The "language war" starts here

[johntao]

It is not "Pro-Life". It is now "Anti-Choice".
Repeat this over and over.

It is not "gay marriage". It is now "Marriage for ALL People".
Repeat this over and over.

Is it possible that we at DU can create our own language? Can it start right here, right now?

You see where I'm going with this?

The conservatives turned a beautiful word like "liberal" into something to be ashamed of. Perhaps its time to turn "conservative" into something to be ashamed of. Any suggestions?

If we are to get back power, the language war is an important part of the battle.

[rockydem]

1. I see exactly where you're going

and you are so damn right....

[NVMojo]

2. Agreed, say it like it really is and the faithbasers will get so wound up

they will choke on reality.

[RapidCreek]

41. It ain't "faith based" it's hate based.

RC

[flygal]

42. BINGO!

[Skidmore]

89. No, it's the unconstitutional and/or intolerant theocratic bureaucracy.

[juliagoolia]

3. intollerant conservatives

[johntao]

4. That's the spirit!

Any more suggestions?

Remember also. We live in a bumper sticker society so keep it short, sweet and memorable!

[Dogmudgeon]

5. "Lifestyle Christians"

My little contribution to the effort against the Radical Religious Right.

--bkl

[johntao]

12. Keep it coming.

Perhaps we can vote on a few of our suggestions and spread them among our communities. Call up radio talk shows and spread these suggestions. Send these suggestions to our Congressmen and Senators. In person would be preferred.

[phylny]

46. "Lifestyle Christians" - That is simply PERFECT! n/t

[Red_Viking]

6. Christian Taliban

And, some stolen from Morning Sedition:

Christo-fascists
Christapo

Sandal-wearing members of the faux Christian neocon death cult

I've used "anti-choice" for a long time. Very effective. Also, I don't call it a "partial birth abortion." That's horseshit and an invented term. The correct term is "late term abortion."

My 13-year-old daughter told some bushbots at her school they were part of the Christian Taliban. They didn't like it much. :P

RV

[IrishBloodEngHeart]

10. I like Christian Taliban

its pithy and smart. The rest can be interpreted as anti-christian, which doesnt help us, IMHO

[Red_Viking]

23. I hear you

I consider myself a Christian, although I stopped participating in organized religion a long time ago. These folks have highjacked everything, including my religion, and turned it into something unrecognizable. These people use their religion like a club to bludgeon others into submission. They could not be farther removed from Christ if they tried.

Maybe I'll just stick with plain old "fascist!" It's satisfying and direct.

RV

[phylny]

48. I SO agree with you.

A very good friend of mine is a Presbyterian minister. I spoke with him briefly the other night. He started our conversation by saying, "Are you just so depressed about the election?"

I told him that I wanted to have a discussion with him at some point in the future so that he could help me MENTALLY debunk the crap that's coming out of the Christian Taliban. He promised he would.

I'm going to compile a list of questions that I have about the CT interpretation of the Bible, and ask him to help me frame the reality.

I am not ashamed to be a Christian, but I'm ashamed at how some Christians have highjacked Jesus Christ in a totally twisted, immoral way.

[sangh0]

69. "Don't Think of an Elephant"

A label that includes the word "Christian" will just get people thinking about Christianity. We want people to focus on their negative aspects.

How about "radical fundamentalists" or "intolerant religious extremists" or "Talibornagains" or something along those lines?

[LiberalFighter]

86. Maybe tie in Inquistition with the fundies and the iraqi torturers

[sangh0]

90. Interesting angle there

Are you familiar with any Inquisition-related phrases or names we might be able to use?

[LiberalFighter]

94. Some methods

Rack
Thumbscrews
Burned at the Stake
Iron Maiden

Inquisitors = Sadistic & Mentally Disturbed

[sangh0]

99. I like 'em

thanks

[phylny]

95. You're right, you're right. Thanks for the input! n/t

[girl gone mad]

47. Yes, and ..

"Radical Christian Right", "Evangelical Jihadists", "Bush's Fundamentalist Regime".

[July]

55. American Pharisees is a term a DUer posted yesterday. nt

[IrishBloodEngHeart]

7. I like turning the democrat party shit back on them

by calling it the republic party, with an emphasis on LICK. See if they pick up on it.

[ClassWarrior]

8. Have you read "Don't Think of an Elephant" by George Lakoff?

It's exactly what you're talking about. There are DUers who are already working on using language to re-frame the debate. Are you in? PM me.

NGU.

[rockydem]

9. tort reform = gutting consumer protections

[ClassWarrior]

11. Yup, not "trial lawyers," but "Public Protection Attorneys."

NGU.

[johntao]

13. I love it!

Keep it coming.

[rockydem]

15. personally I don't like "public protection attorneys"

That's one of Lackoff's recommendations. And to me it sounds too cold, too clinical.

I like 'trial lawyer's. I don't think we need to change that. Trials are great things - they are a bedrock democratic institution. We just need to reclaim the word and educate people.

[juliagoolia]

61. Advocates for the Public interest ?

[Straight Shooter]

113. Citizen advocates

Narrow it down from a general public perception.

It's ironic how everyone hates lawyers except their own. (I read that somewhere.)

[johntao]

14. Awesome!

Nice touch. How about Anti-Consumer Legislation?

[johntao]

18. Let's keep kicking this

so that all DU members can begin this movement. I have a gut feeling this will work if we give it time.

It keeps us on the offense.

[Red_Viking]

17. And equal protection

"Tort reform" isn't reform at all. The damage caps only succeed in denying representation to the poor, who can't afford to pay an attorney an hourly fee. The truth is that 90% of medical malpractice cases are lost by the plaintiffs. That's 90% of the 1% or so that make it to court in the first place. Winning one is damned tough, since the doctor is measured by a standard set by other doctors. The average award is around $30K, and it's a tough road to even get in front of a jury. So the caps tend to remove the incentive to settle, since insurers know the max they're on the hook for. If they push for going to court, only the largest plaintiff's firms can afford to take cases on contingency, and they're very selective. In the end, the system fails the people who really need it. Doctors don't police their own very well (neither do lawyers, and I say that as a law student). Bad docs get to keep on practicing and rarely get taken to task for injuring patients.

We all lose, except the insurance companies, of course. They're the real blood-suckers. :P

[rockydem]

22. that's exactly right

Trial lawyers protect individual rights.

[sangh0]

71. tort reform = corporate protection racket

,

[DjTj]

84. greedy insurance companies

...are to blame - don't believe their lies about lawyers.

[starroute]

105. "Reform" as they use it always means "elimination of rights"

Not Social Security reform but elimination of your right to a secure old age.

Not bankruptcy reform but elimination of the right to be freed of crushing debt.

Not tort reform but elimination of your right to sue for grievous injuries.


The word "reform" has always had implications of cleaning out corruption or inefficiencies. Simply by attaching it to these things, they've already made an unchallenged case that Social Security or whatever is corrupt or inefficient and needs to be replaced by something else.

Whatever happened to the old Reaganite creed of "If it ain't broke, don't fix it"?

[Lone_Star_Dem]

16. How about Gun Safety

Control is so inflammatory.

[johntao]

21. Short and sweet

Good job.

[LiberalFighter]

87. How about making it Gun Safety Reform?

[erniesam]

19. any Christian who believes in

dominionist theology should be called a dominionist

[Dogmudgeon]

25. As in "Spiritual B&D"?

Or, "Spiritual Bondage to Dominionism".

--bkl

[johntao]

26. I'm thinking of refering to this group

as simply "extremists"

Nobody wants to side with "extremists" or maybe even "fanatics".

[erniesam]

29. for this to work

we should use their own words against them; otherwise, we risk being called hateful or crazy.

[johntao]

32. Good point

It's something to consider when we make our final decisions.

[Dogmudgeon]

20. "Right To Redress"

For the right to bring suit in court.

--bkl

[sandnsea]

28. Most. Important. Words. PLEASE

Right to Redress. In the Constitution. This is what we're about to lose with tort reform and privatization of the government. Right to Redress. We must not lose this.

[Dogmudgeon]

24. Navel-to-Knees Values

The sex-based "morality" of the Republican/Conservative "Christian".

--bkl

[SoCalDem]

76. I call them "Panty-sniffers" or "crotch monitors"

:)

[eurolefty]

108. I like "crotch monitors"

:)

[starroute]

109. Body-based morality of the right vs. soul-based morality of the left

One of the biggest things we have to counter is the calumny that the left is not concerned with morality. In fact, liberalism is totally about morality, and we have to start making it clear just how that works and repeating it at every opportunity.

I think the heart of liberal morality is concern for the dignity and intrinsic personhood of every individual. This can be played in humanistic terms, but it can be even more powerful to present it in religious terms.

For starters, you might say that the difference between left and right is the difference between a religion in which *everyone* is ultimately worthy of salvation and a religion in which only a few are destined to be saved and the rest are damned. That is why the dignity of every individual is so crucial.


Concern for the dignity of every individual means that no one should be humiliated or cast aside just because they are old or disabled or have fallen on economic hard times.

Concern for the dignity of every individual means that marriage is a union of soul to soul and not of body to body, and there should be no impediments to the union of souls.

Concern for the dignity of every individual means that the poorest and weakest among us are as worthy in the eyes of God as the rich and powerful.


Liberalism didn't come out of secularism -- it came out of 19th century liberal Christianity. And the religious arguments are still there, deeply embedded in every core liberal position. We just have to pull them out and acknowledge their continuing relevance.

[Dogmudgeon]

27. Pornochristianity

That perversion of Christianity which involves Navel-to-Knees Values, violent depictions of the Crucifixion, justifications for warfare and executions, the sexualized punishment of children, and a master/servant relationship between man and woman.

Use of the term got a post of mine yanked once. I suppose these days, the true meaning of the term is better known.

--bkl

[murielm99]

30. I argued with my mother about that.

I told her she was not pro-life, but anti-abortion.

She did not like it at all.

I also told her there is no such thing as a partial birth abortion. I told her there are late term abortions, if the life of the mother or fetus is in danger. I told her there were few of them. She did not believe me.

We need to keep hammering them.

Hippo-christianity.

[erniesam]

36. would you kindly ask your mother for me,

what does she think is the most appropriate way of disposing of a early term miscarriage--for example a miscarriage at one month. Would she consider full funeral services, casket and all.

[kayell]

57. Do you remember that scene in The Handmaids Tale where Offred and

Ofglen pass the funeral procession of women carrying a small jar? Yes, just like that.

[meow2u3]

114. Redefine "pro-life" or use "life-affirming"

Or even better yet, call it "anti-violence."

[GingerSnaps]

31. Hypocrites

:kick:

[johntao]

33. Hmmm....

How about "Religious Hypocrites"?

[erniesam]

38. or, Sadducees and Pharisees

[chicagojoe]

34. The Radical Right. This is what they need to be called.

[johntao]

37. I think this one is a keeper.

The "radical right" phrase puts them completely out of the mainstream.

[LiberteToujours]

35. The Religious Wrong

[johntao]

39. kick

kick kick kick

[pffarrell]

40. Never use the word 'reform'

Reform has a real connotaion of changing somthing bad to something good, so people don't even look at what's changing. just say 'change'

I also hate 'war' - as in war on terror, war on drugs - it's not a war at all, but somehow saying 'war' just drags people along with it.

[eurolefty]

112. "reform" = destruction

Nothing survives right wing "reforms".

[Kilroy003]

43. We should turn the Discussion: To be announced forum into a

"Framing the Language" forum. We could brainstorm toward a consensus on symbolism and keep a running list of agreed upon language pinned at the top of the forum.

I'm in the process of accepting the fact that we will have be successful at framing our issues in moral terms.

Justice. Kindness. Humility.
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/1104-37.htm

[johntao]

yes!

That would keep everyone thinking about what I consider the first step toward getting back our country - winning the "language" game.

[China_cat]

44. We need to stop using

'straight' for heterosexual. It gives the connotation that this is the 'right' way to be, that anything other than straight would be crooked, illegal, illegitimate, etc.

[PretzelWarrior]

45. shortchanging our country with irresponsible reductions in tax revenue

Lakoff spent quite a bit of time around the whole TAX question from what I gathered in his NPR interview...but we need to think of a few key ways to fram this issue.

[RevCheesehead]

54. Credit-Card Economics

or The Debtors!

(Presbyterians use "forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.")

[PA Democrat]

56. Yes! Credit Card Economics!

We are taking out huge cash advances (tax cuts to the wealthy)and leaving the debt for our children and grandchildren to pay.

[sangh0]

72. tax cuts = baby taxes

our children will have to pay the debt we rack up.

[phylny]

49. Ultra-right Bullies n/t

[DeepModem Mom]

50. "Red State welfare" seems to be gaining ground...

Let's make it as used a phrase as "Welfare Cadillac" once was. It's the new welfare: Blue states carrying Red states, with their high divorce rates and rampant drug use, their economic drag, on our elite, effete, liberal backs!

[PretzelWarrior]

52. this one I really love.

except it will further drive their gnawing low self esteem and cause them to be more intractibly against us.

but it does have a nice ring to it.

[berry]

103. Lawrence O'Donnell spoke about red state welfare

for several minutes today on The McLaughlin Report. Buchanan and Blankley acted as if they'd never heard of the facts O'Donnell cited. They clearly didn't like it. Heh.

This one will definitely resonate as more people use it.

[eShirl]

51. Conservatives = Cons

(as in con game)

[RevCheesehead]

53. "Liberty and Justice for ALL - no exceptions"

ooh - isn't that the Pledge of Allegiance?

"WE THE PEOPLE" means everyone

LIFE, LIBERTY, AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS

FREEDOM IS A MORAL ISSUE


I like the idea of a forum for re-framing the debate. This may be the only key to dialogue and (hopefully) understanding.

[kayell]

58. American Sharia Law

[meow2u3]

70. CHRISTIAN Sharia

or the Talibaptists...the neopharisees...

[sangh0]

73. The TaliBornAgain

Remember Lakoff's "Don't think of an elephant". IMO, we should avoid the "C" word

[bunkerbuster1]

92. I've always liked "Hezbollah"

After all, it literally means "Party of God," and I can't think of a more disgustingly accurate discription of what the Rethugs THINK they are.

[sangh0]

100. The Republican Hezbollah

I like it! Thanks

[kayell]

59. "True American values"

[sangh0]

74. True *BLUE* American values

.

[Skidmore]

60. When I first started posting on this board several years ago, I started a

thread on this very sort of thing and it sank rapidly. No one wanted to look at how Newtie's reshaping the language for the Republicans had moved us to this point nor did anyone appear to be interested in how to counteract this. The language problem is pervasive and goes beyond gay issues and choice. Are you "elite" AND "Ivy-league". I'm not. I'm a short little woman in the middle of America who worked hard and studied while raising a family on my own and finally scored my MA from my state university when I was 38, only two years before my daughter got her BA. I'm 50 this month and for the first time in my life my salary is just above $30k. My parents were poor and my father only had an 8th grade education. I know lots of Dems like me--working class who also happened to be able to advance a little in life. I know even more Republicans like me. We need to be able to shape the language for people like my parents and their siblings, the children of the Great Depression and we need to talk to our children, whom we as a society have written off. More importantly, we need to speak to our contemporaries, who forgot the struggles of our youth and the changes they brought to the nation that are being reversed now.

[sangh0]

75. Damn that was good!!

, we need to speak to our contemporaries, who forgot the struggles of our youth and the changes they brought to the nation that are being reversed now

IMO, that's something we ALL need to think about. IMO, it's the key to our success. We need to get back to the most succesful Dem in American history. The man who's name is synonymous with "dem core values" even though it's been decades since he passed away.

[juliagoolia]

62. Hate Radio is UNGODLY!

[juliagoolia]

63. Corporate Christianity

Beamed into your living room by Huge organizations that are lavish and full of hedonsitic values of money and power

[OutsourceBush]

64. REPUBLICANS = PRO-INCEST

[OutsourceBush]

65. REPUBLICANS = PRO-RAPE

[OutsourceBush]

66. Anti-Christ Christians

[rndmprsn]

67. tax-relief = birth tax

taxes are an INVESTMENT in the future of this country...

"but i know how to spend my money better than the govt!"...well can you build a highway with your taxcut? can you build the internet with your tax cut?...can you find the police and fire dept with your tax cut?...can you fund scientific research with your tax cut...can you fund the military with your tax cut?

we need our own wedge issues to divide and conquer the right...we need our own strategic initiatives that will take down their funding while doing other worthwhile things....etc etc etc.

-edit-

we have to let the working-poor know that we share their own values...hard work, personal responsibility, personal freedom, opportunnity and fairness...and most of all, WE HAVE TO STOP LOOKING DOWN ON THEM AND INSULTING THEM, we have to win thier hearts and minds by showing them that we have values that we stand for and these values are their own.

[rockymountaindem]

68. For rural America: agribusiness and free trade = "big-city interests".

And "Conservative" = reactionary or "playing catch up"

I think "big-city interests" may win some farmers and ranchers to our side.

[dolo amber]

77. Pro - overpopulationists

Christian extremists. Right-wing insurgents. ;)

[Sabriel]

78. It's not "Gay Marriage," it's "equal rights" n/t

[Siyahamba]

88. "Equal Marriage"

That's the term we used in Canada.

[Behind the Aegis]

79. Xtians

Let's make a difference between those who are really followers of Christ and call them "Christians" (pronounced: cris' tjuns) and then there are the "Xtians" (pronounced: X' tjuns). The difference? Christians believe in the principles of Christ and strive to follow His teachings and are more concerned about making themselves better people. Xtians don't care about the principles of Christ and use the Bible as a weapon and are more concerned about making others into an image THEY want. You will also notice too, that by writing "Xtian" that the base word "Christ" has been removed, much they same way they have removed Him from their practices and hearts!

[sangh0]

81. Don't think of an Elephant

Call them "Radical Right", the "TaliBornAgain", or something else, but IMO we should avoid the "C" word.

[Behind the Aegis]

82. What I am saying is....

we need to reclaim the word Christian! We need to show them they are NOT real Christians! We should not avoid the word, we should embrace it!

[sangh0]

83. I agree with that

I just don't think using the word in a disparaging way will be seen as an "embrace" of Christianity.

We need to show them they are NOT real Christians!

I agree, which is why I would prefer to not associate the word "Christianity" (regardless of spelling) with them in any way. I'd rather associate them with the Taliban and other radical extremists.

[berry]

104. How do you feel about the adjective "unChristian"?

I have never used it except about hypocritical words and deeds of people who pride themselves on their Christian virtue. It sounds rather mild, but they really don't like it.

[Edmond Dantes]

80. Right wing = "thought police".

[sangh0]

85. Yeah, we need to turn that one around

.

[checks-n-balances]

96. The GOP has its own version of "Political Correctness"

It's time to finally turn the phrase back on them!

[Hatalles]

91. Red States and Blue States = Blood States and Blue States

[m berst]

93. it is not Democrats whining

it is a coup d'etat.

[WHAT]

97. It's only US, now...

it's only us...

[Jade Fox]

98. Religious Totalitarians. Christian Totalitarians. Religious Fanatics

Right-wing propaganda.

Faith-based Bigotry

Personal contractual rights for all Americans (gay marriage)

Media responsibility

Separation of Church and State (an oldie but a goodie)

Republican Theocracy

Christian Jihadists

Christian war crusaders

[Cerridwen]

101. Here are some of mine

Anti-choice is good - I prefer referring to them as 'for forced pregnancy' - anti-birth-control - anti-women's-health

rather than including the word Christian or religion (which have taken a beating) I prefer - fanatical fundamentalists

I hesitate to use the U.S.'s current anti-anything-middle-eastern mentality to "paint negatively" any religious group

women's health clinic or health clinic rather than abortion clinic

OB/GYN or doctor or women's health care specialist or along that line rather than abortion doctor. Would you call your bank a notary because that is one of many services it provides?

Corporate government rather than government

Corporate propaganda machine rather than media - leave "main stream" out as that appeals to many "main stream" U.S. residents.

U.S. resident or some other less awkward phrase rather than Americans. We ain't the only folks living on the American continents.

corporatism rather than capitalism

multi-national rather than corporation

hetero(sexual) rather than straight. A good friend once pointed out "if you're straight, does that make me crooked?"

politically expedient(expediency) rather than (some instances of) political correctness, which has been hijacked and perverted. Show the speaker/writer for what they're truly doing.

linguistic honesty rather than political correctness (see above note)

use the term "paying lip service to" for the many cases of obvious hypocrasy.

socially irresponsible should be applied to more businesses and multi-nationals

economic motivations rather than business ethics - which I have serious doubt exists.

Okay, way too long here. I've had these ideas for lots of years.

[laylah]

102. Get outta my brain!

:bounce: The "Anti-Choice" v. "Pro-Life" idea hit me about 3am this morning! Great minds think alike. :toast:

Ideas I have been using for some time is turning their "unpatriotic", "unamerican", "american hating", etc. claptrap against them. I have asked freeps why they hate America so much and since the appear to, they should leave...gets 'em every time :evilgrin:

jenn

[seaj11]

106. "moral values"

should be "fear values," if "moral values" is meant to mean anti-homosexuality and anti-women's choice, because those things are based on fear, not morality.

[eurolefty]

110. "moral values" = racism, gay bashing & misogyny

[Straight Shooter]

107. It is not "spin," it is DAMAGE CONTROL

Just like they're doing Damage Control by claiming exit polls are invalid.

And another DU'er points out, the election wasn't "stolen," it was embezzled. I think that one is incredible, because it implies white collar crime, just like Enron.

[eurolefty]

111. "value voter" = bigot