Instead of informing the American public of anything substantive, President Obama chose to blame and belittle others for their frustration that he will not use the phrase “radical Islam.” While it might not change U.S. military tactics, the term might acknowledge reality. Perhaps if President Obama’s efforts had been effective in reducing the appeal of radical Islam, if ISIS had been weakened, if thousands of innocent people had not been executed, he might be able to sustain his position.
His assumption seems to be that Americans will all be unthinking bigots unless he avoids naming the enemy. But the omission doesn’t build his identity as a peacemaker or as a lover of freedom. It makes me wonder whose side he is on.
Words matter. If they didn’t, we wouldn’t daily awaken wondering which words (if any) describing ethnicity are acceptable. We would still have mailmen instead of Letter Carriers. Person-person didn’t resonate. “Gay” would still have only one meaning. “Challenged” would not have replaced “handicapped” and “handicapped” , “retarded” and “retarded” would not have replaced “idiot.” “Pro-choice” would not have replaced “Pro-abortion.” “Pro-life” would not have replaced “Right to Life.”
One of the first things that precedes every holocaust is the casting of the targeted group as non-human. Vocabulary becomes a key part of it. Practitioners of abortion replace “baby” with “product of conception.” How very aseptic it sounds, how clean not to consider the human aspect of ending a helpless life. Anyone who has seen the aftermath of this “procedure” is likely to reconsider it. No wonder they use a specialized vocabulary.
So a refusal to use a functional vocabulary to distinguish between non-hostile Muslims and those horrifically murdering anyone who disagrees with them does matter. It may not impact our tactics, but may very well influence the opinion of those of us sheltered from the carnage.
We can call it Jihad, Islamic Extremism, War, or Murder. We could name it Teddy and hope it gets all fuzzy and cuddly. But until the American people decide to face this, the problem will continue to grow. Instead of sticking our heads in the sand, we’d better learn to protect each other.