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Well, this subject isn't going away...
You say, my friend, that it was "absurd" to compare your beliefs to a belief in creationism, and, moreover, that I am wrong to say that you (and others) are prejudiced against people who speak a non-prestigious dialect.
Well, the fundie, he believes in creationism because that's what the Good Book says. Nevermind that he doesn't really understand the biology involved (at least, that's what his rants against evolution seem to indicate) and, in fact, may never have actually read the Bible, he believes in creationism. Evolution is wrong, no matter what the proof, no matter how convoluted and illogical his beliefs and explanations and hedges are.
You're a linguistic fundie. You believe in a right and wrong way to speak, because that's what you learned in school. You don't understand the actual linguistics involved, and you refuse to listen to people who have some grasp, however small, of the reality of the situation. You can't explain *why* your beliefs are right, you just think they are. Which I suppose makes me the silly one, doesn't it?
And prejudice, there's no prejudice, that person just speaks "slovenly"! Do you *hear* the illogic? Why is one form "slovenly" while another is "correct"? Who decides? How? Now, to be sure, laziness is a key feature in linguistic evolution, but I'm not sure that's what's going on here.
Slipping standards? What a world this is! People who try to fight prejudice are being pompous, people who use current scientific research are helping standards to slip, and where every other form of prejudice is now verboten, you can't see the connection between linguistic prejudice and the other kinds. These prejudices don't live in a vaccuum, you know. The reality is that a prejudice against the language spoken by a certain social class is in the end a prejudice against that social class. Yes, they could change... but why should they have to? There are societies I can't count where people speak several languages, and this society, the people can't possibly accept a few different dialects? Where is the sense in that? Even I have more faith in humans than that. In a few generations, racism, homophobia, these are all less virulant than before. Why shouldn't other prejudices be the same way?
Well, the fundie, he believes in creationism because that's what the Good Book says. Nevermind that he doesn't really understand the biology involved (at least, that's what his rants against evolution seem to indicate) and, in fact, may never have actually read the Bible, he believes in creationism. Evolution is wrong, no matter what the proof, no matter how convoluted and illogical his beliefs and explanations and hedges are.
You're a linguistic fundie. You believe in a right and wrong way to speak, because that's what you learned in school. You don't understand the actual linguistics involved, and you refuse to listen to people who have some grasp, however small, of the reality of the situation. You can't explain *why* your beliefs are right, you just think they are. Which I suppose makes me the silly one, doesn't it?
And prejudice, there's no prejudice, that person just speaks "slovenly"! Do you *hear* the illogic? Why is one form "slovenly" while another is "correct"? Who decides? How? Now, to be sure, laziness is a key feature in linguistic evolution, but I'm not sure that's what's going on here.
Slipping standards? What a world this is! People who try to fight prejudice are being pompous, people who use current scientific research are helping standards to slip, and where every other form of prejudice is now verboten, you can't see the connection between linguistic prejudice and the other kinds. These prejudices don't live in a vaccuum, you know. The reality is that a prejudice against the language spoken by a certain social class is in the end a prejudice against that social class. Yes, they could change... but why should they have to? There are societies I can't count where people speak several languages, and this society, the people can't possibly accept a few different dialects? Where is the sense in that? Even I have more faith in humans than that. In a few generations, racism, homophobia, these are all less virulant than before. Why shouldn't other prejudices be the same way?