I chose ten things people say a lot and are wrong. Though I have touched on some of these in the past, I wanted them all in one post. Enjoy.
1. “Everything happens for a reason.”
No, it doesn’t. I guess technically, yes. But when people say this, they are not speaking about biology or physics. They have something more cosmic in mind. God killed that little girl with leukemia to … why did he do that? The thinking tends to go one of two ways: (1) God is mysterious and we’ll never know, and (2) maybe God was teaching us a lesson. Both are juvenile.
2. “Those people have been fighting for thousands of years.”
This is what many people reflexively say about the Middle East. I guess it’s supposed to make one sound deep and sophisticated. They are neither. The tensions and violence in the Middle East are a modern phenomenon. Much of it has to do with European and US manipulation. And how many Arab states are at war with one another? Zero.
3. “There’s no black and white, just shades of gray.”
This is part of “the truth is in the middle” nonsense. There are Democrats and there are Republicans—and the truth is in the middle? The halfway point between wrong and wrong is wrong. CNN and Fox? The halfway point between crap news and crap news is crap news. Sometimes things are black and white.
4. “Possession is nine-tenths of the law.”
This is not a law. This is not anything. Yet, people love to say it. Again, it’s supposed to make them sound deep and sophisticated. There is a similar principle in ancient Roman law; and early Scotland comes up a lot. But if I steal your watch, and then I wear that watch, it is not automatically my watch.
5. “America is a republic, not a democracy.”
[sigh] I hear this one a lot. A republic is a form of government where representatives govern for the citizenry. A democracy is a form of government where the power of governance resides with the people—with the demos, meaning “people.” The United States is best characterized as a democratic republic. The either-or is misleading. When I hear this, it’s like the person expects dramatic music to accompany their announcement. More depth and sophistication.
6. “Colonialism improved Africa (etc.).”
It. did. not. Colonialism spelled hardship, death, and misery for millions of people—and not just in Africa. The European powers deployed soldiers, projected economic power, killed, and tortured people. In the Belgian Congo alone, as many as ten million dead. All the while, the colonized were spoken of as animals. Read Aime Cesaire or Frantz Fanon. Read something, just stop saying this.
7. “Religion started all the major wars.”
Even the wars that were explicitly about or inspired by religion—the Crusades, the Wars of Religion—were about power politics. I struggle to think of a war that was a legitimate theological dispute. This piece of nonsense is a way of condemning religion; it would be better if people condemned ignorance instead.
8. “If you love your freedom, thank a vet.”
I have family who are vets. This one is not about the military. I have defended the military for years and how they have been mistreated time and again. The United States has been attacked twice in its history: (1) in 1814 by the British and (2) 2001 by al-Qaida. We spend about a trillion dollars a year on defense for what exactly? And the “thank a vet” message has more to do with Lockheed Martin and less to do with the rank and file.
9. “The Bible has been translated so many times.”
Wrong-o. The Bible has been translated once maybe twice. It was written in Greek, Aramaic, and ancient Hebrew. It was then translated into Latin. Then it was translated into English using the original languages and the Latin translations. So, once and in some cases twice. How many people were involved in its writing? Now that’s a lot.
10. “Tomatoes are a fruit.”
They are vegetables. Not fruit. “Fruits” and “vegetables” are culinary concepts. Biologists and botanists do not deal in fruits and vegetables. Plus, cucumbers, zucchini, pumpkins, bell peppers, okra, and egg plants are all fruit?? And strawberries are not?
