{"id":1966,"date":"2011-11-02T23:07:37","date_gmt":"2011-11-03T07:07:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/oxgoad.ca\/2011\/11\/02\/is-it-propaganda\/"},"modified":"2011-11-02T23:07:37","modified_gmt":"2011-11-03T07:07:37","slug":"is-it-propaganda","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oxgoad.ca\/2011\/11\/02\/is-it-propaganda\/","title":{"rendered":"is it propaganda?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wikipedia says<\/a> that propaganda was not originally a negative or pejorative term.<\/p>\n

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While the term propaganda has acquired a strongly negative connotation by association with its most manipulative<\/a> and jingoistic<\/a> examples, propaganda in its original sense was neutral, and could refer to uses that were generally benign or innocuous, such as public health<\/a> recommendations, signs encouraging citizens to participate in a census or election, or messages encouraging persons to report crimes to the police, among others.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Our church is located in an area of Greater Victoria that was once known as \u2018the Western Communities\u2019. Some recalcitrant old-timers (read \u2018me\u2019) still sometimes use the old term. The term has some negative connotations \u2013 our area used to be considered a little bit of \u2018hicksville\u2019, or \u2018dogpatch\u2019\u2026 not the choicest addresses in town.<\/p>\n

All that began to change with rapid property development and population growth in our end of town. That\u2019s when the propaganda machine went into effect.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The powers that be decided that a new term was needed so they began to refer to our area as \u201cthe Westshore\u201d. The local Chamber of Commerce and our various civic government officials were all behind it. A good deal of the business community got behind it as well, including the local newspapers and such. These folks studiously avoided the old term and sometimes gently (!) corrected the rubes that still used it.<\/p>\n

This propaganda effort has been going on for several years. The local mall has been renamed from \u2018Canwest Mall\u2019 to \u2018Westshore Town Centre<\/a>\u2019. Our recreation centre was once the \u2018Juan de Fuca Recreation Centre\u2019, but now is \u2018Westshore Parks and Recreation\u2019. And on it goes. The new term is winning the day and the public image of the \u2018Westshore\u2019 is much more sophisticated and upbeat than the \u2018armpit\u2019 reputation of the old \u2018Western Communities\u2019.<\/p>\n

I suppose there is nothing wrong with this, though the curmudgeon in me resists this kind of mumbo jumbo. For business people, I suppose there is a profit motive in upgrading the \u2018brand\u2019 of their region, but it all seems a lot of tomfoolery to me.<\/p>\n

Words have a good deal of power to influence. Most of my readers know that I am identified as a fundamentalist and that I am not reluctant to wear the label. Now there is a term with baggage! A few years ago, one of my dear friends, Dr. Bob Jones III, floated the idea that we might need a newer and better term to represent a \u2018sane\u2019 sort of fundamentalism. He made no suggestions and got some resistance in a few quarters. Nothing much came of that suggestion.<\/p>\n

Lately, a few fellows are consistently using a new term in their blogging on issues that would typically be considered fundamentalist in their philosophy and position. They seem to be studiously avoiding the term fundamentalist, although at least some of them (I think) would not be shy about accepting the label if someone else described them that way.<\/p>\n

But it seems that they are busy in an attempt to rebrand their position. I\u2019m going to provide a few links. They are almost all from the same group blog and I consider some of these fellows to be \u2018on-line friends\u2019. One of them is even a Facebook friend, how much closer can you get! Anyway, see if you can pick out the term. Tell me what you think of the effort. Can you think of a major source or influence behind this term?<\/p>\n

Some efforts like this will fail because they don\u2019t capture the \u2018hearts and minds\u2019 \u2026 they just don\u2019t catch on. Time will tell what will become of this effort, if it is an effort.<\/p>\n

Here are the links:<\/p>\n