Don’t trust this dictionary

Roxanne Trujillo began teaching children the English language in 1973, more than two decades before Merriam-Webster offered its first online dictionary. She is admittedly “old school” and still prefers students define words from the oldest hard copy dictionary they can find. Now, more than ever, Trujillo has “serious concerns” about students casually looking up definitions for words online.

This month, Merriam-Webster, which describes itself as “America’s leading and most-trusted provider of language information,” updated its definitions for the words “male” and “female” to include people of the opposite sex who identify as transgender. Notably, its official definitions for the words use the qualifier “typically” before the biological descriptions of each sex, so someone described as female “typically has the capacity to bear young or produce eggs”—but not always.

Gender politics and the LGBT ideology have steadily altered the way society perceives words and their meanings. Trujillo noted the word “gay” in her 1963 edition of the American College Dictionary meant “happy” and “carefree,” with no reference to homosexuality.

In July, Merriam-Webster changed its dictionary definition of “transgender woman” to “a woman who was identified as a male at birth” and a “transgender man” as “a man who was identified as a female at birth.” The publisher also declared “they” its word of the year for 2019. The word was picked on the basis of a 313 percent increase in searches on its website. Interest might have stemmed from the dictionary’s expansion of the definition in September 2019 to include four subsenses, one of which reads “in reference to an individual person whose gender identity is nonbinary.” The dictionary defines “gender identity” as “a person’s internal sense of being male, female, some combination of male and female, or neither male nor female.”

In its “biggest update ever,” Dictionary.com, which draws much of its content from the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, announced it will replace references to homosexuality with the word “gay.” The website said it wanted to characterize same-sex relationships as “a normal way of being” instead of a pathology or mental illness.

“The effect is to deprive people of the ability to think properly by gutting words of their real meanings and replacing them with false, politicized alternatives,” said Simon Calvert of the British Christian Institute. He said Christians must speak up for truth as defined in Scripture and link arms with others who acknowledge self-evident truths such as what it means to be male and female: “These are words with real meanings which must be protected from powerful and dangerous ideologues.”

Feminist activists have also spoken out against efforts to erase biological womanhood. “Everyone knows what women are and that we aren’t defined by a state of mind that a man can have,” Natasha Chart of the Women’s Liberation Front told Breitbart News. “I don’t have a ‘gender identity.’ I bore a child by means of my female body, not a state of mind, and it disrespects every mother and child to suggest otherwise.”

Trujillo said words and their meanings hold power to influence society. A culture that forgets the truths of Scripture—that God made man and women distinctly, in his image—only produces “mayhem and confusion,” she said. “I have always taken the responsibility seriously to raise a standard for children.”

Youth just saying no to e-cigarettes

Vaping among U.S. teenagers, especially middle schoolers, dropped sharply this year, according to a federal report.

Last year, 28 percent of high school and 11 percent of middle school students said they had recently used electronic cigarettes or other vaping products. This year, the number plummeted to fewer than 20 percent of high school students and 5 percent of middle schoolers, according a national survey the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released on Sept. 9.

Vaping-related illnesses and deaths, along with higher age limits and flavor bans, may have contributed to the decline. Earlier this year, the Food and Drug Administration banned flavors from small vaping devices such as Juul and others popular with minors. The policy does not prohibit disposable e-cigarettes from containing the sweet, candy-like flavors.

“As long as any flavored e-cigarettes are left on the market, kids will get their hands on them and we will not solve this crisis,” said Matt Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids. —M.J.

Expanding roster of wedding officiants

The Pennsylvania legislature is considering a bill that would permit civilians to perform marriages as many couples consider less traditional ceremonies during the coronavirus pandemic.

An ordained minister, judge, or mayor may marry a couple in Pennsylvania, but the bill, approved by the state Senate Judiciary Committee, would grant the privilege to a citizen who has taken 120 hours of education on planning and conducting civil ceremonies.

The Rev. Dai Morgan, executive director of the Pennsylvania Council of Churches, told the Patriot News while he does not oppose the bill, it indicates a societal shift away from religious institutions: “We are quickly becoming a culture that’s forgotten what the faith community is about.” —M.J.

Separation anxiety

Children whose parents divorce grow up to have lower levels of oxytocin, the so-called “love hormone,” than those whose parents never divorced, according to a new study from Baylor University. This could cause them to have trouble forming attachments later in life.

The brain secretes oxytocin during bonding experiences such as sexual activity, breastfeeding, delivering a baby, and even hugging. Research shows the hormone affects social behavior and emotional bonds early in life and is linked to parenting, attachment, and anxiety.

The study, published in the Journal of Comparative Psychology, uncovered a biological link between divorce and long-term adult outcomes. “Most research has focused on short-term effects, like academic performance, or long-term outcomes like the impact on relationships,” said lead author Maria Boccia, a professor of child and family studies at Baylor. “This is the first step towards understanding what mechanisms might be involved.” —M.J.

Downgrading rape consequences

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, signed a controversial law on Sept. 11 giving judges discretion over whether to add some people convicted of statutory rape to the sex offender registry.

Opponents argue the new law will leave children unprotected and allow judges to make unwarranted exceptions for sex acts between adults and minors. Republican state Sen. Brian Jones told KUSI-TV in San Diego the state’s laws regarding statutory rape are “broken,” and the only recourse is to put an initiative on the ballot: “The legislators will not do it, so it’s up to the people of California to make it happen.” —M.J.