Inflammatory language

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'''Inflammatory language''' is a form of speech that is used with the intent to [[emotional appeal|stir up emotions]], elicit anger, or invoke a physical reaction.  Name calling is one form, but the use is generally wider in scope, in the sense that it is used to attack, oppress, or denigrate groups of people, or focus hate or anger on a public figure.  

Websites that post "wanted" posters, using the names and photographs of doctors who perform [[abortion]]s, are an example.  Many of [[Adolf Hitler|Hitler's]] most famous speeches, combining national patriotic feelings with [[Antisemitism|anti-Jewish]] sentiment, and stirring the listeners to "act now" were also examples of inflammatory language.

==Legal status==
Unlike "[[hate speech]]", which may or may not be a crime on its own, but which does not create a specific "call to action", authors of inflammatory language can be held legally responsible for criminal activities if it can be proven that the criminal was responding to a "call out" from someone.  Several anti-abortion organizations and preachers have been held accountable for things said on their sites, or for speeches they've given, that inspired someone to shoot a doctor or bomb a clinic.<ref>[https://www.spokesman.com/stories/1995/mar/10/doctors-kin-sue-abortion-foes/ Doctor’s Kin Sue Abortion Foes]. Associated Press via spokesman.com, 10 March 1995.</ref><ref>Tamar Lewin, [https://web.archive.org/web/20141014214511/http://articles.mcall.com/1995-03-11/news/3016800_1_anti-abortion-leader-rescue-america-dr-david-gunn Abortion Foe Sued In Death Of Fla. Doctor]. Archived from ''The New York Times'' via ''The Moring Call'', 11 March 1995.</ref><ref>Ralph Frammolino, [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-05-06-me-2616-story.html 2 Get Prison for Trying to Bomb Abortion Clinic]. ''Los Angeles Times, 6 May 1988.</ref><ref>Joel Roberts, [https://www.cbsnews.com/news/anti-abortion-activists-lose-in-court/ Anti-Abortion Activists Lose In Court]. ''CBS News'', 16 May 2002.</ref><ref>Frederick Clarkson, [https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/intelligence-report/1998/anti-abortion-bombings-related Anti-abortion bombings related]. [[Southern Poverty Law Center]], 15 September 1998.</ref>

==Why it's nasty==
Inflammatory language can include single words, phrases, names, or various discourse strategies.  Whereas a textbook would be non-inflammatory because its factual and dry nature wouldn't offend, inflammatory language often intentionally provokes a reaction from the reader by use of strong [[rhetoric]] or controversial opinions. It can be used as a [[euphemism]] for [[hate speech]], but this isn't necessarily so.

Name-calling is one of the crudest and most obvious forms, as it can [[Ad hominem|directly attack or insult the reader]].  More subtle types are virtually undetectable to people outside the conflict.

==Examples==
Examples of inflammatory language are:

*Yelling "[[Pork]]!" in a crowded [[Islam|mosque]].
*Yelling "More [[pork]]!" in a crowded [[Judaism|synagogue]].
*Yelling "Gilded Age!" in a [[Libertarian]] meeting.
*Yelling "[[AIDS]]!" in a crowded {{wpl|Gay bathhouse|bathhouse|.}}
*Yelling "[[Xenu]]!" in a [[Scientology]] meeting.
*Yelling "I'm black and proud!" in a [[KKK]] meeting.
*Yelling "Free [[beer]]!" in a crowded [[Alcoholics Anonymous|AA]] meeting.
*Yelling "[[Science]]!" in a crowded [[intelligent design]] conference.
*Yelling "Give!" in a crowded [[Objectivist]] meeting.<ref group=note>In ''Atlas Shrugged'', this was a word not to be spoken among the industrialists who had [[Going Galt|gone Galt]].</ref>
*Yelling "[[Evidence-based medicine|Evidence]]!" in a crowded [[CAM]] conference.
*Yelling "Get Fucked In Outer Darkness" to [[Latter-Day Saints]]. 
*Yelling "[[Reality]]!" in a crowded [[postmodernist]] meeting.
*Yelling "Traditional marriage!" in a [[liberal]] meeting.
*Yelling "[[Communism|Class struggle]]!" in a crowded [[conservative]] meeting.
*Yelling "[[Capitalism|Free enterprise]]!" in a crowded [[communist]] meeting.
*Yelling "Higher criticism!" or "Do you drink your pastor's own piss for communion?" in a crowded [[Fundamentalist Christianity|Christian fundamentalist]] meeting.
*Yelling "{{wpl|Doctrine of the two kingdoms|Two kingdoms|!"}} in a crowded [[Dominionist]] meeting.

==See also==
*[[Dog whistle politics]]
*[[Euphemism]]s
*[[Loaded language]]

==Notes==
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==References==
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[[Category:Political euphemisms]]
[[Category:language]]

Categories: Political euphemisms, language