My annoyed reaction to this anonymous voice for inclusive language surprised me.\u00a0 On the one hand, I am a perfectionist who hates criticism, so this public correction ru![\"Image](\"https:\/\/s21858.pcdn.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/InclusivePageFI.jpg\")
ffled by self-righteous feathers.\u00a0 But, more deeply, this correcting voice had no idea how hard I\u2019ve fought for inclusive language during my short course of life.\u00a0 The voice did not know how much the lack of inclusive language has troubled my heart and disturbed my spiritual journey.\u00a0 The voice did not know how much resignation regarding the absence of inclusive language I\u2019ve found it necessary to adopt in order to participate prayerfully and thoughtfully in circles of worship.<\/p>\n
Perhaps my corrector thought I was a young, millennial \u201cconservative\u201d who eschewed just language.\u00a0 Or, perhaps the shout was intended to be funny and I took it seriously. \u00a0In any case, the comment was ill-placed in the moment and seemed to refract what I believe is a growing reality regarding inclusive language in the United States English-language context:\u00a0 inclusive language appears to be dead, and those of us who continue to demand it appear obsolete and out-of-touch.<\/p>\n
My undergraduate students, the freshman <\/em>class of which was born in 2000, rarely use forms of inclusive language for humanity, and I have not yet seen any student use un-gendered language for God.\u00a0 I have seen some students use the \u201ctheir\/they\u201d form as an alternative to \u201chim or her,\u201d but find this grammatically stressful (I don\u2019t care what the Oxford English Dictionary says, I just can\u2019t handle it!).\u00a0 Outside of my theology classroom, I have been shocked to hear news reporters from media of all stripes, including National Public Radio, use \u201cman\u201d to describe the human race.\u00a0 This lack of attentiveness to inclusive language cannot but spill into worship.\u00a0 There are, of course, some moments in the 3rd<\/sup> English translation of the Roman Missal which highlight andropocentric language, such as within the Nicene Creed.\u00a0 But, the instance which particularly troubles me is the \u201cOrate Fratres<\/em>\u201d exhortation, which appears in many Roman Missals in English as \u201cPray brethren (brothers and sisters)\u2026.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cBrethren\u201d is not a commonly used word in contemporary English, and \u201cbrothers and sisters\u201d appears, explicitly even, to be the intended English rendering.\u00a0 Yet, I have heard (oftentimes) young priests invite \u201cbrethren\u201d to pray.<\/p>\n I am at a point where I feel that few people\u2014whether in sacred or secular contexts\u2014care about how language crafts reality.\u00a0 I am also not interested in boycotting my tradition, or the Church, because of non-inclusive language.\u00a0 Nonetheless, I remain troubled and sore of heart over the lack of care regarding how English language translations and our everyday speech negotiate the reality of women.<\/p>\n I use inclusive language religiously in my speech (I even greet my students with “Hi, folks, how’re y’all doing?), but I don\u2019t seem to make any impact on the world around me.\u00a0 If I pay too much attention to it during worship, I can no longer pray or sing my faith.\u00a0 When I have suggested alternatives to exclusive language in my students\u2019 papers, I have been flagged as imposing a \u201cliberal agenda.\u201d\u00a0 It is easier, it seems, to give up on inclusive language, or at least not to expect any one of my brethren to use it in his speech, writing, or prayer.\u00a0 Experiences such as the one I had this summer often give me inspiration for\u00a0change\u2014but this one has left me stumped.\u00a0 As theologian and hymn writer Brian Wren once asked, “What Language Shall I Borrow” to describe human reality, let alone my God?\u00a0 I certainly know that I cannot change language by myself\u2014as we know, no man is an island\u2014but I cannot help but be shocked that calls for inclusive language have gone increasingly silent.<\/p>\n What do you think?\u00a0 Is inclusive language dead?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Inclusive language appears to be dead, and those of us who continue to demand it appear obsolete and out-of-touch. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":42617,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3117,357,24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42613","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-new-scholarship-new-ws","category-demographics-and-sociology","category-translation-new-missal"],"yoast_head":"\n![](\"http:\/\/yposts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/1-9.jpg\")
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