Letter: Linguistic madness and the inversion of history in the year 2023

In the year 2023 we have arrived in 1984. Language and reality has been turned upside down.

In the United States the abortion of a nine-month-old foetus is labelled by the progressive community as “health care”. While Roe v Wade has been struck down, California recently codified limitless access to abortion under the banner of “reproductive freedom” (know as Proposition 1). In other times the ending of a nine-month-old foetus was referred to as infanticide.

Also in the US, the euphemism “gender affirming care” is deployed to refer to puberty blockers, the removal of breast tissue or the private parts of a minor who is transgender. In other times this was referred to as genital mutilation. The President of the United States has recently referred to “transgender children” and spoke of children being part of the LGBTQ community.

These new linguistic terms seem soft, cuddly and “tolerant”, but many can see that the intent and sentiment is the opposite.

Here in Northern Ireland, a human rights lawyer proudly eulogises the ruthless human right deniers of South Armagh. To the fresh-faced icon of the republican movement the actions of the most ruthless of republican “volunteers” were not murder and terrorism, their deeds were “sacrifices and contributions”. To the human rights lawyer, murder and bombing did not, it seems, arouse feelings of revulsion, rather “pride and joy” (if we are to pay heed to the words of his address in South Armagh).

Worse still, to challenge this linguistic madness and inversion of history, is to welcome upon yourself the label of “bigot” and intolerant.

We are not doomed to repeat history; currently we are doomed to endure a rewritten history.

Twenty years ago, all the above was beyond the pale. Nobody in society, except for a fringe extremist minority, would have had anything to say about the South Armagh IRA except for words that I could not repeat in your newspaper.

But here we are today with a Member of Parliament eulogising the worst of the worst among the heinous IRA.

Just as a brain is a terrible thing to waste; isn’t the loss of our historical reality - that the great bulk of society objected to violent republicanism - a great thing to lose?

Brian John Spencer, Hillsborough