Oh! Hyperbole.

My taste in music is pretty eclectic (ok, some have said odd or weird) so my ipod is loaded with everything from Mozart, Puccini, and Yo-Yo Ma, to Queen, ELO, and Rush (What can I say? My teen years were during the 80s) to the O.C. Supertones and P.O.D. One of my all-time favorite songs is “Beautiful Letdown” by Switchfoot, a great band. Check ‘em out. The title of this post is a nod at the title of their latest CD, Oh! Gravity, though it has nothing to do with music.

Hyperbole (hi-per-buh-lee) is over statement or intentional exaggeration. When people feel strongly about a subject they tend to use hyperbole. To make a point they end up exaggerating. I have done it myself. Often though, I think hyperbole can limit the effectiveness of a good argument.

Sometimes what happens when people use hyperbole to make a point is that those who read or listen to their point may get caught up in that exaggeration. The listener may then respond by refuting the exaggeration instead of listening to the main point and considering it’s validity. This does disservice to both sides in a discussion.

As I have mentioned before I have been reading some blogs and message boards, both Christian and non-Christian, regarding the issues of the feminization of the culture and the church, and men’s rights issues. As is the case with most things people are passionate about, there is some hyperbole in these. When I first began reading these sites it was very difficult for me to not get caught up in the hyperbole, but, at the same time I could see a lot of truth, which was very enlightening, and some of this truth was quite convicting as well. So, I have tried to keep on listening and learning though there are some things that I still struggle with. Mostly it is things like the use of pejorative terms that refer to women in sweeping statements, the mockery of less attractive women, and some off hand comments about rape. I can understand how these kinds of things could flip a switch in the mind of a woman reading them such that she doesn’t consider the truth in what is said.

For example, some women do behave in a deplorable manner so I can understand how a man may want to refer to these women in a pejorative way. That said, I still cringe when women are referred to using a four letter word that starts with “c” and I don’t suppose that will ever change for me. Also if a woman insists that a man must find her attractive even though he does not, I can understand why a man may feel this is worthy of scorn since he does not owe her his admiration. At the same time this sort of thing can be alienating to women. I can also understand the anger of men at the false accusation of rape. It can truly ruin a man’s life. To add insult to injury, there is often little consequence for the false accuser. It is wrong and unjust to be certain. But statements like the one I read recently, which to paraphrase said something like “innocent women are unlikely to be raped” is sure to send even somewhat sympathetic women off into an angry response. The very idea that a women who is attacked sleeping in her own home by a stranger, or the child who is abducted and raped is in any way responsible for what happened to them reeks of exaggeration that many women will struggle to look beyond.

But ladies, if we want to understand the perspective of men we have to get beyond it. It doesn’t matter that the hyperbole in some of the statements render them untrue because the heart of the statement is often true. We need to stop and consider that even though the delivery may not be gentle and sensitive that does not negate the truth in a statement. That truth is what we need ears to hear.