"But that's what it MEANS"

[Steven Jamar]

I agree with Mr. Linden to a certain extent -- that if an identifiable
group considers a term offensive, others should in general respect
their desire that it not be used.

But the word "proselityzation" does not identify a group in the same
way that Chrisitan, or Muslim, or Jew, or Hindu, or Black does.

To say "someone shared the spirit with me" is cryptic jargon known
only to those ina particular community that talks that way.

Steve


On 9/8/07, Will Linden <wlinden at panix.com> wrote:
>    Mr. Jamar claims the position that if a description conforms to what he
> considers the "accurate" denotational meaning of words, we should ignore
> connotations.
>
>      I can not buy this. Some people respond to complaints about labelling
> "cults" by proclaiming what they say is an "accurate" and "objective"
> meaning of the word, and refuse to acknowledge the complete disconnect
> between their "accurate" "scientific" usage and the real world's use of the
> word as a bogeyman label.
>
>       I doubt that Jamar would accept the "accuracy" criterion in regard to
> the "fat Jewess" reference I cited.
>
>        As for something being an "accurate description of their
> behavior"..... precisely what I have been saying is that it is NOT applied
> to people who engage in identical BEHAVIOR for causes which do not fall in
> the "religion" box. From recent posts, I am sure that I would be
> indignantly "corrected" if I said that Hitchens, Dawkins and Sam Harris are
> "proselytizing" for atheism; and similarly if I applied to people who
> engage in "face to face confrontations", even abuse ones, to demand that I
> change my political and social views, my taste in music, or my choice of
> leisure activities.
>
>          What about people who insist that "Jew" is ipso facto "offensive",
> and insist on "Jewish person" instead? Perhaps Mr. Levinson would enlighten
> us on this, and how it seems to have contributed to the brouhouha over
> Google search rankings and jewwatch.com
>
>
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-- 
Prof. Steven Jamar
Howard University School of Law