Posted by
daddontsk8 on Thursday, December 21, 2006 5:10:55 PM
I have been faced with a number of experiences over the past few months highlighting the impact of names and labels. Names have a purpose; they allow people to communicate with each other. Without a name, the thing I label a banana, might be labeled something else by another. Names, labels, words, and language are all a tacit agreement among men in order to communicate more effectively. (I find it extremely compelling that even with an agreed upon system of communication, we cannot agree on the meaning of the word “is”.)
Recently, one of my children was determined to have a learning disability. That learning disability (er, difference) has a name. Based on that name - which defines a set of characteristics people with this “difference” have - experts have devised a series of accommodations and remediations to allow the person with this specific learning difference the tools and skills necessary to conform to the agreements set forth by society for communicating: names, labels words, and language. My child got labeled, and this happened with my consent. In the language of scripture, by allowing my child to be labeled, I passed him through the “fires of Molech.” I did this so that he would be able to function in the world system.
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