Using speech truthfully is abiding by the truth of God. It can also change us. We all recall moments in our lives when someone was truthful with us and we felt frozen and exhilarated at the same time. Maybe we were confronted about an addiction problem after we’d treated someone poorly.

We feel profound joy when someone, through language, affirms us: “You did a good thing. You were kind to that person. You acted like a good Christian.” Pagliarini notes that “love is a kind of knowledge” and that even sinners in Narnia who love Aslan and see him as the truth are welcomed by him. The two men in Texas arrested for having sex who wound up before the Supreme Court and Lawrence vs. Texas never lied about what they were doing. One of them did not claim to be a woman. They were sinners, not liars.

Those who abuse and degrade language create lies that can ultimately bring down a world. When enough people believe that men can be women, or that abortion is health care, or that pornography is not just harmless but liberating, the destruction that results can topple cities. Witness liberal places like Portland and San Francisco. Their leaders, like Shift the Ape in Narnia, corrupt language, sometimes even keeping a little truth in there to fool the people. Sure, shoplifting isn’t the worst crime in the world. Decriminalize it then, why not? The next thing you know, the downtown is deserted. Next stop, total collapse.

[Orwell knew this too, which is why Newspeak becomes the crux of power in his dystopian “1984.” It is all part of the same denial of reality, and is an engine of moral relativism as well. (I have not yet read much of Lewis’ Narnia series, but this certainly piques my curiosity about it — again.) — Ed]