"Words have life Tim.  Once you have spoken them, they exist away from you and can’t be taken back.  Be careful about what you say."

My mother had lots of little sayings and practices that were pulled out when necessary.  The comment on words was handy whenever I was tempted to call someone a name or speak in anger.  Words have life Tim.

My stepson is a really bright young man, and loves to hone his intellect challenging me on all sorts of issues.  He will take the opposite just to argue a point and I appreciate that he thinks I am so much smarter that I make a good foil. Perhaps not much longer as he is an information sponge and hard to keep up with.  But he is careful, knowing that words have life, and I am pretty good at twisting his words back on him.

When I hear people argue that the Arizona law isn’t about racism, or their belief in Obama’s illegitimacy isn’t because he is black, I am reminded of my mother’s comment about words.  They often say much more than their actual meaning, and once given flight they are unlikely to return. 

 
_{Pythagoras, the father of Geometry}

Today I read this article.  In it, a high school geometry teacher is described as using an assassination of the President to discuss shooting angles.  Geometry lesson my ass.  Regardless of how the subject came into the class, whether a student made a quip that the teacher continued or whether the teacher was thinking of JFK videos, the bottom line is he was teaching from his hatred.  To think of killing another human being requires that you first dehumanize that person, and in this case he in his mind dehumanized the President of the United States. 

Did he do this because Mr. Obama is black?  Did he do this because America should be a place where White Anglo-Saxon Protestants predominate?  I can’t get into his head and answer, what I do hear as I consider this question is my mother’s voice.  Words have life all their own Tim.  Choose carefully.