desire. Disrespect for the “ reason” behind law and order, evidence and lo g ic , c la rity and appropriatness has weakened the essential fabric of a civilized society. Our personal and national ills cannot be ignored, but they are compounded - not alleviated - by the added abuse of undisciplined thought and speech. The Christian has a holy obligation not only to guard his thoughts and his utterance, but to recognize that his faith and the Scripture he holds dear are tied to reason — not fantasy or intuition. In a day that seems to encourage a retreat from reason - the Christian must be on guard lest his faith become nothing more than planitive wish. Faith is no guessing; it is reasoning and agreeing with God that we are miserable when we are alienated from God by our acts and thoughts, and a peace when we are united with God through accepting Christ as our Savior. The Biblical concept of faith involves know ledge , analysis, and e v a lu a tio n — as we ll as commitment. The Christian has an obligation to exercise great care lest he, too, contributes to the “ verbal pollution” that assaults our minds. In that context, and on the firm foundation of the authoritative Word of God, the Christian has the privilege to speak logically and forcefully concerning the needs of mankind.
speech often maintain that no one will “ listen to reason and do what I want them to do, so maybe they will pay attention to my emotionally charged verbal blasts.” Such reasoning, when it does exist, is based on the old premise that any means is acceptable to achieve one’s goals. These people are at least consistent in their philosophy for when their special rhetoric fails, they may even resort to physical violence as their final attempt at communication. Ideally, the college and university ought to attract those who have a high regard for reasoned discourse, for argument based on clear, rational logic and verifiable evidence. But for too many on our campuses today, reason is suspect, feeling or unfettered emotion is king. Oddly enough, it used to be standard academic procedure to dep recia te speakers who blantantly employed emotion. Studies were cited to show the negative effect upon an audience when loaded words, overwrought descriptions and overt displays of emotion dominated a message. And as far as invective, profanity, and threats of force are concerned, many a class in logic paused to underscore the problems in using Argumentum ad hom inen , Argumentum ad infernum, and Argumentum ad baculum. Students in our college and university classes readily joined in condemning such speech. Hopefully the majority still do. “ Verbal pollution” has, however, made great inroads into our academic life. Basically, it is a symptom of the malady of our age: an abandonment of reason and a conversion to intuition, a Page 6
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