Webster’s
Dictionary defines discrimination as the process by which two stimuli differing
in some aspect are responded to differently; or the quality or power of finely
distinguishing. My computer thesaurus lists good taste, insight, perception, and
refinement as some of the meanings.
Morris
the Cat was applauded for his discriminating taste in 9 Lives cat food
commercials. (Or was that the Persian cat in the Sheba commercials?) So in cat
language, discrimination means "finicky."
This
is one of many words the news media or other public factions have vilified or
corrupted. Its definition changed from finely differentiating to bigotry or
racism.
And
someone created the term Reverse Discrimination to describe an act of segregation
against Caucasian people.
Talk
show host Janet Parshall used that term on her radio program, In the Market, to describe an incident
in which a college rejected a student’s application, not because of low grades,
but because of her white ethnicity.
The
reverse of any action means that action occurs in the opposite direction; or
reverses course, or inverts. If that’s correct, then reverse discrimination
would actually mean acceptance. Did the college admissions board members disallow
the student based on their bias or bigotry against a specific race? That isn’t
acceptance. That’s bigotry.
My
aim here is not to throw a rock at Janet Parshall. She’s a wonderful emcee and well-informed
speaker. I enjoy her Moody Radio program on my way home from work. But it’s a
bit disappointing to hear our friends and favorite broadcasters fall into the
trap set by the enemy who wants to confuse and confound our language. As a
Christian writer, I feel a duty to protect our form of communication
and use words in their proper function.
Now,
I’ll use my discriminating taste to decide where to have supper tonight.
