The Devil, as we know, is the Prince of Lies. As such, he hates the gift of words, those conventional signs that enable us to communicate the truth to each other. He is always working to undermine their value by confusing their meaning. In the academy his willing agents are the deconstructionists who argue that words have no meaningful meaning, a fact that is belied by the fact that they use an interminable number of words to communicate what they mean by meaning! One laments also the fate of good words like “gay”, a thoroughly gay word that has found itself, through no fault of its own, soiled in the service of sodomy.

And then there are the euphemisms employed to avoid using the word “pornography”. One is confronted with, and affronted by, the offer of pornography whenever one enters a hotel room. But the hotels do everything to avoid calling pornography by its true ugly name. Not wishing to be seen as pedlars of pornography, they call their sordid wares “mature” or “adult content”. This is language-abuse at its worst. Not only does it fail to name the evil for what it is, it sullies the whole meaning of what it means to be mature or to be an adult. To be mature or to be an adult means to have grown up. It means that one has not only ceased being a child but that one has also ceased being an adolescent. One has grown beyond the obsession with sex that accompanies pubescence. The perverse allure of pornography is geared to the permanent post-pubescent adolescent in each of us. It appeals to the part of us that doesn’t want to grow up, the part of us that doesn’t want to accept the responsibilites of adulthood, together with its control over the lower appetites. No, the use of the word “adult” is the adulteration of language, an adulteration as wrong as adultery.

These princely lies are fit for the Prince of Lies himself. Those who use them are speaking his language and risk knowing no other. The consequences of such diabolical dabbling are dire indeed. Choose your words carefully or suffer the consequences of your choices!