THE language we use is important. Whether we are considering how we talk about God, the language we use in children’s novels, or which pronouns to use, language is important. It conveys more than meaning. The words we choose communicate the values we hold and the tone we intend. Which is why it’s worth listening to those who are critical of our words.
Depending on which version of scripture you read, the first story of creation in Genesis 1 gives humans ‘responsibility for fish in the sea and birds in the air, for every living thing that moves on the face of Earth’ (the Message) or ‘dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth’ (New Revised Standard Version).