Words don’t mean anything – at least that seems to be the strong theory. Many critics of political correctness will be quick to attest to the idea that words are just words and don’t hurt anyone.

It’s an interesting idea. No longer do I have to watch what I say in mixed company. Cursing and derogatory names are all OK because we shouldn’t be afraid of harming the feelings of others. At least this is how the argument flows.

So if a hate group, perhaps the Ku Klux Klan, were to come to campus and begin talking about how “blacks are a subspecies,” no one should be offended, right?

Now all you moral crusaders, with your talk about God and free speech, don’t back out on me now. Stick with me through this one.

I think the majority of students and faculty on campus, no matter the color of their skin, would take offense at such a statement. I know I would. We should keep in mind that when we are offended, we think up new ideas.

What sort of ideas? Well, more often than not, as with other speeches that are offensive, we think up new ways to torture a person that would dare use such hateful language.

But the words aren’t always offensive. People don’t get upset when Ja Rule or any number of black rap artists use the word “nigger,” because we know they aren’t racists. It’s a different meaning.

But it’s not just the racist words that are like this. There are plenty of people who wouldn’t want us using curse words period.

It starts early in school, most often in middle school, when words become common knowledge, and are often used by the students.

That’s when we’re told there are some words that “aren’t appropriate” for us to use.

This weekend, while judging a debate tournament in a high school, a group of friends and I were approached by one of the janitors.

He told us, “while it may be a weekend, we are still in school so don’t curse.” The comment struck me as funny, not just because none of us had cursed prior to that, but the idea that school was still supposed to be some sacred institution where these words shouldn’t be used inside of its walls.

Even in this open forum I am prevented from using too many of those same “bad” words. At the same time, I certainly could use other words, or symbols, or the like to convey the same meaning.

I could tell someone to “go screw themselves” and many people would get the same idea had I used the “F” word. Therein lies the rub.

Of all the words in the English language beginning with the letter “f” and yet one stands out with this title.

Without even using the word itself I have managed to convey the same idea in a more appropriate manner, so it is suited for public consumption.

The same is true for many words.

It’s easy to replace the actual word with another reference and convey the same meaning, but we don’t censor these words because they are the kinder and gentler words.

Our censorship of these words gives them power. We limit their use to extreme situations only to make them that much worse.

If we free these words, though, they have no power. Racial slurs can no longer harm people, and hate groups will lose their fire. As words become accepted into society at large we have nothing to fear from them.

Words are all based on the context we use them in and intent we put behind them.

If we all calmed down and didn’t freak out at the words we hear people use and instead listen to what the user means, we might become a more understanding society.

Blaine Moyle is a junior in English from Des Moines.