Irresponsible Use of Words

It has been written and stated many times before - including by me - that words do matter. They matter big time. The spark emotions. They motivate actions. They change minds. They hurt feelings. They can bring people together or divide them. They even can take something that is false and make it seem like the truth. Yes, they are that powerful. If organized properly and presented in a creative way, they can change lives. I write of this now for several reasons. One is that I believe we as a society tend to forget the reality that words are as powerful as they are. Because words belong to all of us, we tend not to give them as much respect or place as much significance on them as we should.

The other reason pertains to Trayvon Martin. This is the teenage boy in Florida who was recently gunned down by a man who claims he took the actions he did out of self defense. The man - George Zimmerman - apparently felt so threatened by Martin that he chased after the passing teenager in order to shoot him. In all fairness, information pertaining to this terrible incident is still being released, so we do not know all the details other than Martin's lawyers claim the boy did nothing to provoke Zimmerman and Zimmerman's team claims the opposite. The justification Zimmerman is using pertains to the "Stand Your Ground"law in Florida, which makes it legal for people to take whatever actions they feel are necessary if they or others are deemed to be facing possible harm.

What does all this have to do with words? Everything. It is my contention that words have played a key role in creating an environment in which: (1) Zimmerman and others like him feel compelled to take such steps as to arm themselves against perceived threats; and that (2) Zimmerman and others like him feel justified to actually use the guns against others. Words have played a key role in creating this kind of "shoot first, ask questions later" mindset within many of our citizens. It is not good. My great fear is the more George Zimmermans that emerge out of the irresponsible use of words being used to advocate community safety, the more Trayvon Martins we will see.