Let's Call A Spade A Spade
Much of our personal and cultural perspective on the world is
colored by the language in which our concepts and ideas are
couched. Changing that language can therefore alter our
attitudes about what we hear and see.
"Responsibility," for example, is a word with positive
reverberations. It reeks of reliability, accountability, and
self-control. It carries connotations of honesty, dependability,
and courage.
So why have the media adopted the buzz phrase "claims
responsibility" for the violent outrages committed by terrorists
who cover their faces in cowardly anonymity, hide themselves
behind innocent civilian populations, plot behind closed doors,
and, in general, act totally irresponsibly?
If the media changes their terminology to "admits guilt" the
concept itself changes dramatically. "Guilt" is a suitably
pejorative notion to apply to murder. An admission of guilt
clearly conveys the message that the perpetrators know wrong
from right and have willingly made their hideous choice.
Regardless of the politics, culture, or religion involved in any
dispute, no matter how complicated or divisive, there is the
rational approach to resolution and there is the emotionally
selfish, vicious, and vindictive response.
Terrorist groups of all persuasions have defined themselves as
criminal by their heinous indifference to that most fragile
quality: human life. Let's expose them for what they are and
call a spade a spade.