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2022-10-19

Language can be a beast.

As anyone who has ever written an email can probably attest, the meaning that we attribute to that email can be completely misinterpreted by the recipient. It turns out that words and phrases can mean different things to different people, and misunderstandings are consequently not uncommon, even without the assistance of Google Translate.

Part of the problem is context - if I say something in the course of a conversation, the listener will automatically try to understand it in that context. Emails may not provide that luxury.

Part of the problem may be cultural, as words can have different meanings or even nuances for different cultures.

Sometimes it's just sloppy sentence construction, as in "alumni of academia like John Hopkins" - where its unclear from the grammar whether the qualification "like John Hopkins" applies to "academia" or to "alumni".

That said, Martin Geddes (someone I believe would not claim to be religious - in the common understanding of that rather elastic word) presents a very cogent analysis of the essential nature of the underlying conflict that afflicts our world today. 

It's really a masterclass in the grounding of faith in good over evil, right over wrong as an essential practical interpretation of the politics of today, wherein authority is asserted without reasonable cause and in conflict with our basic rights. Whilst his tone in part borrows from religion, his argument is founded upon practicalities.

You could say that he melds the secular with the divine and shows that they are but inseparable parts of the whole.

Or you could say that he has set out to ensnare us within a legal minefield ... but how else are we to turn the situation around?