{"id":8659,"date":"2014-06-04T15:47:53","date_gmt":"2014-06-04T19:47:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/beginnersheart\/?p=8659"},"modified":"2014-06-04T15:47:53","modified_gmt":"2014-06-04T19:47:53","slug":"grammar-and-other-things-that-have-taken-their-proper-less-important-place","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/beginnersheart\/2014\/06\/grammar-and-other-things-that-have-taken-their-proper-less-important-place.html","title":{"rendered":"grammar, and other things that have taken their proper (less important) place"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"grammar\"<\/a>
via Google<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I’m finishing up the editing details on a short essay. So of course I did grammar check. Now note: I teach <\/em>writing. So I’m well aware of grammar. But, as a poet, I’m also aware of style. And style trumps formal grammar.<\/p>\n

For instance: don’t begin a sentence w\/ ‘And,’ as I did above. Nor should I use fragments. Even for rhetorical emphasis. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

What’s even funnier than the stuffy pedantry of grammar check is realising that I don’t care. As Tulsa’s once-upon-a-time Grammar Hotline (if you called the paper, or the university, with a grammar question, they transferred you to me :)), that may be heresy.<\/p>\n

But it’s true: I am confident enough these days that I don’t care what grammar check tells me. I know the rules. Ergo? I can break them when I choose.<\/p>\n

\"via<\/a>
via Southern Poverty Law Center<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Don’t do this at home.<\/p>\n

Seriously, though:it’s a kind of Buddhist mantra, if you think about it. Know what’s\u00a0 expected, and then decide if that’s appropriate. If it suits the time, the context, the need. Like I once heard a Unitarian minister say (and he might have been a Buddhist, as well — some are): don’t let ersatz tolerance be your excuse for not getting involved. “Tolerance’ may sound good, unless you’re tolerating injustice. Hate.<\/p>\n

Letting people get by with horrible behaviour is not tolerance. That doesn’t mean you have to whack them (although I’ve often wanted to!). It does mean we’re thinkers — we’re supposed<\/em> to question. Questions lead to well-thought-out answers (if we’re lucky, and think long enough…).<\/p>\n

Like grammar, it’s a question of style. And mean doesn’t work for anyone.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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