His name is Charles Lutwidge Dodgson. He was a mathematician and Anglican Deacon. His pen name was Lewis Carroll and he is better known as the author of Alice in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass. His two stories are classic examples of children’s literature from the Victorian era.
They are usually considered whimsical tales that are found only in the fantasy world of a child. That would be a gross miscalculation of his writings. A closer look reveals some very important insights about life and human nature.
Alice’s encounter with Humpty Dumpty is a case in point. He is a big talking egg. The following conversation tells a story worth repeating:
“I don’t know what you mean by ‘glory,’” Alice said.
Humpty Dumpty smiled contemptuously. “Of course you don’t, till I tell you. I meant ‘there’s a nice knock-down argument for you!’”
“But ‘glory’ doesn’t mean ‘a nice knock-down argument,’” Alice objected.
“When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said in a rather scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean, neither more nor less.”
“The question is,” said Alice, “whether you can make words mean so many different things.”
“The question is,” said Humpty Dumpty, “which is to be master, that’s all.”
This dialogue between Alice and Humpty Dumpty is an insightful indictment on the way some people use words. Most use semantics and syntax to objectively communicate something meaningful to another person. Others manipulate words to present their own subjective view of reality. They use language to manipulate the thoughts of others in order to gain some kind of control over them, to pursue their own personal agenda.
I call this abuse of words to gain mastery over others the Humpty Dumpty Syndrome.
Recently, the Methodist Church in Britain published the “Inclusive Church Language Guide.” The guide said terms like ‘husband’ and ‘wife’ should be avoided because they are offensive. “As Christians, we need to have the courage for conversations that can sometimes be difficult, to recognize that we sometimes exclude people, to listen with humility, to repent of any hurtful language or imagery and to take care with how we listen and what we say, write or depict, in the Spirit of Christ.”
Unlike the Methodist Church in England I do not understand how using the words ‘husband’ and ‘wife’ would be offensive. Both terms appear in English versions of the Bible and are used appropriately. They are only offensive to those who believe them to be.
What is a word? Here are a couple of dictionary answers: a) a unit of language … that functions as a principal carrier of meaning, b) a single distinct meaningful element of speech or writing, c) a speech sound or series of speech sounds that … communicates meaning.
The common denominator among these three definitions is the word ‘meaning.’ Words have meanings and are meant to communicate meaning when written or spoken. If words do not mean something then there is no need to write or say anything, or to listen to someone, or read what they write. But we do read, and we do listen because words communicate meaning.
There are other terms such as “brothers and sisters” which are also unacceptable on the grounds that it “doesn’t take into account our nonbinary friends.”
What the Methodist Church in Britain is doing is editing the Bible to make it compatible with their view of human sexuality that concurs with their embracing the LGBTQ+ usage of words. In other words, they suffer from the Humpty Dumpty Syndrome. What words mean is not important. Like Humpty Dumpty they want to be masters of the language and tell the rest of us what words mean.
We have been warned in the Scriptures by Moses, “You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you,” Deuteronomy 4:2.
It is wrong to try and edit what God has said merely to accommodate people who persistently choose to disobey God in their lifestyle choices.
This is sadly too true. I fear how far the Humpty Dumpty Syndrome will go.
The Humpty Dumpty Syndrome has already reached as far as the U. S. Supreme Court, we have an associate justice who doesn’t know what a woman is.