And, yes, I know that words like dumb and stupid are strong words. Whenever I use them when speaking to a larger group, I predictably get a couple of notes or even a face-to-face rebuke. Usually it's a mom trying to eradicate the words from her children's vocabulary. She wonders why I can't use kinder, gentler terms that would be more acceptable in play group. But I can't. As noted above, these beliefs aren't just false. They aren't just unfortunate. They're not merely a few degrees off. They are dangerous. They are what the Bible calls “foolish,” which in modern-day terms means “stupid” and
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