By Douglas Daugherty

In 1963, one of the silliest songs ever recorded became an instant hit, selling 30,000 copies its first weekend and eventually rising to Number 4 on the Billboard Top 100. The song? “Surfin’ Bird,” by the Trashmen.

It may be the dumbest, most nonsensical song in pop history, BUT it makes a point, says something over and over (“Bird, bird, bird”), no matter how silly, and it can be embraced by the masses. There were about 15 million U.S. teens in 1963; almost all knew the song.

We live in a time when the importance of the meaning of words is under attack. Old words, anchored in historical reality, change from good to bad. New words or phrases are made up. Silly words take on a life of their own. Names have lost any tie to identity. They become someone’s political or cultural aspiration.

Once embedded with the new meaning in our collective psyche, they begin to become weighty and worthy of institutional, religious, legal, and scholarly attention. “Equity” is the perfect example. A simple idea is now corporate and political America’s go-to idol/love bunny. (Equity is a good word, speaking of a just balance. Now it means equal outcomes, whatever the cost.)

Even the Bible finds this abhorrent. “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!”

But why are words important?

First, they obviously allow simple transactions and communication of need. Second, they allow us to name things in the sense of the image or type it is, such as “car.” Third, with study and research we learn to name the massive complexities of the physical universe and this allows the whole world of science, medicine, engineering, computing, and such to be passed on and further explored. (Physics has no “what-cha-ma-call-its.”) Fourth, we can communicate complexities with the right vocabulary. The words freedom, or contract or eugenics mean more than just a simple idea. They are a whole bundle of ideas that are easily communicated if one knows the vocabulary. This is one of the highest forms of the brain’s operation. Fifth, we can communicate our feelings through helpful language. We have all heard of the heartbreak of a beloved caretaker of someone with Alzheimer’s who finally can no longer identify their spouse of 40 years. And sixth, we can identify transcendent or otherwise ineffable qualities like “The Good,” “Evil,” “Friendship,” or “God.”

Some words under attack come easily to mind and are easy to identify: Life, Hate, Love, Justice, Liberty, Bad, Sex, Gay, Rights. The left is excellent at redefining words and getting through the message jumble. Conservatives are just now picking up this challenge at a strategic level.

“Life” obviously does not mean life anymore. It means those who are deemed worthy of life. Others have no life. (Think Roe v Wade and Doe v Bolton.)

“Hate” has become something someone says that you don’t agree with. “Hate Speech” has been criminalized. Younger minds have drunk the Kool-Aid and cultivated their own shame. Contrariwise, the Book of Wisdom, records “The fear of the Lord is to hate evil,” (Proverbs 8:13). (Evil is given definition throughout many ancient texts, both Greek and Hebrew.)

“Love” has become so diluted and polluted, no one seems to understand it. The Greeks had seven words for love, including “storge” for maternal love, “philia” for friendship, and “agape” for unconditional love. We have one word. We have become so steeped in the “love” of popular music, that we cannot see out of the cloud we’re in. If all love is unconditional on the human side of things, then all things are to be embraced, regardless of their long term or short-term consequences.

“Justice” is not about what one deserves because of their efforts and works but has become a demand for equal outcomes based on external qualities such as race or gender.

“Liberty” no longer means freedom to do what is virtuous and right, but the ability to do whatever one wants, unless you get caught, or for the gentler spirit, until we hurt someone else.

“Bad” in popular slang, has become something that is good, i.e. Michael Jackson or James Brown. (This reminds me of the term “righteous” in the 1960s, i.e. The Righteous Brothers…not a religious duo…not even brothers!)

“Sex” no longer means gender or an intimate act of love and perhaps procreation but has whole schools of thought that have untied the word from any absolute or links to reality.

“Rights” at one point were granted by kings and such. Later in the west, through natural law, we identified unalienable rights. Then rights somehow became the product of the collective. We have our Bill of Rights. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948 enshrines the rights and freedoms of all human beings. Now we continue down an untethered highway, with the right to free medical care, the right of a sustainable income, and more coming. It will bankrupt every country that goes down this path.

Conservatives have ceded language to the left…on their terms.

God defines Himself as the Word. Language unstudied will not draw you closer to truth but will create artificial restraints in your discernment and choices.

Is language just fluid combinations of letters gaining or losing currency to the more powerful New York Times or Atlantic magazine?

Words as Weapons

Take “gay.” A few years ago, the homosexual lobby was losing in state after state. Some clever folks decided on several fronts to redefine the meaning of homosexual. First, they had a goal of getting at least one homosexual character on every sitcom, and on popular TV. They succeeded. Ellen DeGeneres is loveable and funny. “Will and Grace” was nominated for 83 Emmys over its eight-year run and was even lauded by now President Joe Biden.

Americans in as late as 2000 thought a small percentage of people were active homosexuals. They were right. It was less than 3%. Now, even though the practicing number of homosexuals hovers at 5-7%, the American public thinks 25-30% of the population is homosexual. They also turned to politics. In Vermont, the Atlantic ran a story about changing the image of homosexuals defined by outlawed sex acts, to a new and improved definition: elderly, life-long female partners, who just loved one another. They won the election.

The Literacy Wars

Why is this important? It is exceedingly important, even pivotal for civilization, because words are the vessels of our most complex and important ideas about what is and what should be, about our foundation and our vision for the future.

They are the tools of war for the contemporary world. In a civil society we use words, not force. Force only comes into play when civility is absent.

And where do we learn words? We learn them from birth, and maybe even earlier in the womb as we hear voices. We learn them in our family. And we learn them in our formal education…in schools.

The National Reading Panel identified five key concepts at the core of every effective reading instruction program: Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, Fluency, Vocabulary, and Comprehension

One of these pillars of learning to read is vocabulary. Children with a rich and wide vocabulary become rich and broad critical thinkers. Phonic awareness and training have something to plug into. Children with meager vocabularies tend to be more captured by their environment. Their thoughts may not get out of a small pool. They may never pull large ideas together and make associations, comparisons, and distinctions.

That is why teaching children to read early and correctly is essential for a constitutional, democratic republic, with a Bill of Rights and 250 years of written law and 400+ years of history, which is standing on the back of Western civilization.

But as a nation, and as a community, we have a BIG problem. Only about one third of students are proficient in reading when they enter fourth grade. This year they switched from learning-to-read to reading-to-learn. It is almost impossible to catch up when you get behind in this matter. And where does the blame lie? It lies with the teacher colleges, and the administrations of our large public-school systems, who spend hundreds of millions on an education with a very poor ROI. If there is incompetence in public schooling it is here. Only 9% of American children go to private schools.

It is past time for parents and grandparents and taxpayers to rise, shake the cage and insist on genuine transparency and accountability, or quit paying the bill and find alternatives. We cannot fail to educate our young.

Word/Names and Meaning in Life

Lastly, if words are important, and some much more than others, naming things or people with the right name is the highest good. This is a bit odd to the Western mind. We tend to pick names at random for our children, even making up new names. But on a spiritual level I want to tell you that you have a true name. You may or may not know your true name, and finding it is a bit of a quest. One which you will be much better for going on. If you do know your true name, it is full of meaning and helps steer you on the best path for your life.

For example, if I tell you that you are a “natural born leader,” and your life has clues that this is true, you are affirmed. The same is true if I call you “poet,” or “teacher,” or “father,” “shepherd,” or “Renaissance man.” This has so much positive potential. If you know your name, you are not a victim of others’ negative name-calling or stereotyping, you have what it takes to overcome and succeed…it’s called destiny.

Think of the Psalmist David. Is it any wonder he wrote and sang such lasting Hebrew poetry? David means “beloved.” It is derived from the Hebrew name Dawid, which evolved from the Hebrew word dod which means “beloved.”

It is more than interesting that naming things in the Bible took on prophetic, and macro-historical significance. Abraham, for example, means “exalted father.” He is looked to as a primary character in three world religions, Islam, Judaism and Christianity. He helps steer the minds with his story, both the good qualities and bad foibles, for literally four billion people — over half the world’s population!

This is also true in many indigenous cultures. In the 1970 movie “Little Big Man,” Jack Crabb is a white survivor of a massacre who was raised by the Oglala Lakota native Americans. He was called Little Big Man and became a war chief rivaling Crazy Horse. Yes, he was small in stature, but he was a big man with qualities that made him a shrewd leader and warrior.

The last war and the next wars will be fought over words and what they mean. This is the time to know of what you speak. Don’t settle for less than accurate use of language. Don’t allow yourself to be swayed by an altered meaning for an old word, or an old meaning for a new word. There are plenty of examples. Your choice of words is one of the most important habits you can develop. They can bring health and they can bring death. Use them well, or they will be used against you.