More than once in a biblical counseling session have I experienced a person who interprets events within our culture's history as the definitive line that, having been crossed, will ultimately lead to "another civil war." (Yes, actual words.) A person's worldview, when filled with various severe stressors, tends to function much like a hammer — everything begins to look like a nail. The problem really boils down to this: in their current emotional state, the "world" remains just beyond the reach of their control. Body language manifests emotional postures, future outlooks get filled with emotionally-driven content, and words get filled with emotional rhetoric.
A person's languages, spoken and unspoken, betray how he or she is interpreting the events going on in the world around them.
Our culture ebbs, flows, and swings back and forth to a degree as a result of competing worldviews. At times, the language expressed seems rooted in common sense; at other times, the language gets pointed towards ideals, which to some, seem to override or even lack common sense. It is when language is codified to a specific end that it can be misunderstood, often times painted as superior to those who "just don't get it."
In the case of the Planned Parenthood videos, the language expressed within them are typical of how the words we use are "massaged" to elicit a particular outcome. Advertisers have known this for years; there's a reason automobile ads, particularly for SUVs, feature emotionally pleasant situations of beach-and-forest family getaways rather than the product features of asymmetric four-wheel-drive. Apple is brilliant in its marketing, as it positions its iPhone on what people experience as they use it (typically world travelers in exciting locales having the time of their lives with the people they love), whereas the latest Samsung ad demonstrates the G6 Edge lights up. . . on its edges.
Because language can be manipulated to elicit emotions, it can also be manipulated to the converse: to remove emotional content. And it is here we find an odd fusion of non-emotive terms with the language of a non-profit organization.
We've all encountered the language of non-profits, even if we run in different circles: PBS and NPR have their pledge drives, and based on the level of giving, you can receive a nice "gift" of a DVD or concert tickets in exchange for your tax-deductible donation. The same language is heard in churches as well, typically in late January or early February from the church treasurer: your "giving statements are prepared for you to itemize on your taxes." Anyone who has ever sat on the board of a non-profit organization can attest to the inordinate amount of time spent on massaging language to fit government regulations.
This is how the dance unfolds with non-profits; they present information utilizing a language game that has its roots in governmental legislation-speak. Non-profit organizations must be careful and overly cautious to present the fact nothing is being purchased. Although money is changing hands, and you may receive a DVD in return, nothing is being purchased. But start selling things, and your 501(c)3 or (c)4 can be revoked, or worse yet, officials can be investigated for receiving inurements.
It is purely a donation.
Herein lies the rub with the Planned Parenthood affair: depending on how you personally use language, and how you see the world, is how you will fill in the blanks in the following sentence:
Planned Parenthood received a _____________________ in dollars from a medical research company for the ________________________ of a fetal _______________________ for resale to research universities and medical organizations.Government-spurred-non-profit-speak will use the words donation, transfer, and calverium; common sense uses such words as payment, sale, and head.
Elsewhere, carefully chosen non-emotive words such as tissue are used. Deborah Nucatola, M.D., uses the word calverium — a non-emotive medical term describing the upper portions of the skull and brain case — whereas a person on the street might simply say, "head." From the time we are children, we quickly learn of rhetoric and the arguments that ensue, and how it can be tiring for all parties involved.
Using the words head and body parts imply personhood, whereas calverium does not, as it is divorced from everyday conversation. It therefore carries no emotional baggage. Based on Justice William J. Blackmun's majority opinion in Roe v. Wade, the unborn are not considered persons, and therefore lack the constitutional protections as afforded by the Fourteenth Amendment. The first three words of that amendment's first sentence cleared the way for the majority conclusion in their interpretation: "All persons born. . . ." And so, idealistic language gives way to idealistic thinking; if a fetus isn't a person — a common-sense use of language — then the words used are only describing a clump of cells, no more, no less.
Throw in images of aborted fetuses, though, and the story changes. What is it about visual imagery and visual language that evokes such an emotional response? Interestingly enough, it is the same reason music videos destroyed the music business in America. Before music videos, music lovers were free to interpret songs with no constraints in their own personal thought-life. Music videos force everyone to hear the song through someone else's eyes.
If no images of aborted fetuses were available, recent arguments would be a lot more tidy for Planned Parenthood supporters. It's why pro-life protestors get thrown off college campuses. There is inherent meaning in a visual image that contradicts or destroys the coherence of certain ideals, such as just a clump of cells. It's why memes get shared on social media. In articles, such as the one just mentioned, or in videos, such as the initial Planned Parenthood response here, the words generally seem to be couched in idealistic language, never really addressing the issue at hand. The visual contrast of Dr. Nucatola casually eating her salad creates cognitive dissonance with her words heard in conversation.
Regardless of how a person views him- or herself in relation to reality, the types and kinds of words spoken by someone else holding to a different set of ideals can be troubling. The apostle Paul knew firsthand the importance of balancing righteous anger with self-control. Living solely off emotions profits no one. It seems our culture thrives on its emotions, which can be dangerous; emotions are not an indicator of truth. Truth needs to be called out for what it is.
When faced with the workings of the Temple Cult, Jesus called it as he saw it: a carefully-manicured veneer of respectability hiding an out-of-control entity which, as a direct result of its function, brought spiritual death. Things on the surface may have even functioned as advertised. Planned Parenthood carefully cultivates its veneer of respectability in words peddled by a cult of personality, yet as a direct result of its function, peddles physical death. Actual physical death. Calling things as we see them won't make anyone popular, but the truth borne of common sense will always cut through false impressions conveyed by those desiring to maintain an illusion for false gain.
