From The Church Times-
CHRISTIANS talk in code. They are not alone: the same is true of
chemists, chiropractors, and cricket commentators. Code is a handy
shorthand for those who can decrypt it. It can even be reassuring. Dot,
dash, dot-dot-dash. If someone replies in the same code, we know we are
being understood.
But, simultaneously, the code excludes those who
cannot read the secret language. Perhaps that is the intention, or
perhaps we simply cannot admit that, while we think we are speaking with
clarity, in fact we’re talking gibberish.
And code also quickly
descends into cliché: a language we automatically tune out of. When the
cricketing pundit Geoffrey Boycott first used the term “the corridor of
uncertainty” to describe the passage of a fast ball whistling close to
the off stump, it was refreshing, even poetic. Now it’s a dreary Test Match Special mantra.
https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2019/18-january/features/features/is-christian-language-to-blame-for-falling-church-attendance?fbclid=IwAR3DUh0hOHja1eP0Tlmt3PBuh-KCwLnANdIQ4RKEqIcEFFqrWBTzxHYtnr8
Opinion – 21 December 2024
21 hours ago
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