Table of Contents | The question of inclusive language has impacted worship, Christian education and the entire life of the church. Language is important in the church because it is a tool of power and domination as well as a tool of social transformation. Language is a significant instrument in shaping identity as well as in perpetuating stereotypes. Language reflects our changing consciousness about God, the world, ourselves, class, gender relations, race, violence, sexual orientation and disabilities. Just language is essential if we are to overcome the injustice and violence and hatred that obstruct the peace, equality and harmony we yearn for as the church attempts to keep our eyes on the "alternative social vision" or Empire of God. Changing social realities and a radical new sense of self require new ways of thinking, speaking, acting and writing. One of the resources I have discovered to help with this task is the work of the 8TH Day Center for Justice published as Creating Just Language. The chapters indicate some of the wide-ranging interests of this group. For example, the booklet includes chapters on Sexist Language, Militaristic Language and The New Cosmology. In addition, an extensive resource bibliography is included. I offer some of their research to help with this issue. "When thinking about and using language it is important to remember that language is comprised of signs, symbols and metaphors that signify or represent something to which they refer. If the symbol becomes absolutized then the stage is set for language to become controlling, exclusive aand domineering. "No one can predict what words will eventually replace outmoded biased language. Probably most will not be innovations but familiar words recycled. The candidate most likely to succeed the stubborn masculine generic pronoun is a word already in wide use, 'they.' Despite...efforts to restrict it to plural antecedents, 'they' is already commonly used as an alternative to the awkward he or she. 'They' and its inflected forms have been used for centuries by reputable writers from Shakespeare to Shaw to F. Scott Fitzgerald.... "...Creating just language requires that we recognize the values of cooperation, mutuality and inclusivity. Non-aggressive language reflects new ways of interacting with one another and the earth." These values are those that have provided some guidance to the questions that I have raised. I hope that the vision of God, the church, Jesus, the scriptures, the Christian faith, etc., that is offered on this web site will stimulate conversation, dialogue and insight so that language becomes a tool for creating what Jesus keeps pointing to, namely, "Empire of God!" Yes, we enter this "room," reflect on the question of inclusive language and then move on toward "an alternative social vision," a vision of justice and freedom and love and grace and forgiveness and joy! There are other "inns" and "rooms" ahead. The excitement builds. And our perpetual journey to an unreachable destination continues.... |