PureInsight | August 13, 2001
An element of "clarifying the truth thoroughly" is to expose all of the degenerated elements of society. Slang is the result of the deformation of the human language. Along with everything else that degenerates in succession with mankind it is inevitable that the human language would become deformed as well. "As a matter of fact, the words' meanings that have been altered by modern people already have modern people's notions infused into them" ("Using at Will").
Slang stops people from communicating like proper human beings. It distorts or even reverses the meaning of words, giving historically negative words positive connotations. For example the word "bad" in slang means good and "fat" spelled "phat" in slang denotes something really excellent. This creates a whole new degenerated modern language that distorts both the meaning and spelling of words. Master has said "human culture is given to humans by Gods" ("Using at Will"), so language was not created haphazardly nor was it created by human beings. Words in their original form and context have deep meaning and are given to human beings by gods to communicate with each other and express themselves.
I must admit I was guilty of using slang every now and then. At first I did not think too much of it since slang had become an inevitable part of my speech, but then I realized that as Dafa disciples amidst the Fa-rectification, we should embody Dafa in our every word and action. "A saint, who carries out Heaven's decree in this world and Heaven above, possesses great virtues and is kindhearted, cherishes lofty aims and regards trivial matters" ("Saint", Essentials for Further Advancement). This is being responsible to Dafa and humankind. Then would Dafa disciples use deformed language, created by modern people (the most degenerated of human beings) to express themselves? Wouldn't that be like accepting and validating unrighteous elements in the human world? We are creating the future and are responsible for all righteous elements in this world. As master says it "As a Dafa disciple, everything of yours is formed by Dafa and is the most righteous, and it can only be that [you] rectify everything that is not righteous" ("Dafa Is Indestructible"). As a Dafa disciple our conduct should serve as an example for proper human existence and represent the best and most righteous state of living. We should leave a rock solid foundation for the development of the new mankind. Overlooking minor details could unwittingly cause damage to the image of Dafa.
Reviewer's Note:
As a 64 year old Western practitioner I must say that I thoroughly agree with Mr. Lee's insights. In my lifetime I have witnessed the most appalling degeneration of the English language in the United States. Not only is slang used to invert and confuse the traditional meanings of words, but also words that used to be too filthy for ordinary people to even use are routinely heard everywhere we go. Walking by people on the street, in the grocery store, at the service station or in the mall, it seems that almost no one can carry on a conversation without filthy language and slang. I'm sure that most of the young people who are using this degenerated language have no idea how terrible it sounds. Since all their peers speak the same way, they consider it "normal".
Teacher says, "A human is just like a container. What he is filled with is exactly what he is. What he can see through his eyes and hear through his ears are all violence, pornography, and intrigue against each other in literary works, and strive for personal gain, money worship, other manifestations of demonic nature, etc. in realistic society. As what he is filled with are all these things, such a person is really bad indeed no matter how he behaves. People's actions are governed by their thoughts. What sort of things can a person possibly do with a mind full of such things?"("Melting into the Law", Essentials for Further Advancement)
