Friday, July 16, 2010

When I Use a Word it Means Just What I Chose it to Mean


Reader Doogie comments on my earlier post about the proposed progressive agenda for the Diocese of Jacksonville:
I love that 'dialogue' word when these groups try to pull off their stunts. I've lost the original URL, but about five years ago, Diogenes at what is now Catholic Culture wrote:
Traditional practices are assailed, not directly, but by non-stop pleas for dialogue. The engines of dialogue are designed to favor the innovator -- no one, after all, says "I think we should begin a conversation about why things should stay as they are" -- whence dialogue begets diversity begets innovation, and presto! the need for dialogue vanishes. "I wish we could stop talking about this."
It will make sense if you, like the innovators, simply regard "dialogue" as a transitive verb; and contrary to the estimable Diogenes, "conversation" is actually used in conjunction with "dialogue." Ms. Schori and her minions at the Episcopal Church are old hands at this and I am sure the Catholic progressives have picked up on it. Thus, when one of them suggests "having a conversation" on a controversial topic, it signals their intention to "dialogue" the opposition into submission.

No comments: