The Meddlesome Priest :

“Rhetoric is the art of ruling the minds of men.”  -- Plato T he rhetorical process of weaponizing words is as ancient as it is simple. It is also as invidious as it is insidious. Here’s how; Here Change a definition and you change people’s thinking Change people’s thinking and you change their speech Change people’s speech and you change their behavior Change people’s behavior and you control their political policies Change people’s political policies and you change their laws Change people’s laws and you control their culture Change people’s culture and you control their society If culture wars are wars of ideas, and ideas are constructs of words, then nothing is more vital to cultural combatants than weaponizing their words.  The technology to weaponize words is the skill to rhetorically re-define terms. Like most other forms of propaganda weaponry, re-defining terms is a bipartisan device with equal opportunity for all.  I learned this skill early.