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THE BOOK: Save Civilization (This page updated June, 2008) ***Read excerpt: bottom of this page SPCH is served, informed, and energized by a 112 pp. book entitled: A Funny Thing Happened on My Way to Save Civilization
(Perfect bound quality paperback, $10, one copy free to each member.) TO PURCHASE: Send check for $10 per copy to SPCH, PO Box 3032, Clackamas, OR 97015 Free shipping is included. OR TO PURCHASE by credit card, select one of the three options in the box below (click the down arrow). For information on quantity purchase (in excess of three copies email spch.email@yahoo.com) One copy free automatically to each member Here's how the book serves individuals: Julie Elizabeth Johnson, Director, Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Children says: With self-deprecating wit, Stanley Baldwin demonstrates how easy it is for our words and attitudes to be cruel. He shows how we wound children and others, even unintentionally. Best of all, Stan suggests ways we can make the world a kinder, gentler place for children and adults alike.
Every Dolphin Club member gets a free copy of this book for his or her personal use and benefit. It is a fun and funny book to read but it has a serious and powerful message as well. Phil Callaway, Author: Parenting: Don’t Try This at Home, says: When Stan Baldwin writes, I read. His wit and wisdom wake me like a good snap of the suspenders. Our culture needs this book; needs its humor and warmth and riveting stories. Even more, we need its surprising message of hope and change. Here's how the book serves small groups: This book is also designed for use far beyond the membership of the Dolphin Club. All over this nation and beyond, small groups meet for study or discussion. Literally thousands of such groups have used Stanley Baldwin books in the past. One title alone sold more than 300,000 copies for that purpose. Women's groups, men's groups, intergenerational discussion groups, church adult education groups, book reading clubs, even koffee klatsches will find this book exactly what they need. Jim Byrne, Pastor of Clackamas Bible Church, says: Stan’s book offers just the right balance of humor, personal anecdotes, and public-reported events. It’s simple enough to understand, yet never ho-hum. Reminds me a bit of C.S. Lewis but much more “homey.” Its “Discussion Questions” and “Additional Resources” make it a valuable resource for small groups. This book, like SPCH itself, exists to be an agent of change. You are going to like the difference its principles make in your life and attitudes. Everyone else that your life touches is going to like it too. Dr. Mark A. Hoeffner, Executive Director of CB Northwest, says: A great book! What Stanley Baldwin presents here is inspiring. You will reevaluate what you truly think about others and your behavior toward them. This book will change you.
(SPCH is a non-profit organization. Through the generous contributions of its members and supporters, the book is made available to groups at lower cost than anything comparable elsewhere. For rates on bulk purchases of this book for group study, email SPCH.email@yahoo.com) CONTENTS: I Learn Not To Be a Total Jerk What’s Funny and What’s Not
Save Civilization? Start at Home
The First Ride in the Wagon
The Ox and the Ass
I Decide To Join the Human Race
The Face in the Mirror The Invisible and The Blind
The Pope and the Dictator
Toward a Kinder, Gentler World
Snookered
Found: The Cure for Cruelty
Contributors: Lee Hamilton, co-chairman of the 9/11 Commission and the Iraq Study Group John Huffman, pastor of St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, Newport Beach, CA Frederica Mathewes-Green, columnist and author. Adele Hooker, poet, author. Jerry Cook, Author, Love, Acceptance and Forgiveness ***EXCERPT: From Chapter 11
Snookered
I never thought I would say so, but abusive language has one relatively “good” thing about it. The target at least knows he has been disrespected (or dissed as the younger set says). By contrast, when people use ordinary language to exploit you, it’s just as disrespectful, and is an insult to your intelligence, but it is not so obvious you are being had.
For example, in 2005 a letter urging elimination of the estate tax came across my desk. It described senators opposed to the proposal as “hiding behind the budget deficit as an excuse” and said we must pressure these senators “to do the right thing.”
In using the terms hiding and excuse, the writer attributes insincere motives to the opponents. “Pressure them to do the right thing” impugns their characters and implies they want to do the wrong thing.
I used the reply envelope to inform the senders that I would not support their efforts because they had given me no legitimate reason to do so. Oh, they had mentioned in passing some dubious and unsupported claims related to the issue, but their main message was, in effect, “Help us overcome these wicked people who oppose us.”
That’s what pejorative language does: it tells you how to react to a person or thing without providing a reasoned basis for the reaction. As such, it is essentially disreputable and, yes, abusive.
I borrow from George Bernard Shaw for an example. Referring to persons who are showing comparable commitment to an idea or cause, one might say:
I am determined.
You are stubborn.
He is pig-headed.
The point is that one may use either favorable or insulting words to describe exactly the same thing. Perhaps a few more examples will help clarify this tactic and show how common it can be.
● I am frugal, you are stingy, he is a cheapskate.
● I am spontaneous, you are disorganized, he is a loose cannon.
● I dress casually, you dress down, he is a slob.
● I am outgoing, you are too extroverted, he is a showoff.
● I am confident, you are too assertive, he is pushy.
● I accommodate my wife, you indulge yours, he is henpecked.
● I know how to relax, you are too laid back, he is lazy.
If you don’t want to be snookered, whether in politics or marketing or religion or any other field, be on the watch for pejorative language. Realize that it really tells you nothing at all about the issue or person to which it refers, so don’t fall into the trap.
Pejoratives do, however, offer you some insight into those who use them. Such people feel negatively toward the subject and they want to transfer those bad feelings to you, but they don’t provide credible data to justify those feelings.
If you fall for these tactics, then you well may replicate them and become a fervent advocate for causes you know little about. Or you may fervently oppose someone who does not merit your anger. This way comes bigotry, prejudice, and hatred.
Give Me Some Facts (specific true examples follow).
Copyright, 2007, Stanley C. Baldwin |
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