Joe Rogan and the “Power” of Words

With the recent Joe Rogan “controversy” heating up, I couldn’t help but recall this story:

When I was working in education, I taught an English class at a super-religious high school. There were a lot of odd and memorable moments along the way, but none as unforgettable as an incident regarding my vocabulary book.

The administration requested that I figure out which words in the book should be deemed offensive, and I should grab a marker and go through every book of every student and cross those words out. I don’t remember too many of the words they felt were problematic, but I seem to recall the words “celibate” and “erotic” being on the list.

I flat-out refused.

Words, Words, and More Words

First of all, the task was ridiculous. They were not paying me nearly enough to spend tens of hours going through scores of books doing the ultimate in meaningless chores. Second of all, I banked on their poor memory. I assumed they would eventually forget the request.

(They did.)

Third of all, nothing would make the students care about these words more than if the words were covered with marker. All of a sudden they’d be holding their books up to the light, trying to figure out what they are, and these would become the biggest mainstays of their vocabulary. Like telling a child not to look in the box. Curiosity just creates excitement, not avoidance. Quite the opposite, in fact!

Are Words Offensive?

Finally, and most importantly, there are no such things as inherently offensive words. Words are basically meaningless without context. And a lack of familiarity with a word, leads to ignorance and an inability to properly function in our crazy world. After all, you can’t despise a word you don’t know exists!

Can “erotic” or “celibate” be used in an offensive way? Sure can. But so can firetruck. “The orgy in the firetruck went on for six hours, until the captain came and told everyone the party was over.” But we’re not about to go ahead and abandon the word, because it was the context that gave the word its meaning.

“The man spent hours studying and exercising, working hard every day to avoid all erotic thoughts.” “The boy remained celibate until he got married at age 28.” Poof. Two words that are no longer offensive, and two sentences worth being knowledgeable enough to understand.

Joe Rogan and the N-Word

Why am I bringing this story up?

Because recently someone I respect and admire came under attack for the use of a word, which I will deem “the N-word”. Now, I’m going to argue that he was using the word inoffensively and appropriately. Is it thus hypocritical for me to not just write it out, since I too will only be using the terminology inoffensively and appropriately? Maybe. I can certainly see the argument. Nevertheless, I don’t curse. Not out loud, nor in the written form. I just don’t. I’ve been that way for over a couple of decades. And it won’t change in this here post. That’s a personal choice, one I try to stick to at all times.

But this doesn’t change the fact that context matters with word choices.

Over the course of many years and hundreds of interviews, Joe Rogan used the N-word repeatedly. In every single instance, in context the average listener would not be bothered by what they heard. But out of context, just about anyone would be. But what are words taken out of context? They are just miserable attempts to make someone look bad. To portray someone not as they truly are.

Is Joe Rogan a Racist?

So some loser with way too much free time crawled through thousands of hours of podcasts with the sole intention of attacking someone and trying to portray them as a racist?

In what world should the criticism be placed upon Joe Rogan? I’ve been watching from up close as his podcast has changed people’s lives time and time again. He’s brought awareness to incredibly important topics ranging from mistreatment of animals to depression to head injuries in sports. He’s motivated people to make their lives better. He does it for me all the time. And he does so in one of the most unbiased formats I’ve seen.

I am not a racist. I find racism absurd and anachronistic. And yet I can say with confidence that whatever shreds of bias I still have floating around my soul, I think Rogan has fewer. I think he’s as un-racist as a person could be in 2022. And that is something we all could and should be inspired by.

Who’s the Bad Guy Here?

But what about the nerd who compiled this video? What’d he do to make the world a better place?

He blatantly attempted to disrupt a platform that causes joy to scores of people and improves the lives of countless people struggling with the many challenges of this crazy world. He erroneously presented the most popular podcaster in the world as a racist, no doubt stirring up feelings of (minimally) discomfort in the hearts of many people who would like to live in a world that doesn’t disapprove of them just because of the color of their skin.

The “compiler” made people uncomfortable and attempted to damage the career of someone undeserving of their angst. You only do such things if you’re a sociopath or if you are trying to solve what you consider to be a problem, and you believe the ends always justify the means.

Spoiler: They don’t. And your “ends” are asinine as well.

What About Redemption?

And you know what else you did wrong today, you arrogant fool? You denied humanity the ability to self-correct. To redeem themselves. To become better people.

Long before the video ever surfaced, Rogan had already changed how he spoke. He made a personal decision that there was a better way to express himself. You know what that’s called? Personal growth. Did he need to change what he was doing? That’s debatable. I don’t personally believe so, but apparently, he did. And that shouldn’t be something mocked or scorned. No! That should be something celebrated and emulated by all of us. Personal growth should never be discouraged. And past ways should rarely be used to disparage those who wish to improve themselves.

Listen: Joe Rogan certainly doesn’t need me to come to his defense. In fact, he doesn’t need anyone to come to his defense. I truly believe that the best thing for him to do is to just keep moving forward. To keep being himself. It’s gotten him this far, and it will continue to get him much further. He should serve as an example to all of us, to succeed at being who we are and not who society is pushing us to be.

I look forward to the storm blowing over completely.

And to the sunshine that is left behind.