Once we understand that gender and biological sex are not the same thing, we can see that what we’re being asked to do is not to deny the truth of biology but to affirm the truth of the identity someone has claimed.
The “Truth” About Gender
Nobody Dies Anymore
At the heart of all euphemisms is a desire to avoid a painful reality. But here's the thing: it doesn't help. Indeed, it may actually make the problem of grief worse. But honesty is not only for the sake of those who mourn. Honesty about death is the only way to speak meaningfully about life.
Feeding the 5,000
The details and the emphases of these stories differ, but at their heart is a core that suggests the earliest stage of transmission of this event in Jesus' ministry: Five loaves and two fish. Sit down. Twelve baskets. Five thousand.
Choosing the Wrong Jesus
For the last several years, I’ve been working on translating the Gospel of Mark, a project whose enjoyment is only exceeded by the amount of time it's taking me. Part of this is that I'm trying to translate it twice, in two radically different ways, while including commentary and translation notes. (See, the illustration at…
Naming a Virus
As people of faith, we are often faced with the choice between things we have the right to do and the things we ought to do. As people who are supposed to care for the least of these, for the most vulnerable, for those who are marginalized, oppressed, and afflicted, we must ask ourselves, honestly, whether the use of a term that can bring no benefit and only cause harm is the appropriate thing to do, especially when other, more helpful terms exist.
What’s Going On with You and I?
Recently, I’ve noticed an emerging phenomenon regarding the way people use pronouns that suggested to me that I was witnessing just such a change to the language.
The Fault Is in Our Grammars: Language, Gender, and Pronouns
The language is changing. As fast as our changing cultural awareness will allow. But when the change requires reworking our linguistic understanding, it can take a lot longer to set in than does the understanding that some men do, in fact, have uteruses.
Between You and I: Hypercorrection or Sign of Things to Come?
Given the way that language changes and grows, it is clear that before long those speakers who persist in saying, “Just between you and me” and “This is really bad news for him and her” will be the ones perceived to be speaking ungrammatically.
The Russians on The Americans
I love the show The Americans. It's one of the best shows on television and captivates me every week. One of the reasons I enjoy it is that I get to practice my Russian, as all of the scenes featuring Russians (the Russians who are not deep-cover spies, that is) are usually in Russian with subtitles.…
Language, Thought, and White Privilege
I know there are some who doubt that White Privilege is real. But if being part of the group that is the "default setting" for the definition of your nationality is not a privilege, I don't know what is.
Sexist Language
Language is a powerful tool. Perhaps the most powerful tool we as a species possess. With it we shape people’s attitudes, we help to define people’s understandings. And with it, we are called to proclaim the Gospel and the message of God.
Neither Here nor Here: The Problem with the Russian Adverbs Здесь (Zdes’) and Тут (Tut)
It is apparent from studying the two occurrences of these two words, that there are indeed differences between здесь zdes’ and тут tut, and that these differences operate on two different levels.