The church ladies and forces of evil have mastered the art of rhetoric, particularly refurbishing words to the point that some words have had their original meanings clouded. And that's sad.
Case in point: Life.
As part of the effort to return the United States to some mythical theocratic state, to remake America the way Jesus would want it, one primary goal is to make it impossible for a woman to legally end an unwanted pregnancy. The linguistic implications of this are manifest in the co-opting of the word life. Instead of honestly referring to the cause as being Anti-Choice or even anti-abortion, they say it's Pro-Life. Proponents of genocide aside, who isn't pro-life?
Let's get this out of the way right now: nobody gets pregnant so she can have an abortion. Abortions are for accidents. People who believe abortions should be safe and legal are not Anti-Life. It's a compassion thing. Something the church ladies aren't good at.
It's just another "Oh my goodness, isn't that terrible!" issue that serves the objectives of redirection. Don't look at the issue (why do women have unwanted pregnancy?), look here and be outraged (PARTIAL BIRTH!).
But I digress. It's difficult to see the words life or choice anymore without being reminded of this whole infuriating business. Too bad for Volvo. As we prepare to get a new car, I acquired some brochures from the Volvo dealer and was startled to see that their slogan now is "Volvo for life." We understand, yes, Volvo, safety, life, blah blah blah. Elegant simplicity, and all that. Still, it's no "Find your own road." It leaves a bad taste in my mouth because of the above-mentioned co-option. Too bad.
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