words flow with the passion of the moment and, before you know it, I've got mail. If what you have to say to a brother is not worth the trouble of an envelope and a stamp, don't bother saying it.

Speak deliberately. Our friend Jonathan Daugherty has a peculiar cadence to his speech. He had been here less than a week, when I noticed that I had picked it up without trying. Jonathan talks like my wife Denise eats-slowly. He stops mid-sentence to see if he has the right word, and then stops mid-word just to make sure. With the possible exception of his assessment of Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, I don't believe I've ever heard him exaggerate. We should all be so careful. No, our spoken words are not written down, but typically they are remembered long after the things we write.

Think deliberately. Sometimes the problem isn't just word inflation but feeling inflation. Having spent our lives having our emotions whipped into assorted frenzies by our media masters, we somehow feel that unless we are feeling strongly, we aren't really feeling at all. We get an addict's high from the trauma of drama in our lives. We move from Gee, so and so didn't wave at me at the mall. I wonder if she saw me to Gee, so and so really must think she's something, being too good to wave at me at the mall to I WILL DESTROY SO AND SO'S PATHETIC EXCUSE FOR A LIFE IF IT'S THE LAST THING I DO faster than I can think of something that is really fast. We're all junior high girls at heart, and must stop. This, by the way, also applies to events in the world around us. Alex Baldwin promised he would leave the country if W. were elected. I too hoped it wouldn't happen. I'm terribly disturbed by many things that he is doing. But the world will not come to an end, as it would not have had Gore been elected. Let's stop looking at every day as the great pivot of history.

Listen deliberately. In the last minute or so of reading this wisdom you have matured. You have greater self-control. But now you will soon return to a world that has committed the unfathomable folly of having not read this wisdom. And so they will spin and hype, and when they're not hyping they will spin. When they stop spinning, they will hype. Treat the hype and the spin for what it is, so many weeds to hack away at until you can actually discern whether what they meant to say was a sweet, sweet rose, or just another stinkweed to be hacked to bits. Learn to discern the weasel words, those little fillers that make all the difference. If I said "This is the greatest column that has ever been written", your antennae would go up. If, however, I said merely "This column is one of the greatest ever written," you would not be alarmed that I had overstepped myself, and might think the better of it. That's what they count on.

Read deliberately. Begin by reading some of the old masters. You'll discover that they were able to communicate without the use of speakers turned up to eleven. You'll find a whole different language that communicates power without draining power from the language. You'll find that truly beautiful language is not filled with hype but with truth and delicacy. Next, if you must read things written recently, read with all of the above in mind. As we become a more image-based culture, even our language becomes more image-based. Writers would rather paint you a word picture to get you to emote than carefully explain an argument to get you to think. Don't play along.

Okay now, time for practice. Send us a letter. Write it out. Tell us this issue was okay. Let us know what helped some, and what was not so helpful. Then go out and tell your friends about this nice little magazine that you somewhat enjoy reading from time to time. You might be reasonably glad you did.