Euphemisms can be helpful. They allow us to talk about difficult topics in a sensitive way. They lessen the emotional impact. That’s why we have euphemisms for sex, excretions, and death.
However, sometimes, euphemisms are created to deceive. They are meant to make something that is evil sound good. They are distortions of language. The Nazis were masters at this. “Special treatment” meant execution. The “final solution” meant killing all Jewish people.
The pro-abortion crowd uses a ton of deceptive euphemisms: terminating a pregnancy, a woman’s right to choose, reproductive rights, women’s health care, pro-choice, etc. These terms are meant to hide what abortion really is: the murder of a nascent human being.
“Euthanasia” and “assisted suicide” are euphemisms for murdering adult human beings. And yes, self-murder is still murder.
“Undocumented immigrant” is a euphemism for those who enter a country illegally.
Don’t allow people to use deceptive euphemisms. Always translate those euphemisms for them. When they say, “I believe in a woman’s right to choose,” respond, “So you believe a woman has the right to murder her own child for the sake of convenience?” If they object, ask them where you have mischaracterized their view. Of course they don’t want to call it murder, but if the unborn are full members of the human species and their life is being taken without sufficient justification, then abortion is an act of murder.
What other euphemisms can you think of that are meant to deceive?
July 27, 2021 at 5:35 pm
Good points, however there is much theological evidence (i.e. scriptural proof) that there is only biological life in the womb, not soul-life, which is given at birth. (if you are genuinely interested to learn more get back to me and I will provide details). In this case to claim that ‘the unborn are full members of the human species’ may not exactly be an example of a euphemism, but is clearly a falsehood which negates truth and divides both the church and society.
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July 29, 2021 at 10:30 am
Tim, I’ve seen people try to make this case in the past. I’d imagine your case is similar. Frankly, I think it’s irrelevant. I don’t need the Bible to be clear on the abortion issue because the science and philosophy is so clear. Biologically speaking, the unborn is a complete human being from the moment of conception. Abortion kills that human being. Philosophically speaking, the law of identity means that the 2 week unborn human being has the same identity as the 10 year old human being it will become over time. Whether you kill me as an embryo, or kill me as a teenager, you are killing me, not some other thing or some potential me. A full human being is present from conception. After that, it’s simply a process of maturation. That process continues well beyond birth.
Having said that, let me say a word about the Bible. The Biblical anthropology is not exactly clear. However, I think it is clear that “soul” refers to life. Anything that is alive, then, is soulish life. This is why even animals are described as having souls. But even if you could refute that somehow or call it into question, we have a clear example of the unborn being considered valuable human persons in what the Bible says concerning fetal Jesus and fetal John. John was filled with the Holy Spirit while still in the womb (Luke 1:15). Only soulish persons can be filled with the Spirit. And when Mary goes to see Elizabeth when Mary was just three months pregnant, Elizabeth considers fetal Jesus to be her “lord” (Luke 1:39-44). And six month old fetal John responds to the encounter by leaping in his mother’s womb. This is the activity of a soulish person.
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