No War Here on "Wars On ..."

Is it just a media term?

In the 60's, Johnson's administration declared a war on poverty.  I don't think we've won that one.

In the 80's, Reagan's administration declared a war on drugs.  That one isn't going very well, either.

For the new millenia, Bush declared a war on terrorism.  The outcome is kind of hazy there, too.

Since then, in the media, there has been a war on just about everything:  The right accuses the left of a war on religion, the left accuses the right of a war on women, there was a documentary about the educational system's war on children (http://www.thewaronkids.com/), there is a war on intellectualism, a war on family values.

I believe in the power of language.  All this talk of war makes war an acceptable state of being.  I prefer peace.  It seems to me the use of the term "A war on ..." makes war seem like a desirable past time, be it against something like drugs or something like religion or women's rights.

This may seem picky.  I may be oversensitive to language and the nuances of meaning.  I will admit there are certain terms I find unacceptable, and certainly usages of acceptable terms in unacceptable ways that chap my posterior.  "War on" has just made its way on to that list.

I think it's in the bombastic nature of our language today.  We overuse superlatives.  I blame the media, the internet, and the constant stream of information that everyone is exposed to every day.  To get our attention, the media has to use more and more words of power, and with the overuse of those words, the power is lost.  Pity.  So many wonderful words that were once useful in describing singularly power emotions, actions, and concepts now can be borrowed and used for whatever mundane purpose we wish.

Listen, people on the right.  There is no war on religion.  While many things I have read show that we are becoming a more secular nation, no one has started bombing churches on a regular basis.  If there was, church bombings would certainly be less newsworthy.

Listen, people on the left.  There is no war on women.  There are certain people on the right who have beliefs that differ from yours on how women should deal with the issues of reproduction, but the extremists that resort to armed action are still rare.
 
So please, no more "Wars On ...."  Can we just call them what they are?  They are simply issues.  Let's say we are addressing those issues, not declaring war on them.  Inflammatory language is no way to begin a civilized discussion on the issues on which we disagree.

And please let's not start any more wars.  You hear me, Rick Santorum?  Address the issue, but don't declare war.