There’s a tried and true tactic in social movements, and that’s the proper use of naming. Give your movement the right name, and you’re well on the way to success. Stick your opponents with a poisoned moniker, and they’ll struggle to overcome that disadvantage.
A few examples come to mind:
- Gender justice. If you hold to a certain point of view regarding the participation of women in Christian worship, you can lay claim to speaking for gender justice. That means that any who disagree with you are opposing justice. Wow! That’s powerful.
- Homophobia. If you feel that homosexual activity is wrong, you are labeled as being scared of homosexuals. I heard that come into play the other day on a sports talk radio program. They were blasting Baylor over their conservative policies about homosexuality, making jokes about how Baylor thinks homosexuality is contagious. All because of the confusion from that word: homophobia.
- Illegal aliens. I can’t think of another legal situation where the offender themselves is labeled “illegal.” But that has a powerful impact on people’s views toward these immigrants, which is why the pro-immigrant movement works hard to make “undocumented worker” the accepted term.
- Liberal. I find this in many discussions, where people will say, “I’m so tired of those liberal arguments.” Or the example of Ann Coulter, who informed the world that conservative pastors who support immigration reform are liberals in disguise. Even in the church, the term liberal is applied to mark opposing ideas as potentially toxic.
Lots of other examples can be given… which come to your mind?
