Five Platitudes and Terms That Should Go Away

1. "Don't judge!"
   

   Why not? Judgment is so underrated these days that the only way we get our fill of it is by watching Judge Judy, the Peoples Court, Divorce Court, Street Justice, Verdicto Final, Judge Alex, Judge Mills-Lane, etc. While only God can judge each of us when it comes down to eternal disposition, each of us should be more than capable of discerning the merit of individual acts and attitudes – to conclude good character from bad. Somewhere along the way, "Don't pre-judge (as in 'prejudice') became "Don't judge at all." Huge mistake. A well-developed character ethic should be encouraged in any society that is to prosper. An ethic that frowns upon discernment is not only not well-developed, but also self-defeating.
   

   Stupid chick: "Yeah, I slept with a lot of guys in college and tried various drugs. Don't look at me like that. Who are you to judge me?!"
   

   Me: "While I'm not in the position to punish you, that doesn't mean I have to approve of the nasty things you've done. I am someone who can tell you that your actions at least reflected your own lack of judgment and/or character at the time. I don't want to make you feel bad for your mistakes; it's just that being proud of them disgusts me."
   

2. "Give peace a chance."
   

   Roger that. However, when we give it a chance (or several, prolonged chances) and an adversary demonstrates absolutely no interest in tailoring any of its goals to the purpose of peace…what then? If the adversary then not only abandons the peace process, but also goes on the offensive (or supports those that do), is war still not the answer? If a mugger attacks your wife in the street, is the use of physical force to stop him not the answer? Assessing either situation requires discerning who the bad guy is – and then defending against him on the only apparent common terms before he wins.
   

3. "In war there are no winners."
   

   Ok, so what were the outcomes of the American Revolution, the Civil War, and World War II? I seem to recall that one side definitely came out on top in each case. If these wars were not fought, would there have been better outcomes? Would it have been better to not have: the founding of the first constitutional democracy, the end of slavery in the U.S., or the prevention of a Nazi-controlled western world? War is terrible, but not as terrible as the triumph of evil.
   

4. "Coexist"
   

   To whom exactly is this bumper sticker directed? Let's just suppose that the Prius behind yours on the road is actually being driven by a jihadist who wants to eradicate the existence of religions other than Islam. Do you think your stupid bumper sticker will make such an individual have a sudden revelation that coexistence is a nobler goal than enforcing Sharia? Or is your message aimed at the non-jihadists who you have illogically equated with the jihadists just because they oppose each other on the same field of battle? I'm assuming the latter is the case, which goes back again to a lack of judgment. How many voters, elected officials, or military personnel are acting on an initiative to eradicate any specific religion? In terms of stated intention or credible evidence, I'd wager to say almost none, especially compared to the number of geniuses on the road with this bumper sticker.
   

5. "War on Terror"
   

   We are not fighting "terror." We are fighting organized groups of radical Muslims whose tactics do not recognize laws of armed conflict and whose aims revolve around destroying or converting societies who don't enforce Sharia. What, is that not politically correct to say? Which parts are not factual? War IS terror, but there are legitimate and illegitimate ways of waging it. When characters like Ahmadinejad try to twist things by saying that Israel and the U.S. are the true terrorists, we should have the discernment to put no more stock in his statements than we should have in Hitlers' about the Poles being the aggressors in the Danzig. But perhaps we could avoid the whole issue cloud by just stating clearly who we're fighting.