Another crack in an old cliche

It was not the biggest nor the most explosive story in the news lately, but it seems to have a little staying power. It is the story about Judge Clarence Thomas' wife leaving a voice message on the phone of Anita Hill. As I have read the story Judge Thomas' wife called and suggested that Anita Hill might apologize to her husband for the testimony that she gave in the confirmation hearing for the Judge. Now that was 19 years ago. I don't know about other people but I have forgotten a lot of things that happened to me 19 years ago. I did witness the hearings and remember the event, but I had not thought about it recently. I worry a lot more about Judge Thomas' conservative voting record than the events of that hearing.

What this phone call tells me is that the little poem people told me when I was young and other children were calling me names is a lie. "Sticks and stones can break your bones, but words can never hurt you." Try telling that to Judge Thomas and his wife. Apparently the pain is still pretty raw and pretty real. Of course, we have had a number of recent events which demonstrated the error of that poem: the teenage suicides of young people bullied on social media; financial ruin for lots of people lied to by crooks.

The book of Proverbs is said to be a collection of wisdom in compact form. It was used as a text book for leadership. It has some advice about a "soft word turneth away wrath". But the common lore poem about "sticks and stones" is just not true and we ought not to tell it to our children. It would be better to acknowledge the pain that words cause. I think Jesus says something about letting our Yes be Yes and our No's No. James talks about the weapon of the tongue. The words we say can be very dangerous; inflict great harm, and do lasting damage. Just ask Ginnie Thomas.