Shakespeare’s famous line, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet,” may be true as regards the perception of our physical world by our senses but the descriptive terms used to categorize human behaviours certainly affect our attitudes towards those being described.

TV advertisers know this. So do news anchors, lobbyists, and politicians. So-called “reproductive rights” are more easily defended than “taxpayer-funded abortions.” And,“investment in our children’s future” sounds way…

As I write this, Canada—under the direction of our new Prime Minister— is hurriedly preparing to welcome Syrian refugees by the tens of thousands and Canadian military bases are being turned into domestic refugee camps. Muslim prayer mats and Korans are being purchased by Canadian taxpayers for use on the bases and plans are being made to build “worship centres”, known in the real world as mosques.

The pomp and circumstance of all this panicked generosity is to present Canada as a “caring…