Loading ...Religious jargon we could do without…
flockwoodGene Weingarten, the Pulitzer-Prize winning comedian/genius at the Washington Post recently wrote about the death of the English language — and particular words that annoyed him.
He heard back from readers who had plenty of their own linguistic pet peeves.
Perhaps the most-hated term, according to Weingarten: “went missing” (instead of “disappeared.”)
As I read Weingarten’s column, it occurred to me that there’s a lot of clunky religious language. Some of it is relatively new. For example “unchurched.” (When I was a kid, “unchurched persons” were “people who don’t go to church.”)
Or the word “dialogued.” (Until recently, people didn’t “dialogue” — they “talked.”)
Or the phrase “person of faith.” (Previously we called such persons “religious.”
There are others, including: “faith community”, “faith tradition”.
Can you think of some others?
September 24th, 2010 at 11:31 am
Coming from a charismatic (mostly) background, I am peeved by overuse of the phrases:
“incredible” and “this is going to change your life.”
September 24th, 2010 at 4:58 pm
anything beginning with post-
anything ending in -ist
Christ-follower (on the assumption that ~Christian~ is corrupted)
culturally relevant
exclusive
expansive
hermeneutic of suspicion
inclusive
original blessing
positive/negative (as if these are biblical categories)
Red-letter Christian
spiritual but not religious
September 24th, 2010 at 9:34 pm
Relational. Seeker sensitive. Faith journey. “Living into the…”
September 24th, 2010 at 9:35 pm
The “unreached” — as in “unreached people groups.”
September 25th, 2010 at 3:04 am
Christian world-view.
Culture warriors.
The word Christian used before a profession, such as Christian lawyer, Christian journalist.
October 23rd, 2010 at 7:50 am
Inclusive. The single most dangerous shibboleth of our time. The more we “include,” the more people self-exclude, because they rightly perceive us as prattling weenies. As Emily Dickinson said, “He preached upon Breadth till it argued him Narrow: the Broad are too Broad to define; and on Truth until it proclaimed him a liar; the truth never flaunted a sign…”
Nevertheless, Katie Schori says the Episcopal Church doesn’t “include” enough. In other words, she’s in over her head.