Demonizing The Good

Christians are all too familiar with the experience of being ridiculed for their beliefs. Sometimes we deserve it (because our beliefs can be skewed toward the flesh), but it is interesting how the culture has come to use this tactic on a regular, more subtle basis.

Now I'm not talking about persecution, where believers are martyred. I'm talking about the less serious,  but more common practice of subtle denigration or dismissal whereby the meaning of a term that stands for something good is repeatedly used in such a manner so as to twist it into being perceived as something bad.

In current politics, an example is the word "protectionism". In their campaign to exahlt the the truly evil practice of free "trade", supporters regularly label anything that is not free trade as "protectionism". People on the far right call everyone that doesn't agree with them 100% a "liberal". Liberals call anything conservative the "far" right.

Using this tactic does nothing to bring people together, not to mention that it is dishonest, if not a bit disingenuous. As entertaining as it might be to fall into this practice, I'm going to try to relieve myself of this tendency in the Name of Jesus!